By chance, F.R.A. now finds itself at the head of seven boards donated by the Villerest club near Roanne (Loire). It was through local contacts that, a year ago, I put out a call to former raceboarders in the Rhône-Alpes region who I'd found on Facebook. Then nothing. A few months later, a contact resurfaced in the person of Jean-Edouard Turc, a former raceboarder in the 90s and current president of the Villerest sailing club in the Loire. In the 90s, Villerest was home to between 20 and 30 raceboarders, and took part in local and even international IMCO regattas. The club is now doomed to disappear. The equipment will be taken over by local clubs: CN-SE, LF Voile, Les Revottes. The club building will be taken over by the leisure center in December, to be demolished and rebuilt, with no sailing activity planned for the time being. A new chapter?
Base nautique de Villerest (Loire)
Base nautique de Villerest (Loire)
For my part, I explain to Jean-Edouard that in the Lyonnais region, raceboarding is slowly picking up again, and that several clubs are interested in the sport for leisure/discovery and leisure/regattas. The problem is, it's very difficult to find second-hand equipment. That's when Jean-Edouard, seduced by the project, suggested contacting former CV Villerest racers who still had boards at the club to sell them to FRA. Seven boards were identified, including 4 Mistral OD, two Fanatic mega/ultra cat and one Tiga racing.
These boards will be distributed throughout the region, with the first part already placed at Lyon Sport Métropole, ex ASCUL au grand large, with Eric Payan, the club's board manager, raceboarders, to maintain them and offer them to members.
Raceboards in their new club ... Lyon Sport Métropole au grand Large (Meyzieu - 69)
Both Fanatic hulls have already been refurbished by Eric. Gildas Thurin, former Francilien raceboarder in the 90s, now a Lyonnais, has taken the opportunity to join the LST and get back into racing .... 16th at the last French championship in La Baule and recent winner of the league regatta at ASPTT Lyon. Other regional contacts have also been made. History should repeat itself.
Gildas Thurin (Lyon Sport Métropole) at the 2016 French Raceboard Championships
Gildas Thurin (FRA-882) at the 2016 French Raceboard Championships
The next steps will be event regattas on raid-type courses on the lake, or 2 or 3 racer relays, to invite and introduce new raceboarders to the sport, both from within and outside the club. The aim is to make raceboarding accessible to all, both in terms of the medium and the courses on offer, on a club scale.
Jean-Edouard, a native of Saint-Etienne like Fred Becquart, was kind enough to answer a few questions as a neighbor, on November 3, 2016 at the café "Les Artistes", (you can't make that up!) the day the donation was signed to F.R.A.
Jean-Edouard Turc and Fred Becquart at 'Les Artistes' café on November 03, 2016
Jean-Edouard, what was your reaction to this unexpected upstream contact? Did the idea of a second life for these boards easily convince your friends? Surely memories of regattas and club life came up in the discussions?
I kept the gear without really thinking of using it again, but the memories and the competitions kept me from going to the ... garbage dump. I never thought I'd see the equipment again. So it was with great pleasure that I agreed to give up these boards. Friends who were no longer sailing also agreed. Recalling the fond memories of those raceboard years, they even ended up reinvesting in equipment to get back on the board!
Why has a "small" but fine structure like the CV Villerest, which was very dynamic in the 90s with a sailing school and very dynamic and representative windsurfing competition groups (around thirty racers and recreational raceboarders!), ceased all activity today?
Windsurfing is an all-round sport, ideal for youngsters, but increasingly difficult for clubs, especially the smaller ones, to sustain since the professionalization of management and the lengthening of training courses for permanent staff recruited. In the 90s, the club was able to get by with a permanent member trained in 6 months in evening classes. Today, it takes two years of full-time training to obtain a state certificate. Payroll costs are no longer the same for clubs. This was not viable for CV Villerest, which needed a full-time permanent staff member to operate.
For his part, Eric Payan has recovered 5 of the 7 boards and answers a few questions.
Can you tell us a little about LSM (Lyon Sport Métropole)?
Lyon Sport Métropole Voile is the sailing branch of the Association sportive des employés de la Ville de Lyon et de la Métropole de Lyon. The club (formerly known as ASCUL) has had a base on the Grand Large lake in the Lyon suburbs since 1981. It is a medium-sized structure (around 150 members) with a very associative structure.
The club caters for all types of sailing activities on the lake: houseboats, dinghies and windsurfers.
Eric, so you're getting boards back from the club (Lyon Sport Métropole). How did the discussions go with your president when you asked him to get boards back and relaunch raceboarding?
The club had already practiced raceboarding in the past, with two F2 Lighting boards quietly gathering dust in a corner of the grounds. After refurbishing these two boards, a few club members (including our president, J. Bert) began to show an interest in this board, which is suited to a water surface with light, shifty winds. The club's management was in favor of adding to the first two boards, so as to have enough to sail in a group, all for a budget compatible with our means.
Who will these boards be aimed at? And what practice format do you offer your members?
The boards are accessible to all members. It's one of the club's principles that every member should be able to ride all types of boards.
In practice, raceboards are easy to use on our calm waters, even for inexperienced riders. The difficulty lies rather in their relative complexity and fragility, which will require regular monitoring. We also need to think about the rigs that will be made available.
Any reactions from members yet?
It's divided into two categories: those (generally of a good level) who consider these boards to be retro, and don't accept sailing with a centreboard. Obviously, given our wind conditions, this group is often on the beach chatting rather than sailing.
And those who are interested in diversifying their practice, and have taken an interest in a more versatile type of float.
We've been able to do a few three-board sailing sessions this autumn, and the feedback has been very positive, with the pleasure of exploiting the whole stretch of water and not being limited to crosswind tacks.
What are your prospects in terms of events, given that the LSM is not a windsurfing competition club, although it can organize events.
We're thinking about organizing a fun event in June. We're at the very beginning of our work, and we're going to need the federation to help us in this process.
Have you tested any of the boards that have arrived? What are your impressions?
In addition to the F2 Lightnings I've been sailing for the past two seasons, I've also been testing the Tiga, whose taut shape and lower volume interested me. In the absence of wind, I've mostly seen its shortcomings (mediocre upwind heading) and I'm waiting for spring to check out its speed potential.
I'm also looking forward to testing the Fanatic MegaCat, whose performance seems to me to be a notch higher.
Thank you Eric for your feedback,
Fred Becquart, President of F.R.A.
