A Red Ensign at the Semaine du Golfe

Avel Dro visits a huge French maritime festival - a personal account of my participation in this bi-annual festival on the Golfe du Morbihan, where I meet lots of old friends and make many new ones.

INTERESTED IN DINGHY CRUISING?
Read my book, "The Dinghy Cruising Companion" - second edition out NOW!
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/dinghy-...
And join the Dinghy Cruising Association:
http://dinghycruising.org.uk/

MUSIC
Moments passing by - Wendy Marcini
Lafayette St. - Roots and Recognition
from Epidemic Sound
https://www.epidemicsound.com

AVEL DRO
Do you want a boat like mine?
Avel Dro is an Ilur designed by François Vivier, and built of clinker plywood by Les Charpentiers Reunis of Cancale in 1994. I bought her in France in 2003 to import her into the UK, and more recently returned her to France again.* The design is based closely on the traditional inshore fishing boats of Brittany in the early years of the twentieth century – hence her simple boom-less lugsail rig and lack of a mainsheet horse, (sometimes controversial among my viewers). Although rare in Britain, Ilurs are relatively common in France. Modern Ilurs are however slightly different internally from mine, as they have more built in buoyancy. The name Avel Dro is Breton, and basically means a whirlwind.
Length 4.44 m
Sail area 12.2 m²
Beam 1.70 m
Draught 0.25 / 0.86 m
Design category C3
François Vivier's website (in English):
http://www.vivierboats.com/en/
Similar dinghies can often be found for sale on the website of the French magazine Le Chasse-Marée:
https://www.chasse-maree.com/revue/
Or try Le Bon Coin, (where you can buy anything in France):
https://www.leboncoin.fr

*Sadly, since January 2021, when Great Britain (but not Northern Ireland) left the European Single Market, if you buy a boat in France or elsewhere in the EU with the intention of importing it into the UK, you will be liable to pay VAT and other duties on the import. This is true even if it is second hand, and similar charges will be due if you take a British boat the other way. This does not apply to a boat taken to another country for a brief holiday, however.