Cruise from April 8th to April 14th 1995. 363 NM in total. No pictures.
Boat: Baltayock III – Sun Fast 41
Crew: René Bach (skip), Thierry Gafner, Philippe Juvet and Daniel Simonet
We sailed with MAELBE – Sun Legend 41 (same hull and sail surface (short batten)).
We took the TGV to Le Crouesty and a bit of taxi. Coming back was a bit long (between Paris and Neuchâtel).
The boat had a furling jib and a main with full length batten (Diamond). 3 cabins (2 pers forward, 4 persons in the 2 cabins in the back and 2-4 in the cabin.
There were 2 berths up, above the seats in the carré, which were made of a board that could be flipped up and secured with 2 bolts (either end) and one strap (in the middle). Issues using these: the mattress was made of 2 parts. While sailing, only usable on the side the boat would lean and there were 2 corners (two 2×4 squares extending into the berth) that would bother the person using it.
Three bathrooms (but only one toilet) with showers and hot water. The fridge and the autopilot did not work. I do not remember what we did with that with the rental agency.
First day
Le Crouesty to Island of Groix (Port-Tudy), Wind 10-15 Knots. Visibility: 2 NM (nautical miles). Distance: 44 NM
Nice sailing, sea a bit choppy. Maelbe exploded her spinnaker. We sailed around the Island (we came from the South, went West around the NW point). We saw the Belem, an old 3 Mast boat (from far under sail and from closer under engine). It is difficult to sail close hauled and keep a 90o tacking angle (it was more like 100 to 110). Port-Tudy is a nice, small harbor. We inflated our tender and went to shore. So many cars for such a small island.
Second day
Port-Tudy to Concarneau. Wind: 15 decreasing to nothing – beautiful weather,
distance: 41 NM.
Sailed on a broad reach with a few jibes. We entered the Glénan Isles from the North- East of Penfret and anchored. Then motored around one island and left for Concarneau. We pulled MAELBE (as they had water come in through the propeller shaft, they did fix the leak, but the engine was vibrating very hard around 2000 RPM) so they did not dare drive her too fast. Later, they discovered that by increasing the RPM, the vibrations would go away.
Concarneau has a very nice old town. We went there around 10 PM and it was all deserted. The tourist season had not started yet.
Third day
Concarneau – Belle-Ile, wind: 10 decreasing, then irregular – beautiful weather,
distance: 50 NM
We sailed close-hauled in southerly wind, at about 40o lower than our destination. Finally, the wind died and we motored a while, then the wind picked up again a bit, but not for long. We ended up motoring to the Baie de Sauzon. A very small harbor.
Forth Day
Sauzon-Pornic, wind: 20 decreasing 10 (near Pornic) Cold at night (until 9-10 AM) sunny and warmer Distance: 72 NM
During the night, the NE wind picked up and pushed waves with increasing size into the harbor, which is open to the NE. I slept little, checking the situation regularly. Finally, we decided to leave. It was 2:30 AM. We took one reef and rolled about 1/2 of the genoa. After discussing with MAELBE on the VHF (close by), we decided to sail to Pornic which lays SW of Belle-Ile, on the mainland. Later, we could not reach MAELBE over the radio anymore: we realized our VHF antenna and electronic windvane were broken. The two masts had hit each other when the boats got lifted by a large wave in Sauzon.
(there is a discrepancy of 8 NM in the logbook (between overall miles and daily miles) – I do not understand it). Close-hauled sail in choppy sea. I was wondering if such a long sail was reasonable. At the end of the night, it got really cold, I was on watch and had to steer. My feet got so cold and colder at sunrise for a couple hours more until the sun started to get worm.
As the day went on, the decision to sail to Pornic appeared reasonable and the sail ended very nicely (in warm and strong wind – full sail, 2/3 of genoa). And we waited and we waited.
It turned out, MAELBE sailed around Belle-Ile (going over the north end) which increased its way significantly. There was some disagreement among the crew of MAELBE about how to sail and to select the route.
Fifth day
Pornic – Port Joinville (Ile d’Yeu) Wind: 26 decreasing to 10 – Nice and warm weather (broad reach). Distance: 38 NM.
I would have preferred to sail in the other direction (going back to Le Crouesty or at least getting closer) so that we would not take chances to return the boat in time.
Beautiful sailing weather, a bit under spinnaker.
Getting close to Port- Joinville, we sailed back a bit (to check the course for the way back, as the weather forecast was the same for the next day as today). After a while, we turned around and getting close to the harbor, noticed a fisherman waiving to us from a small boat. He had run out of fuel because of a leak, and we pulled him into the harbor.
Crazy evening with too many drinks.
Sixth day
Port-Joinville – Port Halighen, wind: 25 decreasing to 15-20, distance: 58 NM.
We left early in the morning in pretty strong wind and impressive waves. The plotting of the course was not so easy as we only had a map covering a very wide area (and thus was not detailed enough for the area we were sailing in). Again a beautiful sailing day in pretty strong wind and against pretty good waves. We had to hold ourselves pretty much while staying down below (and plotting the course).
Seventh day
Port-Halighen – Le Crouesty, 19 miles, 15 knots of wind.
Nice and easy sail. We sailed through a large number of boats going to the start line of the Spi-Ouest-France (with 500 registered boats in different classes (including 80 First Class 8 – the boat class we owned). That was very nice, even though we had to be careful not to run into one of the boats.
Original text from 1995 or 1996. I not have to original logbook to complement the narration. Edited in 2026.