Paris Nautic, SUP and a set of invitations to travel

Early this morning, the Seine became THE spot to be, with an impressive range of boardsport champions heading onto the water amidst some 300 competitors in a bid to win the fourth Nautic SUP Paris Crossing, which traverses the French capital via Stand Up Paddle. Antoine Albeau, Faustine Merret and the cream of professional racers pulled out all the stops to secure a win in the first round of this sprint across the city. Within the boat show itself, a series of duels on one-design boards Naish coloured the second round of the competition at the Spot and all about there appeared to be a real holiday air to the place, thanks notably to the 10-year anniversary of the Tara Expédition and the tales of Jimmy Cornell.

Full house for the Nautic Sup Paris Crossing As planned, at 0700 GMT this morning, the 300 surfers competing in the Nautic Sup Paris Crossing set off to devour the Seine in what proved to be a unique spectacle and an extraordinary competition. Out of the twelve kilometres making up the route (a little more for the Pros, who also had to go around Ile Saint-Louis), there was little between the top players, testifying to the intensity of a battle where every paddle stroke counts. Supervised by the Services de Navigation de la Seine, the River Police and the volunteers from the SNSM (RNLI equivalent), the competitors were embroiled in an unforgettable fight, with an outstanding time of 50 minutes and 22 seconds for Martin Vitry, 14 years of age, who was No.1 in the Leisure and Junior categories. Italian Leonard Nika secured first place in the Pros category, whilst Mary Buchaman took victory in the women’s competition. Once they got to the finish and warmed up at the campus set up through the loyal support of Microsoft and Windows Mobile, the competitors quickly made for the Porte de Versailles. As much as stamina was an essential quality in the battle for supremacy beneath the Eiffel Tower this morning, brute strength and dexterity made a difference beneath the spotlights of the Nautic this afternoon. The event involved great hilarity and some memorable wipe-outs in front of a supportive crowd and the eye of the new tight cameras Camiléo X-Sports de Toshiba..
The podium places for the different categories:
– In the Loisirs (Leisure category), Martin Vitry secured the title ahead of Claudio Nika and Adrien Heurtaux.
– In the Women’s Pros category, Briton Mary Buchaman won the event ahead of Slovenian Manca Notar and Frenchwoman Faustine Merret.
– Among the Women’s Loisir (Leisure) category, Frenchwoman Valérie Vitry took first place so she’ll be heading off to the World Naish One Championship 2014 with her son Martin. Second place goes to Frenchwoman Virginie Samson closely followed by Gisèle Hure. – Finally, the Pro men’s podium was made up of Italian Leonard Nika, Frenchman Gaetan Sene and New Caledonian Titouan Puyo. Focus on the Torche Pro Stand Up Paddle World Cup 2014 For the fourth year running, from 25 October to 2 November 2014, the Torche headland will play host to this unique European event, which counts towards the Stand Up Paddle World Cup. As such, on the Nautic stage this Sunday, Ronan Chatain, a key figure in Breton surfing, presented the outlines of this meet, which will gather together nearly 200 competitors representing around twenty nations and all the world’s elite in the sport. Boasting full-on sport, thrills and suspense, this sixth and final stage of the 2014 circuit will have it all. Indeed the key moments of this meet will unquestionably be the City Race, a 20-km endurance event on the waters of the Odet, with the top players setting off from the cathedral in Quimper, across a course providing unrestricted views over the finest manor houses in northern Brittany as far as the pretty little port of Sainte-Marine. Another highlight will be the Surfing event, which will be run in two rounds (Trials and Main Event). The Transquadra celebrates its 20th anniversary! On the Nautic Stage at 1000 GMT this Sunday, the organisers of the Transquadra, a double-handed and single-handed event reserved for amateurs of forty years of age and over, presented the eighth edition of the event. The latter will be contested via two races: either starting out from Saint Nazaire on 23 July 2014, or starting out from Barcelona on 27 July 2014. The two fleets will then come together at Quinta do Lorde (Madeira) before all setting sail as one at the end of January 2015, bound for Le Marin in Martinique. Around a hundred boats are expected. Of particular note is that according to Race Director Mico Bolo, the double-handed category is already full so the race’s 20th anniversary is sure to go with a swing! The 4th edition of the Women’s Cup is presented Midway through this Sunday, the Pays de Loire Region and the organisers of the Women’s Cup, presented the fourth edition of the event, a supportive, all-women race which ties in with the “Because I Am A Girl” campaign which backs women in sport. Scheduled to take place in Pornichet on the weekend of 8/9 March 2014 during the “International Day of Women’s Rights”, the latter will gather together some thirty professional and amateur crews, which will do battle on the water as well as fleshing out their marine network onshore during the event festivities. A number of the crews who were present last year have already expressed a desire to return, including the titleholder, Camille Lecointre. Renowned sailors, Anne-Claire Le Berre and Alexia Barrier, have also indicated their intention to participate. IMOCA: Ocean Master World Championship This Sunday, the 60-foot monohull class presented the IMOCA Ocean Master World Championship project in the presence of skippers Jean Le Cam (winner of the recent Transat Jacques Vabre), Bernard Stamm (World IMOCA Champion 2003 & 2007) and Peter Bayer (Managing Director of OSM / Open Sports Management). This new brand will