Around legendary ships such as the Belem, Phoenix, Milpat, Granvillaise or Nebula, passionate collectors and associations dedicated to preserving maritime heritage have brought together boats linked to the history of Normandy's navy: sloops, luggers, barques, canoes... old rigs or more recent vessels.
- Thursday June 26: ships arrive from 10am to 4pm
- Friday June 27 and Saturday June 28: from 9am, free daytime tours
Sunday June 29: the millennium fleet will sail down the canal from Caen to the sea, from 10 am to 1:30 pm
On foot, by bike, on rollerblades or on scooters (and looking straight ahead) you'll be able to greet and accompany the crews all along the greenway. The boats will then sail past the beaches of the Côte de Nacre before setting sail.
Q1 - Visitable sailboats on Quai François Mitterrand (Port of Caen)
⛵ Le Phoenix
Le Phoenix is a square-rigged sailing ship with a rich cinematic past, built in 1929 in Denmark. Initially designed as a schooner for evangelical missions, then used as a coaster in the North Sea, she was transformed into a brigantine in 1974.
In 1988, the Phoenix joined the British Square Sail fleet and began a new career as an actor in his own right. He becomes the star of many iconic films such as 1492: Christopher Columbus, Napoleon or In the Heart of the Ocean.
Le Phoenix
⚓ Technical specifications
Type : Square sailboat (brigantine)
Build year : 1929 (converted to brigantine in 1974)
Pavilion : France 🇫🇷
Home port : Port-Haliguen, France
Overall length: 34 meters
Width (main beam): 6.5 meters
Air draft: 25 meters
Draft: 2.5 meters
Placement: Quai François Mitterrand
🌐 Useful links
Website: les-voiles-oceane.com/presentation/le-phoenix
Marine Traffic link: See where the Phoenix is located
⛵ La Croix du Sud III
The association was founded in 1997 with the aim of maintaining traditional boats and making them available to people in difficulty or at risk. In 2000, its president, a police officer by profession, decided to specialize in working with juvenile delinquents, in partnership with the youth protection service. In 2024, a new course was set: child protection and inter-generational links. Several agreements were signed with child protection services, Emmaüs, the AFPA and the Lycée Maritime, among others.
Croix du sud III
⚓ Technical specifications
Pavilion: France 🇫🇷
Home port: Camaret, France
Overall length: 18 meters
Width (main beam) : 3.9 meters
Air draft : 14.5 meters
Draft : 1.9 meters
Placement : Quai Vandeuvre
⛵ L'Ami Pierre
The bisquine l'Ami Pierre is a working boat well known for its stability and power under sail during the regattas between the fishermen of Granville and Cancale for the glory and fame of their hometowns.
It is characteristic of the Mont Saint-Michel region located between Saint-Malo and Granville in France in the 19th century. This type of boat was used to dredge oysters in the Bay of Mont Saint-Michel, trawl for them and, for the larger ones, line fish.
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L'Ami Pierre
⚓ Technical specifications
Pavilion: France 🇫🇷
Home port: Saint-Vaast la Hougue, France
Overall length: 18 meters
Width (main beam) : 2 meters
Air draft : 12 meters
Draft : 1.5 meters
Placement : Quai Vandeuvre
⛵ La Recouvrance
La Recouvrance is a topsail schooner, a replica of a 19th-century military aviso, emblematic of the city of Brest. This ship, designed to carry urgent mail, monitor maritime trade and combat the slave trade on the coasts of Africa and the West Indies, was inspired by the "Iris" model designed in 1817.
Built in the 1990s,La Recouvrance is named after a Brest neighborhood, where sailors' families would go to pray for the return of their loved ones. Today, she is owned by the city of Brest and serves as an ambassador ship.
