Creuza de mä: the historic boat where passion is born

Sailing is adventure. Especially if you are a child. So what better way to approach this world than on a historic boat? That’s why the TAG Heuer VELAFestival docks will be home to Creuza de mä, the Genoa-built Bantry Yole, aboard which young participants in the sailing festival can begin to transform into real sailors.

WHAT BOAT IS CREUZA DE MA

The boat is a replica of a typical Admiral’s barge in use in 18th-century navies. The original yole, preserved at the National Maritime Museum in Dublin, is the oldest French wooden boat in existence.

The performance of this boat, conceived over two hundred years ago, is astonishing: rowing, it reaches six knots and sailing, in carrying gaits, easily exceeds eleven knots.
Length: m 11.64
Width: m 2.05
Immersion: m 0.35
Weight: 1 ton
Sail rigging: two sails to the third and one to the targe
Rowing armament: ten oars of tip
Sail area: about 40 square meters
Keel: Douglas
Transom and starboard mirror: Oak
Ordered: Steam bent acacia
Planking: 9 courses stacked larch, 2 courses stacked oak
Trees and peaks: Pine
Remi: Pine
Rudder: Oak

THE YOLE OF BANTRY
Contemporary Yole are built based on the lines of a French boat captured in 1796 in Bantry Bay (Ireland) and preserved since 1944 in the Dublin Museum. The boats are about 12 meters long, 2.05 wide at maximum beam and have a draft of less than half a meter. They are maneuvered by a crew of 13 people, 10 oarsmen, 2 brigadiers and a coxswain, and can carry 2 guests. Under sail, the boat has three masts (foremast, mainmast and mizzen) and can reach a maximum speed of about 12 knots. The original vessel was captured in Bantry Bay in December 1796, following the failure of a 48-ship French expedition that was supposed to support an insurrection by the Irish population. The French fleet failed to make landfall in the bay due to adverse weather conditions; a lifeboat sent out to explore was captured by local militia loyal to Britain, whose commander was later awarded the title of earl for his service to the British crown. The Iole was kept at the earl’s residence, Bantry House, until 1944, when it was rediscovered and transported to the Dublin museum.

Creuza de mä is the main expression of the Atlantic Challenge Genova association, which was founded in the spring of 2002 on the initiative of some 30 enthusiasts intent on promoting the recovery and dissemination of the very rich maritime traditions of Genoa and the Mediterranean and bearing witness to them in the wider international arena. Atlantic Challenge Genova has the crucial support of the Yacht Club Italiano of Genoa. www.atchge.org

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