Romain Bitot, edited by Loane Nader / Photo credit: LOIC VENANCE / AFP 08:04, June 08, 2023

From this Thursday, the people of Rouen will have the pleasure of welcoming many visitors passionate about sailboats on the occasion of the eighth edition of the Armada, a large gathering of these beautiful and large boats. Europe 1 went to meet a crew, who pomponized their ship with care, shortly before the start of the event.

Sailboat enthusiasts will be the happiest on this sunny weekend in Rouen, where the Armada will be held for its eighth edition. This gathering of tall ships allows their owners to exhibit their treasures in front of thousands of curious people. Europe 1 went to meet the crew of a 116-year-old rig, which is used to train future clearance divers of the French Navy, with Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, in the Yvelines, as home port.

His forehead glistening with sweat, Michel, the captain, slaloms between his tools scattered on the deck. He and his crew of four men finished raising the three masts of the ship, which each weighed two tons. "To get off Conflans, you have to dismast, because we don't go under the bridges," he explains. "It's the act of removing the masts, everything has been put on the deck of the boat. We redid the decks, we redid the bulwarks, we changed 10% of the hull sheets, "says Michel about all the renovations made by his colleagues and him.

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"I've never seen so many people"

So it's a four-day job that ends just in time, because three hours later is the long-awaited moment. Accompanied by Paul, the maritime pilot, Michel goes up the Seine for ten kilometers to moor at its location, while on the way, the crowd applauds. Joël, another member of the crew, is so moved that words fail him: "It's always a pleasure. It feels like arriving like the Vendée Globe. It's okay, I'm happy."

One last maneuver, engine off, and Michel, the captain, relishes. "I've never seen so many people on the dock to applaud this boat. It's attractive, people like boats, there is a connection with travel, with meetings..." Over the ten days of the event, thousands will come to visit his ship.