La Semaine du Golfe
26th May – 1st June 2025
Author: David Peck
(Preliminary – 18.09.24)
Introduction
This article is written to draw attention to CC19 owners an extraordinary sailing event that takes place every two years. Its aim is to encourage as many owners as possible to attend it at least once in their lives, and particularly the coming 2025 event as a group.
Event Concept
This is now an international sailing event that takes place every two years during Ascension Week in the Golfe du Morbihan in Brittany. The event has been taking place since 2001 and is for traditional and classic sailing boats of all types and sizes.
The boats are divided into 12 flotillas depending on their type and size. Each day each flotilla sails to a different town or location in the gulf, led by a Flotilla Captain usually in a large powerful motorboat. The flotilla stays there for the night and next day, after a morning briefing, then sails to a different location. In the evenings there are meals and entertainment of all types provided, including traditional folk groups, jazz bands, singing of sea shanties, Bretagne dancing etc.
The sailing is quite relaxed and often there are stops for lunch or just waiting for the tide turn (the tides are very strong and you can’t sail against them). Where you are anchored or moored/rafted up in rivers or bays there are launches/trot boats to take ashore and back to your boats.
The event is not just for the sailing crews but also for the general public who attend in their thousands to join in the festivities and to watch the boats sailing past from the hill tops and islands. The whole area is packed for the whole week. I cannot imagine people in the UK wanting to watch boats sail by!
The event is sponsored by all the local Municipalities and Bretagne Tourist board and is totally free (apart from drinks and food-although there is often complimentary food and drink on offer in some locations). There are no registration, mooring, launching (by crane or slipway), retrieval, or coach transport fees to pay.
The official website for La Semaine du Golfe (in English) can be accessed via the following link:
https://www.semainedugolfe.com/home-2232-0-0-0.html
Grande Parades of Sail
The event starts and finishes with a Grande Parade of all the boats taking part in the event. It is led by the magnificent Tall Sailing Ships that come from all over Europe to participate. They start by sailing into the entrance of the Golfe and sail through all the islands up to and past Port Blanc. All the various flotillas that have been at anchor waiting near the entrance then follow behind them at carefully orchestrated times, triggered by their flotilla captains, to give a continuous parade of boats. It is quite a magnificent sight to see and guarantees to pack all the banks and hill sides with spectators.
Watching boats sail by
Tall ships anchored off Port Blanc
Below are two video links to last year’s Grande Parade (in French) and one in 2017.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RY288eO–4o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V1NkQc5WWo
Flotillas/Registration
It is important that all the CC19’s join the same flotilla when registering because when looking at the list, it appears our boats could fit into several categories.
I originally chose flotilla 3bis because it mentioned Shrimper boats as a typical example. It states “Small traditional Leisure Boats (Flotilla 3 – open boats, 3bis – deck boats). As it turns out, this is quite useful because 3 and 3bis sail together and because 3 are open topped boats they need to be initially based near a camp site for their crews to be able to sleep ashore. Note: once registered there is no commitment to actually attend but it does ensure you are given all the latest information and news of the event. It also helps the organisers to know how many are likely to attend and plan accordingly.
Currently the website is not fully open yet and registration looks a little vague. For example, my boat is shown under my account details but not listed automatically in 3bis. Also, if trying to register a new boat, it would appear they are trying to change the flotilla designations from numbers i.e. 3 and 3bis to letters. I will try to contact them on this and update this article accordingly.
Location/base
Where the base for flotilla 3/3bis will be located in 2025 is not yet known and will probably not be known until the New Year when the organising committees meet and plan the routes and timetable based on the tides for the week. The first time I did the event 3bis was based at Lamor Baden, as was the camp site, but for the 2023 event the base and camp site were at Port Blanc. We still launched our boats at Larmor Baden, however, probably due to it having a larger slipway and crane.
Flotilla Routes
There are 19 towns and places that participate in the event so obviously they cannot all be visited during the event. We will probably not know our daily routes and excursions until the New Year when they have been finally drawn up. Hopefully they will include a visit to the beautiful and historic Bretagne capital Vannes as well as Auray. The routes will be included later, and this article updated when known.