La recouvrance
⚓ Technical specifications
Type: topsail schooner (19th-century replica)
Year built: 1990s (replica of the 1817 aviso Iris)
Pavilion: France 🇫🇷
Home port: Brest, France
Overall length: 42 meters
Width (main beam) : 6.40 meters
Air draft : 28 meters
Draft : 3.20 meters
Placement : Quai François Mitterrand
🌐 Useful links
Website : larecouvrance.com
Marine Traffic link: See where La Recouvrance is located
Q1 - Visitable sailboats on Quai Vendeuvre (Port of Caen)
⛵ La Granvillaise
La Granvillaise is a bisquine, a replica of a traditional fishing sailboat from the Bay of Mont-Saint-Michel, built in 1990 in Granville.
She regularly takes part in gatherings of old riggings and offers sea outings to introduce people to traditional sailing.
Jerome Jeanne
⚓ Technical specifications
Type : Bisquine
Year of construction : 1990
Pavilion : France 🇫🇷
Home port : Granville, France
Overall length: 32.3 meters
Width (main beam): 4.8 meters
Air draft: 24 meters
Draft: 2.7 meters
Placement: Quai Vandeuvre
🌐 Useful links
Website: lagranvillaise.org
Marine Traffic link: See where Granvillaise is located
⛵ Le MilPat
Le MilPat is a former Bigouden langoustine boat, one of the last representatives of the malamoks, the multi-purpose fishing boats of the Pays Bigouden. Built in 1962 for trawling, she was decommissioned in 1988, then restored in Fécamp between 2001 and 2009.
Classed a Bateau d'Intérêt Patrimonial, she sails today as a witness to Breton maritime heritage.
Milpat
⚓ Technical specifications
Type : Langoustier
Year of construction : 1962
Pavillon : France 🇫🇷
Home port : Fécamp, France
Overall length : 23 meters
Width (beam master): 5.2 meters
Air draft: 20 meters
Draft: 2.4 meters
Placement: Quai Vandeuvre
🌐 Useful links
Website: fecampvieuxgreements.org/les-bateaux/milpat
Marine Traffic link: See where Milpat is located
⛵ Le Charles Marie
Charles-Marie was born a trawler in 1968 at the Servain shipyard in Granville. Featuring a beautiful sailboat hull with a rounded "Norwegian butt" stern to facilitate handling of side trawls and trolling lines, she is a robust and safe vessel. The Le Ponton association decides to transform her into a charter sailboat at the Blainville-sur-Mer shipyard.
Charles Marie
⚓ Technical specifications
Type : Dundee
Build year : 1968
Pavilion : France 🇫🇷
Home port : Granville, France
Overall length: 24 meters
Width (main beam): 5.6 meters
Air draft: 18 meters
Draft: 2.4 meters
Placement: Quai Vendeuvre
🌐 Useful links
Website: Home - Charles Marie
Marine Traffic link: See where Charles-Marie is located
⛵ La Neire Mâove
The Neire Mâove (meaning "black seagull" in Norman patois) is an auric schooner built in 1992 in Barneville-Carteret, inspired by 19th-century fishing and piloting boats.
Classed a Bateau d'Intérêt Patrimonial in 2015, she sails mainly along the Normandy coast and to the Channel Islands.
Neire Mâove
⚓ Technical specifications
Type : Auric schooner
Year of construction : 1992
Pavilion : France 🇫🇷
Home port : Barneville-Carteret, France
Overall length: 18 meters
Width (main beam): 4 meters
Air draft: 18 meters
Draft: 2.4 meters
Placement: Quai Vendeuvre
🌐 Useful links
Website: neiremaove.com
Marine Traffic link: See where Neire Mâove is located
⛵ Le François Monique
The "Petit Foc" association, based in Trouville sur Mer, is a traditional rigging association dedicated to the rehabilitation of a traditional shellfish rig, the "François Monique". This 1935 shellfish sloop from the Brest harbor was launched in 1935 and has been sailing off the Calvados coast since 2008, thanks to the work of the association's volunteers.
They also take part in nautical events promoting "old-style" sailing and offer sea outings from the Côte Fleurie to discover the pleasure of sea rides. Come and take part in the maneuvers in the company of "old sea wolves" to share moments of history and pleasure.
