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Nautical Center of Glénans
Atlantic Ocean
The famous Sailing School – le centre nautique des Glénans – in the archipelago of Les Glénan was created in 1947 and ever since, has trained thousands of yachtsmen, instructors and skippers of long-range boats, the most reputed ones being Michel Desjoyeaux and Franck Cammas, who tacked around the waters off the archipelago before going on to win trophies.
Environment
Sustainable policy
Service quality
The famous site of the Glenan Archipelago
With its semi-closed stretch of water, its translucent waters and its preserved islands, the Glenan Archipelago is the ideal setting for trainees to hone their sailing skills in an authentic atmosphere close to nature. A colourful ballet of sails circles around the Fort Cigogne, Penfret, Drenec and Bananec islands every day, with a superimposition and intermingling of masts.
6000 participants trained each summer
There is a training programme for everyone, from beginners and seasoned sailors to instructors. Some 6,000 participants hence learn the basics of sailing at the four sites on the archipelago every year. Volunteers account for 80% of the personnel supervising the training programmes! Open to trainees between April and October, the Glenan archipelago site operates all year round and has a permanent workforce of 10 persons based on the mainland. The Glenans school building in the Concarneau Harbour welcomes trainees all through the year and serves as a departure point for cruises visiting the islands around Brittany, England, Ireland … or the Antilles. ‘We have some 450 trainees at the same time in the full swing of summer, which means that over 8 tons of food must be shipped from the mainland every week,’ explains Yann Le Lay, the Glenan archipelago site manager. A skipper and a liaison team ensure the provision of fresh supplies to the islands aboard ‘L’Archipel’, a 12.50m-long trawler-like vessel. Over 4½ tons of bottled water are also shipped to the islands every week.
A fleet of 135 boats
On an overall, the Glenans Sailing School has around 135 boats in the archipelago. The modern and diverse fleet of the school comprises inhabitable cruise boats, catamarans (62 Hobie Cats, 14 Hobie Twixxy, 3 Tricat 22), sailing dinghies (16 Laser Vago, 18 Laser Solo, 6 Laser 2000 and 3 Twenty-Niners), 80 windsurfing boards and 25 Glenans 5.7 type boats for an introduction to cruise sailing. The fleet is renewed every year and in recent years, greater emphasis has been laid on windsurfing boards with the acquisition of 12 Kona One (for more technical riding), 12 Exocet Match and 4 Bic Techno boards for an introduction to fun boarding.
A well-structured organisation
Trainees are sent to the different sites on the Glenan Archipelago according to their age and training programme.
Fort Cigogne
Located in the middle of the Room, the Fort Cigogne site welcomes adults for an introduction to cruise sailing and offers training programmes for instructors. Trainees have the privilege of sharing the premises of this former fort dating back to the 18th century. It is an ideal place to adapt to life in a community and to learn the basics of navigation before trying open-sea cruising.
Young trainees who are interested in an introduction to cruise sailing are welcomed on the Bananec islet, which is connected to the island of Saint Nicolas by a tombolo. They sleep in the dormitories of a U-shaped stone building and in large tents during the summer season.
Dormitories and tents are also available on the Penfret Island for young sailing and gliding enthusiasts.
Facing the island of Saint Nicolas, the Drenec site is devoted to the training of adult gliding enthusiasts, with accommodation in a former farm, a most authentic place to enjoy life in a community.
All hands on deck
Whether they are volunteers or employees working on land or on sea, the training personnel always works in the same bonded team spirit. The site manager, Tom Daune ensures the overall supervision of this hierarchical organisation from Concarneau. Each site is managed under the authority of the site manager, who ensures the educational monitoring and the coordination of the teamwork of volunteer instructors. The person in charge of nautical activities looks after the equipment, the training aspect and the running of the site. He also manages the planning and technical aspects. The stewards look after the stocks, the provision of fresh supplies and hygiene. They are in direct contact with the hostesses or hosts, who organise the meals and supervise the teams helping with domestic chores. They are part of the training personnel and have an integral contribution in the organisation of training courses.
Volunteers, the strength of CNG
These volunteer positions were created to give the chance to sailing enthusiasts without the means to pay to receive training in sailing. The initiative of the Glenans school aims at giving access to sailing to all. But the strength of the school rests its instructors. Some 800 volunteers in all and 70 of them on the archipelago take turns every summer to supervise the training and help in organising stays. They have different profiles and occupations and come from different regions but they all spend their summer holidays supervising trainees to share their passion and the values learnt at the Glenans school. Antoine, who is a project manager for an accounting firm in Paris, has thus supervised various training courses during his summer holidays. Before becoming a sailing instructor, he was a computer engineer. He chucked up everything to live his passion for sailing and doesn’t show any regret for making such a drastic change. ‘I wouldn’t give up this new life in the open air with passionate people and in an island atmosphere.’
Making sailing training more accessible
Right from the outset, the school has contributed to make sailing more accessible to all, especially to youngsters and women. Its particular training style is based on situational exercises and on the sharing of lessons from common experiences. Trainees and instructors learn together and constantly work on developing greater autonomy. Gender mixity was as much of an evidence for Philippe and Helene Viannay, who founded the school, as it was in the time of the Resistance.
Enhancing women in the world of sailing
From the early day, women could thus have claims to positions of responsibility based on merit – as instructors and as skippers, amongst others. All the positions at the Glenans Sailing School are open to women in a sports environment which was perceived as not fitting their abilities. Clarence, who is in charge of the sea activities at Fort Cigogne since a year and a half, has been a volunteer for 10 years before taking up a paid position within the association. This young woman coming from Grenoble has always been fond of wide spaces and has a craving for the sea. She immediately adhered to the spirit of solidarity prevailing in the community of sea people and has made herself a place among them. Clarence, who is the first woman to hold such a position, is thankful to Helene Viannay and Helen Mac Arthur who, according to her, have furthered the cause of gender equality in the community of sea people. ‘The main aim of the association, beyond providing participants with sailing skills, is to enable their personal development through life in a community and to encourage them to take responsibilities.’