Rafted up in Auray
Moored in the marina at Vannes
Lunch stop on the L’ Ile d’Arz. Our boats are anchored in the bay seen in the background
Daily Briefings
On arrival at the launching site, when signing in, you have to sign a declaration that the skipper must attend all the morning briefings, and all crew must wear lifejackets. When I first did this event, after a couple of days the Flotilla skipper said “I notice all you English do not wear lifejackets! Well, the tides run very fast and deep here. If you fall in we will do our best to save you but the chances are, we will not be able to!” The next day we all wore lifejackets.
The briefings are held in French and then translated into English. The routes to be taken are shown on charts and any special considerations to be taken into account are explained.
Route being explained on chart during Briefing
Launching/Retrieval
The launching options for flotilla 3bis will be notified to entrants once they have planned the routes but I would expect it to be Larmor Baden again. Here you have the option of either using the very good slipway or having it craned in. I always go for the crane launching option. If choosing this option, you must book it in advance with the Harbour Master. On-line forms will be available at the time to book it. There will be lots of volunteers around at the time to assist and direct you.
Hauling out is a bit more of a problem. Once the event finishes on the Saturday night everything seems to shut down and, on the Sunday, everywhere becomes deserted and you are left to your own devices. For example, the Harbour Master and his team will then be on holiday until the Wednesday. So, it will not be possible to get a crane lift out. If you require that, you will have to go the marina at Port du Crouesty who will lift you out on the Sunday (or Monday) but there will be a charge (but much reduced for event participants). Last year I got a friend to sail my boat round to the marina whilst I took my car and trailer to the marina. I always consider this worthwhile rather than immersing my trailer in salt water, especially if you are single handed.
Of course, if you are happy to retrieve your boat on the slipway you are free to do so. If we finish at Port Blanc again on the Saturday, you will have to sail your boat back to Larmor Baden the next day.
Craning in at Larmor Baden
Lifting out at Port du Crouesty
Trailer Storage
With hundreds of boats arriving on trailers there must be somewhere to store them for the week and there are several fields set aside around Larmor Baden for this purpose and are well sign posted. It is the same for other launching sites.
Accommodation
Accommodation is available for those not wishing (or unable) to sleep on their boats. This would be at a chosen location near to where your flotilla is based. This is likely to be a campsite that typically supports tent camping, caravans/motor homes and small chalets. If Port Blanc is the chosen base again for Flotilla 3/3bis then it will likely be The Camping de Penn Mar campsite that has a large number of chalets that are bookable in advance (see enclosure 1 for typical chalet/lodge).
Website: https://vacances-andretrigano.com/camping/golfe-du-morbihan/penn-mar-baden
Alternatively, you could hire a nearby Gite if all the chalets are taken by the time you enter. It needs to be reasonably near to the appointed campsite, however, as this will be the pick-up point to transport you to your boats each day.
More will be written on this when the actual base locations and camp sites are known. Also, I intend to write to them to see if they can advise in advance the base and campsite chosen for flotilla 3bis. This would enable us to get chalet bookings in early.
Transportation
When your flotilla finishes a route away from your base, a fleet of coaches is organised to transport those not sleeping aboard back to the campsite in the evening. The next morning the coaches take you back to where you left your boats. It must be pointed out that some of these journeys are quite long and can take nearly an hour. Hence early starts from the pick-up point can apply. For some of the locations, such as Auray and Vannes it may well be worth staying aboard, if possible, as it gives you more time to explore the towns. The downside to this is that there are no real suitable facilities such as showers.
It is necessary to book transport in advance as they need to organise how many coaches are required. If you decide not to go back to the campsite on some occasions, it won’t matter as they don’t check names.