Le Petit Foc
⚓ Technical specifications
Pavilion: France 🇫🇷
Home port: Cherbourg, France
Overall length: 11.4 meters
Width (main beam) : 4 meters
Air draft : 15.7 meters
Draft : 1.9 meters
Placement : Quai Vandeuvre
⛵ Le Marie-Fernand
Le Marie-Fernand is a pilot cutter from Le Havre built in 1894 at the Abel Lemarchand yard.
Classified as a Historic Monument in 1986, she has been restored to sail again and takes part in numerous maritime events, representing Normandy's naval heritage.
Marie Fernand
⚓ Technical specifications
Type : Pilot cutter
Build year : 1894
Pavilion : France 🇫🇷
Home port : Le Havre, France
Overall length : 21 meters
Width (main beam) : 4.3 meters
Air draft : 21 meters
Draft : 2.5 meters
Placement : Quai Vandeuvre
🌐 Useful links
Website : marie-fernand.fr
Marine Traffic link: See where Marie Fernand is located
Q2 - Visitable sailboats on Quai de Normandie
⛵ Le Foudroyant
Le Foudroyant is a traditional schooner, a replica of an 18th-century model. Work is underway to modify the vessel, giving the public an opportunity to follow the development of this new project. The crew favors co-navigation to encourage and highlight the discovery of traditional sailing.
Le Foudroyant
⚓ Technical specifications
Type : topsail schooner
Build year : 1983
Pavillon : France 🇫🇷
Home port : Rouen
Overall length: 27 meters
Width (beam): 5.5 meters
Air draft: 20 meters
Draft: 2.35 meters
Placement: Quai de Normandie
⛵ Le Biche
Built in Les Sables-d'Olonne for an owner from Groix, Biche fished tuna until 1956 before sailing under Belgian and English flags. In 1992, she was bought by the Port-Musée de Douarnenez, then restored by our association. Today, Biche is sailing again, a living witness to Brittany's maritime history. Biche is the last survivor of the hundreds of famous Atlantic Thoniers-Dundee built between 1900 and 1936.
Les Amis du Biche
⚓ Technical specifications
Type : Thonier dundee
Building year : 1934
Pavillon : France 🇫🇷
Home port : Lorient / Île de Groix
Overall length: 32 meters
Width (main beam) : 6.6 meters
Air draft : 17.6 meters
Draft : 2.9 meters
Placement : Quai de Normandie
🌐 Useful links
Website : lebiche.com
Marine Traffic link: See where Le Biche is located
⛵ Le Renard
Le Renard is a 30-meter Cotre Corsaire. This legendary sailing ship is a replica of the last ship fitted out in 1812 by the famous Malouin privateer Robert Surcouf (1773/1827).
This cutter with humiers is an emblematic witness to the history of Saint-Malo and the life of privateers.
Le Renard
⚓ Technical specifications
Type : Cutter with topsails
Build year : 1988
Pavillon : France 🇫🇷
Home port : Saint-Malo
Overall length : 30 meters
Width (main beam) : 5.9 meters
Air draft : 28 meters
Draft : 2.8 meters
Placement : Quai de Normandie
🌐 Useful links
Marine Traffic link : See where the Renard is located
⛵ Le Guerveur
The Guerveur is a former ferry built in 1966 by Chantiers et Ateliers de la Perrière in Lorient. For many years, it provided the link between Quiberon and Belle-Île-en-Mer. Since 2017, it has been moored in Caen, transformed into an event venue hosting weddings, seminars and parties.
Le Guerveur
⚓ Technical specifications
Type : Ferry / Passenger boat
Build year : 1966
Pavilion : France 🇫🇷
Home port : Caen
Overall length: 45 meters
Width (main beam) : 10 meters
Air draft : 13.6 meters
Draft : 2.4 meters
Placement : Quai de Normandie
🌐 Useful links
Website : le-guerveur.com
Marine Traffic link: See where Le Guerveur is located
⛵ L'Étoile Molène
L'Étoile Molène is a ship built in 1954 in Camaret. She alternated between tuna fishing and trawling in Ireland. After being laid up in the port of Douarnenez, she was abandoned and sank a few years later.