Advancing safety at sea
The Glenans school is well-known for its know-how in terms of safety at sea, in the development of equipment and particularly for its influence on the practice of leisure crafting. It favoured the emergence of the first life jackets, of security briefings prior to setting off on a cruise or even the introduction of the duty of keeping a watch. The school continues to innovate and has produced a guidebook on Glenans training courses (Cours des Glenans), now in its sixth edition, which comprises 1,312 pages.
Adapting the boats to ease learning
To facilitate the acquisition of sailing skills, a journalist, Philippe Viannay and his wife have ordered a sailboat named ‘Vaurien’ (after his dog) from the naval architect, Jean-Jacques Herbulot, which will be a happening in the world of yachting. Other famous vessels are ‘La Caravelle’ and an inhabitable sailboat made of marine plywood named ‘Le Corsaire’. ‘Le Folavoalh’ is a 9.80m-long schooner with two same-sized masts which is specially adapted for the development of crew coordination abilities when doing manoeuvres. It can accommodate up to 9 crew members for introduction sessions to cruise sailing and for the training of instructors in the Glenan Archipelago.
Ecole de voile des Glénans
Pricing (from) - 300.00 €
Opening period - The base is open to trainees from April to October.
Sailing, key-features
One of the most famous mooring spot in the atlantic ★★.
The site is renowned for its amazing seascapes with its turquoise water and unspoilt white sand beaches. The Glénan Archipelago has the optimum conditions for learning navigation. Ideally located 18 km ds Finistère coast Glénan were occupied in turn by monks, pirates, soldiers, lobster fishermen and farmers, and is used today as water sports by the trainees of the International sailing school Glénans and divers IPC.
Geographic and biological features : With its semi-enclosed water, its clear waters and pristine islands, the archipelago offers an ideal setting for sailing trainees operating in an authentic atmosphere in contact with nature between the tide, current and islands. The lack of construction on the islets, sandbanks and the strong presence of Maerl give the archipelago a Caribbean look. The clarity of its funds was also due to offshore waters that enter the Bay of Concarneau along the islands and remain well away from urban and industrial discharges.
An natural commitment for nature preservation ★★
Presentation : It all began on the island of Loch in the heart of the archipelago Glénan. It is on this piece of land Celtic isolated in a turquoise lagoon, Philippe and Hélène Viannay decide to install a leisure center to help young resistant disoriented by the war to rebuild. The sail is quickly becoming the spearhead of the association which in 1947 was renamed Centre Nautique Glénans (with an ‘s’ unlike the spelling of the archipelago). Today, nearly 6000 students are welcomed in the four bases of the archipelago and are trained each year in the basics of navigation.
Environmental policy : Beyond training in sailing, the school of Les Glénans stands out by its pioneer commitment and its solidarity mindset inherited from the WWII resistance, as the assistance and taking responsibility are of betting. Trainees CNG learn to live in community and to respect the exceptional site where they stay. Waste management has been optimized in the Life program ‘Managing the Environment for Sustainable Tourism’. After being sorted, the solid waste is compacted in compactors, and the bales are transported to the continent where they integrate the treatment of waste mainland. This management has been made possible by the construction of a sailing together: a 10.5 m easement allows vessels to tow a barge equipped bins to collect waste, including recyclable. The crane on board the boat allows easy handling of selective collection bins placed on Saint-Nicolas. With its shallow draft and ability to run aground on the beaches, all environmentally friendly. When she is not used for loading and reloading, the barge is moored near mooring areas in the center of the archipelago so that boaters can dispose of their waste. Trainees learn to live on the island as if they were on a boat. Sea water is pumped and used for cooking, while rainwater is recovered. Nearly 160 solar panels, wind turbines and a few groups provide electricity, used primarily for places of common life and the media. The school is currently recommended by the Coastal Conservation to minimize its impact on the site of the archipelago.
Awareness of environmental protection : respect for the environment is an integral part of everyday sailor training. The briefing and debriefing monitors are very comprehensive and informative and insist on respect for marine ecosystems. The school helped make sailing more accessible to all, especially to young people and women through a unique training mode based on the experiences together: trainees and instructors learn together and seek to develop still more autonomy.
Awards and recognition : After sixty years of experience, the school of Les Glénans remains one of the largest nautical centers in Europe and has several bases in Brittany and Corsica.
The largest sailing school in Europe ★★
A nautical institution : Each year, about 14,000 trainees and 860 monitors (including 800 volunteers) involved nearly 107,000 days on the different bases of the school. Exceptional island sites, whose preservation has always concerned the school of managers, aware minimize the impact of their presence and manage development problems of waste, erosion and energy.
Boats: In total, the Sailing School Glénans account up to 135 boats in the archipelago. Modern and diversified, the school’s fleet includes cruise ships habitable catamarans (Hobie Cat 62, Hobie 14 Twixxy, 3 Tricat 22) dinghies (16 Vago lasers, lasers 18 Solo, Laser 2000 6 3 Twenty Niner), 80 windsurfers and 25 Glénans 5.7 initiation to the cruise. The fleet is renewed every year in order to limit the impact on the water.
Accommodation and meals: The weekly stays are provided with full-board accommodation in dormitories or tents. The trainees and the immense privilege of having a full week in this beautiful nature reserve.
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