Travel
How you travel to the Golfe du Morbihan may well depend on where you live or are coming from. If you are coming from the UK, you obviously have to make a North Sea or Channel crossing either by the Dover tunnel or by various ferries. Crossing on the Dover ferries may well appear cheaper but do run the risk of disruption due to the heavy freight traffic using it. The roads in France are naturally very good and easy to follow down through Brittany to the Golfe du Morbihan. You need to allow yourself plenty of time to get to Larmor Baden (assuming this to be our launching site) so you can launch in plenty of time on the Sunday. When you get close to the chosen port look out for temporary signs directing you to your launching site.
Ferries
Unfortunately, ferries are not cheap, and this may be a big factor in deciding whether to participate in this event. If it puts you off, bear in
mind that there are no enrolment, launching, mooring fees to pay and as I have said before, is an extraordinary event to do at least once in your lifetime if possible!
I have always taken the Brittany Ferries Saturday night ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo. This gives you an early start on Sunday morning on relatively deserted roads. The journey time should be under 3 hours with a short stop if required.
For the return journey I book the Tuesday night ferry from St Malo to Portsmouth. For some reason Brittany Ferries do not appear to offer a Monday night crossing. However, I have always found this useful as it allows you to have a couple of days exploring the towns around the Golfe du Morbihan with the crowds gone and if arriving early in St Malo, time to walk around its wonderful historic walled city. You can leave your car and trailer in the Ferry Port waiting area.
A discount on Brittany Ferries is offered to all entrants and a code is obtained from the organisers at time of entry in order to claim this. It is not a large discount, however.
Note: When booking ferry tickets, it is strongly advised that you book “Flexi” tickets that enable you to change the dates or cancel for a full refund should your circumstances change.
Meals
Meals are provided at all the stop-over locations as well as some lunchtime stops. These are bookable and paid for in advance on their website. Alternatively, you can just queue up at the time and buy from a selection of meals. I believe there is usually a vegetarian choice. If you choose not to order in advance, you have the option of going to any nearby café or restaurant. By ordering and paying in advance, you do get a small discount. Some locations may well be offering complimentary
drinks and food, such as local ciders/biers and oysters (very nice).
Entertainment
All the locations will be offering entertainment in some form or other. This ranges from traditional Bretagagne singing and dancing, sea shanties, jazz bands, marching bands to the more modern pop groups for the younger generation. The whole atmosphere for the week is one of carnival with people dressing up as pirates or wearing traditional clothes. The entertainment on the last day in Port Blanc was particularly good with packed crowds watching and joining in.
If you are at a location where you need to be bused back, ensure you know the time of the last coach back and where to catch it.
Crowds enjoying the festivities
Local Bretagne Pipe Band
Charts
You will need to purchase a paper/plastic chart of the area. I purchased a chart from a French nautical company last year but don’t have the details at present. I will update the details later. I used to have a very useful semi ridged waterproof plastic chart that was a convenient size for use in the cockpit but unfortunately it got blown overboard on a previous occasion and could not find a replacement for it.
Although you are sailing in a flotilla and can just follow the fleet (or Flotilla Captain), if you go astray for any reason, you need to know where you are as all the different islands can look the same and be very disorientating. It is therefore advisable to download a chart like Navionics on your phone or iPad if you don’t already have one or don’t have a chart plotter.
Paper Charts Supplied (suitable for study only)
Costs
Entry (registration), all moorings, launching and hauling out, transport to and from your boats are totally free. Your only costs are for your accommodation at the campsite, your food and drinks and your costs for getting there.
Enclosure 1
Lodge 2/4 pers.
Non-contractual photos
Lodge
Inventory
Lodgy 2/4 pers.
To bookTo book
SURFACE21 m 2o
BEDSBedroom 1 : 2 single beds 80 x 190 cmBedroom 2 : Double bed 140 x 190 cm
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KITCHEN AREAEquipped with fridge/freezer, induction hotplate, electric coffee makerDishwashing and cleaning kit
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BATHROOM1 bathroom with shower, sink and toilet
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COVERED TERRACEWith garden furniture
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OTHER INFORMATIONThis accommodation is equipped with a safePillows and blankets. Heating and air conditioning only in the master bedroom. Kitchenette on the terrace with water supply.