It was then fully restored, making it one of France's best-known traditional boats.
Etoile Molène
⚓ Technical specifications
Type : Dundee tuna boat
Year of construction : 1954
Pavillon : France 🇫🇷
Home port : Saint-Malo
Overall length: 35 meters
Width (main beam) : 6.5 meters
Air draft : 27 meters
Draft : 3.8 meters
Placement : Quai de Normandie
🌐 Useful links
Website : etoile-marine.com
Marine Traffic link: See where Etoile Molène is located
⛵ Le Flamant
The Flamant is a public service patrol vessel (PSP) built in Cherbourg and admitted to active service on December 18, 1997. Based in Cherbourg, it carries out essential missions as part of the State's action at sea (AEM).
This military vessel is involved in the maritime defense of the territory, particularly in the English Channel, one of the busiest areas in the world. It ensures the safety of maritime traffic, the compliance with fishing and shipping regulations, the fight against pollution and illegal trafficking, while taking part in sea rescue operations. The Flamant is manned by a crew of 20 sailors, trained to respond to a wide range of situations at sea.
Le Flamant
⚓ Technical specifications
Type : Public service patrol boat (PSP)
Build year : 1997
Pavilion : France 🇫🇷
Home port : Cherbourg
Overall length: 52 meters
Width (main beam) : 10 meters
Air draft : 21 meters
Draft : 3 meters
Placement : Quai de Normandie
🌐 Useful links
Website : netmarine.net
Marine Traffic link: See where Le Flamant is located
⛵ Le Mutin
Built in 1927 in Les Sables-d'Olonne, the Mutin is the oldest sailboat still in service with the Marine nationale. This sailing dundee trains sailors in traditional navigation, with entirely manual maneuvers, with no mechanical assistance apart from the engine.
During the World War II, she served as a spy ship for the British secret service in the Mediterranean and Adriatic, before being returned to France. She is then assigned to several training schools, up to her current home port of Brest.
Le Mutin
⚓ Technical specifications
Type : Sailing Dundee
Year built : 1927
Pavilion : France 🇫🇷
Home port : Brest
Overall length: 32 meters
Width (main beam) : 6.4 meters
Air draft : 22 meters
Draft : 3.4 meters
Placement : Quai de Normandie
🌐 Useful links
Website : netmarine.net
Marine Traffic link: See where Le Mutin is located
Q3 - Visitable sailboats on Quai Gaston Lamy
⛵ L'Alcyone
The boat L'Alcyone is a turbo-oil boat from L'Equipe Cousteau. Since 1985, the Alcyone has been L'Equipe Cousteau's expedition boat. The Alcyone's success not only celebrates the marriage of hydrodynamics and aerodynamics, but also marks the entry of electronics and computing into the maritime domain.
alcyone
⚓ Technical specifications
Pavilion: France 🇫🇷
Home port: Caen
Overall length: 31.5 meters
Width (main beam): 8.9 meters
Air draft: 18 meters
Draft: 1.8 meters
Placement: Quai Lamy
🌐 Useful links
Social network link: see instagram page
⛵ Le Belem
The Belem, a majestic three-master built in 1896 in Nantes, is one of the last great 19th-century French sailing ships still afloat. Initially used to transport cocoa between South America and France, she became a luxury yacht in 1914, then a training ship for the Italian navy. Brought back to France in 1979 by the Fondation Belem, she was restored and classified as a historic monument. Today, the Belem still sails, offers training courses at sea and takes part in major nautical gatherings. In 2024, she proudly carried the Olympic flame to Marseille.
©Maxime Franusiak
⚓ Technical specifications
Type : Three-masted barque
Year of construction : 1896
Pavilion : France 🇫🇷
Home port : Nantes
Overall length : 58 meters
Width (main beam) : 8.8 meters
Air draft : 34 meters
Draft : 3.6 meters
Placement : Quai Gaston Lamy
🌐 Useful links
Website : fondationbelem.com
Marine Traffic link: See where the Belem is located
⛵ Le Morgenster
Le Morgenster ("The Morning Star" in Dutch) is a Dutch two-masted brig, built in 1919 for fishing in the North Sea. After several decades of service in the fishing industry, she was completely restored and sailed again under a new, more elegant identity on June 2, 2008.