designate a World Champion every two years, following on from a programme made up of existing races (Vendée Globe and the Barcelona World Race) and some new events. The first cycle will begin with a new double-handed transatlantic event between New York and Barcelona. Details? After a week of races off Manhattan, the start will be given at the foot of the Statue of Liberty on 1 June 2014. A highly international line-up comprising ten or so IMOCA 60s, will attempt to shatter the record of 12 days 6 hours 3 minutes and 48 seconds set back in 2010 by the crew on Estrella Damm (Alex Pella, Pepe Ribes and Stan Schreyer) during the first race organised by the FNOB. The Tara Expédition celebrates its 10th anniversary After heading off on a seven-month journey around the North Pole for the Tara Oceans Polar Circle scientific expedition looking into the planktonic biodiversity in the Arctic, the yacht returned to France yesterday. Their return to Europe was celebrated this Sunday 8 December at the Nautic in Paris. On the main stage from 1330 to 1500 GMT, the whole team were in attendance to relive the images of their return to Lorient the day before, discuss the highlights of the exhibition and celebrate the 10th anniversary of Tara. This celebration pays homage to six campaigns, each spanning several months, between 2004 and 2006, with artists and scientists, from Greenland to the Antarctic, and three major missions, Tara Arctic (2006- 2008), Tara Oceans (2009-2012) and Tara Oceans Polar Circle (2013) devoted to the climate and marine biodiversity. With Jimmy Cornell, from the Canaries to the West Indies An accomplished sailor and a successful author, Jimmy Cornell has devoured 200,000km in all the oceans of the world. He boasts three circumnavigations and a great many voyages to Antarctica, Alaska and Spitzberg. With the help of his books, which include his bestseller, World Cruising Routes, thousands of yachties have realised their cruising dream. At the Nautic this afternoon, he invited the general public to go on a journey with him explaining the concept behind the offshore cruising rally, the ARC, which he founded. For the record, over the past 27 years, Cornell has organised around twenty or so transatlantic rallies and five round the world rallies, with over 3,000 boats and 15,000 sailors having participated in the various events that make up his programme. His latest project? The Blue Planet Odyssea, which aims to raise awareness about the effects of climate change.
The big trip takes in the Porte de Versailles
There is going away and then there is going away, but at the Nautic this is often synonymous with an epic journey and sometimes that involves a large boat. How many people dare to put their everyday life on hold because we only live once on this planet, a planet that is incredibly beautiful and round too? Thousands… and a large part of the French population that’s for sure. In the aisles of the Nautic, the opportunities to head off into the distance are plentiful.
First of all there are boats, with an exceptional selection of French yards, world leaders in their field, whose special features haven’t been affected by the economic crisis… There are two major options here: Catamarans for the Caribbean-Panama-Polynesia-Oceania course, aluminium keelboats for the zones of Patagonia, Africa and the Arctic. Both craft are particularly versatile and though the catamaran is more spacious, stable and bright, it is also less at ease in the ice or hugging the coast… To explore the different avenues for travel, all the catamaran builders are present at the Nautic to showcase their latest new features: Catana, Fountaine-Pajot, Lagoon, Nautitech and Outremer. Some are here in the flesh, such as the latest evolution by the Fountaine-Pajot Lipari 41 and the Lagoon 39, or in the form of scale models. With regard the voyaging keelboats, the Grand Large Yachting group is exhibiting its brand new Allures 39.9, which combines elegance and brightness with all the practical aspects necessary to really live life aboard, as well as presenting its Garcia Exploration 45. This large aluminium yacht, which features an elegant silhouette, albeit with an inverted windshield, has been designed according to the specifications of Jimmy Cornell, the leading light in long-distance voyages and the author of a number of works. In fact, Jimmy Cornell gave a conference at the Nautic today about sailing to the Canaries using two testimonies from families who set off around the world quite some time ago… Because a great many candidates for long-distance voyages are total novices, fast, comprehensive training sessions have been around for a long while. STW (Sail the World), an association gathering together some 12,000 enthusiasts of long-haul oceanic travel, provides just such a service and over 1,000 trainees a year are taught about electrics, first aid, mechanics and marine weather. Demonstrations are being organised everyday at the Nautic. Other services are provided by the community, including a permanent assessment of the stopovers and nearly 5,000 offers of places aboard boats… The result is an economic (around 10 Euros/day), ecological and participative solution to carving out a wake across all the different oceans and exploring the World!
Through until 15 December, the Porte de Versailles is the primary gateway for getting away from it all!
The Nautic – Salon Nautique International de Paris, is an exhibition from the « Fédération des industries nautiques », organized by Reed Expositions France, a division of Reed Business. Fédération des Industries Nautiques Port de Javel Haut -75015 Paris – France www.industriesnautiques.fr – [email protected]. President of the Nautic – Salon Nautique International de Paris : Yves Lyon-Caen Commissioner General : Alain Pichavant Organization Reed Expositions France – Culture, Luxury and Leisure pole E-mail : [email protected] – www.salonnautiqueparis.com