• The Götheborg is the largest wooden sailing ship in the world and is calling at Nice until October 3.

  • For the occasion,

    20 Minutes

    came on board and went back to the 18th century.

It's a famous three-master, thin as a bird, but it's not the Bel Espoir II that Hugues Aufray refers to in his song.

This is Götheborg, 47.54 m long and 10.84 m wide.

In other words, the "largest wooden sailboat in the world".

This recreation of an 18th century Swedish East India Company ship made historic crossings from Sweden to Shanghai.

It is by following in his footsteps that this unique replica, which left Götheborg at the beginning of June, stopped over in Helsinki, London or even Malaga and then Nice, for a weekend.

On this occasion,

20 Minutes

embarked and lived a "200-year-old" experience.

"We can sail without consuming diesel"

“The purpose of this trip is also to remind you that you can sail without consuming diesel, that you can have a 1,200-ton boat that carries a message without having to go all the way with an engine", recalls the second in command, Kenan Jaouen.

This Frenchman is one of the three officers who has the most responsibility over the crew who come from all over the world.

He adds: “Everything is made like in the 18th century, it's real wood everywhere.

The masts are eighteen trees put together each time.

The rest is also made of natural fibers, that is to say hemp for the ropes, linen for the sails, which are also sewn by hand”.

More than 1,600 m2 of sails are hoisted, the same volume is in the holds in addition to what can also be manufactured.

This job is Aurélien, 24, who takes care of it.

He boarded in Malaga and will stay until Barcelona where the boat will spend the winter before heading back to Asia.

Like the second captain, but also like several other members of the crew, he sailed on the Hermione and wanted to work on "this three-master".

"It's my passion," he exclaims.

Here, I maintain, repair and manufacture the sails with traditional materials in addition to helping with the maintenance of the boat.

We then realize that at the time, everything was working perfectly.

A logic, and sometimes common sense, which I feel is being lost today.

»

80 crew members

In the tasks of the sailors, it also happens to have to climb to the top of the masts.

This is what Camille, 28, prefers.

She finds it "incredible to move a big thing like that just by the strength of the humans on it".

Astrid, 31, agrees: “It's so gigantic that we can't do anything alone.

Historically, it's interesting because we're going back to fundamentals.

For maneuvers to work, we have to work together.

It gives a good atmosphere.

»

In total, they are 80 in the crew between professionals, volunteers and those who want to learn, called "deckhand".

Among them, Philippe, 49, who “loves the sea”.

What impressed him the most were "the enormous ropes", covered with tar, and the "very simple wooden pulleys compared to what is done today", he underlines before listening the captain's instructions.

A "better world"

And to navigate “in conditions”, the men and women on the boat proudly wear the clothes of yesteryear.

Kenan Jaouen, wool felt “tricorn” hat on his head and white tights on his feet, explains: “I wanted to experiment as closely as possible with the captains of the time to better understand how they did my job.

In addition to clothes, he immersed himself "in books" to obtain "maximum information", "to study the weather and to know how to get from point A to point B thanks to the winds".

He concludes: “I sailed for a long time in the merchant navy and we consume a lot to transport things that are sometimes useless.

Through this journey, I would like us to understand that we can invent a lot thanks to technology, but that masts and sails have made it possible to transport tons and tons of cargo for centuries and that we could have a better world this way.

Once in China, the enthusiast would like to be able to continue sailing with Götheberg.


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Does Nice want the cruise to set sail?

The Götheberg is in Nice until October 3 and then leaves for Monaco until the 6. It is possible to visit it from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Adult price at 15 euros.

For children, 7.50 euros.

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