Today, as part of the Frisian Sailing Company fleet, she cruises the coasts of Western Europe. This iconic sailing yacht captivates with her harmonious blend of historic charm and modern comfort. The Morgenster is an active player in regattas, cruises, nautical events and receptions, where she is particularly appreciated for her racy allure and convivial atmosphere.
Morgenster
⚓ Technical specifications
Type : Two-masted brick
Building year : 1919 (renovated in 2008)
Pavilion : Netherlands 🇳🇱
Home port : Den Helder
Overall length : 48 meters
Width (main beam): 6.7 meters
Air draft: 29 meters
Draft: 2.40 meters
Placement: Quai Gaston Lamy
🌐 Useful links
Website: www.morgenster.nl
Marine Traffic link: See where Morgenster is located
⛵ The Hydrograaf
The Hydrograaf is a former hydrographic ship of the Royal Dutch Navy, built in Rotterdam between 1909 and 1910. Used as a representation ship by Queen Wilhelmine, she was requisitioned during the Second World War for mine-clearing operations, before returning to her original role. Retired from service in 1962, she was restored in 1995 and transformed into an excursion boat and floating museum.
Present at many prestigious gatherings, she discovered the Canal de Caen à la mer for the first time on the occasion of the Caen Millennium. It can carry 150 passengers.
Hydrograaf
⚓ Technical specifications
Type : Heritage boat
Year of construction : 1909-1910
Pavilion : Netherlands
Home port : Amsterdam
Overall length: 40.5 meters
Width (main beam): 6.70 meters
Air draft: 12 meters
Draft: 1.8 meters
Placement: Quai Gaston Lamy
🌐 Useful links
Website: hydrograaf.nl
Marine Traffic link: See where Hydrograaf is located
Social network link: Hydrograaf Facebook page
⛵ The Pascual Flores
The Pascual Flores is an elegant Spanish pailebote, a traditional sailing ship built in Torrevieja (Alicante province) in the early 20th century. Originally used to transport salt, fruit and general cargo, she embodies the maritime heritage of this port city, once home to a fleet of nearly 200 sailing vessels.
After sailing under various flags and undergoing several transformations, she ended her commercial career in England, in the port of Milford. In 1999, Torrevieja purchased the ruined vessel for restoration, with the support of the Nao Victoria Foundation. Fully rehabilitated, the Pascual Flores becomes a floating museum ship and ambassador of Spanish maritime memory, now taking part in major nautical gatherings in Europe.
Le Pascual Flores
⚓ Technical specifications
Type : Pailebote (traditional sailing boat, close to schooner)
Year of construction : Early 20th century
Pavilion : Spain 🇪🇸
Home port : Torrevieja
Overall length : 43 meters
Width (main beam): 8.8 meters
Air draft: 27 meters
Draft: 4 meters
Placement: Quai Gaston Lamy
🌐 Useful links
Website: www.naovictoria.org
Marine Traffic link: See where Pascual Flores is located
⛵ La Nébuleuse
La Nébuleuse is a former Camaret tuna boat, based in Paimpol and represents one of France's finest working sailboat restorations. Very fast and stable, she carries 360 m2 of sails and is approved for all the world's seas. From the Bréhat archipelago (Brittany) to the whole of Europe... and even further afield.
La Nébuleuse
⚓ Technical specifications
Type : Dundee tuna boat
Year of construction : 1949
Pavillon : France 🇫🇷
Home port : Paimpol
Overall length: 32 meters
Width (main beam) : 6 meters
Air draft : 26 meters
Draft : 3 meters
Placement : Quai Gaston Lamy
🌐 Useful links
Marine Traffic link : See where La Nebuleuse is located
