Saskia meets Gitana17, a nuclear submarine and lots of dolphins

Published 13:53 on 14 Aug 2020

.After the lifting of quarantine with France on July 10th Rima and I decide to reinstate our annual cruise to the Atlantic French coast. On Saturday 11th July we left our mooring and waved to the club boats preparing for their trip to Swanage as we headed out for for LÄôAber WracÄôh in Brittany. We were unsure how we would be treated as one of the first British yachts in France but we need not have worried. We were made most welcome when we arrived and I was able to enjoy my favourite Breton beer on draft in the local Yacht Club.Of course Covid 19 restrictions were in place. We had to wear face masks in the Capitainerie and shops etc but it was clear that the French holidays were definitely taking place.We cruised south to Camaret via the Chenal du Four. After entering the Rade de Brest we were buzzed by a French navy helicopter. I could not understand why the Navy was so interested until Rima pointed out to me the very large submarine passing us on the surface that somehow I had missed while trying to control the boat in 25knts gusts with full sail. According to Tim Day ex submariner, she is a brand new first of class nuclear attack submarine/ Barracuda class.After a few days in Camaret we made our way to Lorient via the Raz de Sein. While we approaching the Point du Penmarch which is sometimes called the Äúgateway to the sunÄù we hit fog! I spotted something approaching us quite fast on the AIS. As the fog cleared I realised that it was the 32 meter maxi trimaran Gitana 17 sailing north with a huge code zero doing 8knts in 4 knts of breeze. She was sailing to Cherbourg to take part in the Drhream Cup which was her last race before her attempt on the round the world Jules Verne record in September. The boat is co skippered by Frank Cammas who Rima sailed with in the Americas Cup World series in Portsmouth. The Drhream Cup goes from Cherbourg, Fastnet (or Wolf rock for the smaller boats) to La Trinite. Club member Steve Fraser assisted the Cherbourg Yacht Club race team to start this prestigious offshore race. Gitana 17 eventually won the race in her class after a very close battle with her rival trimarans Sodebo and Actual Leader. We enjoyed a pleasant stay in Lorient which is where most of the Vendee Globe open 70 fleet is based in a Marina near the old Nazi submarine pens called the ÄúLa BaseÄù. In particular we met Nicolas Troussel (previous Vendee Globe winner) who was holding the official naming ceremony for his new yacht Corum in our Marina. I asked him about the interesting leading edges on his dual rudders. He said they are designed to give better control at high speed.After a pleasant stay in Lorient we sailed to Ile DÄôYeu, an island in the Bay of Biscay. On the way down we saw many dolphins which were a feature of the trip. Almost everywhere we went we saw dolphins who loved to play with the boat. They are certainly not an endangered species on the Atlantic French coast which is good news. The Marina was very busy when we arrived and had to raft off seven deep. However next morning we found a suitable pontoon space.Ile DÄôYeu was very busy with the French holiday season in full swing so we left after a few nights to avoid the crowds. The forecast was a good south westerly which would get us back up north. However I had forgotten just how lumpy Biscay gets when there is a strong wind from the South West and neither of us felt like eating on the long passage back north (14hrs).We met our French friends, Eric and Ann in Loctudy who entertained us in true French style at their period holiday home. We sailed with Eric back up to Carmaret where we learnt that Boris was going to possibly impose quarantine restrictions on travellers returning back from France in five daysÄô time. We decided to quickly return to Weymouth via LÄôAber WracÄôh arriving back this Tuesday evening. We had a slow trip back with little wind however during the whole channel passage we did not see one yacht! (But lots of Dolphins!).Dolphins

Last updated 15:13 on 28 July 2025