Special broadcast this Wednesday, April 6 live from Port La Forêt from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Port La Forêt, the Fouesnant Forest marina. The opportunity also to discuss the Tour du Finistère à la voile which will take place from July 25th to 30th
Program hosted by Nicolas Rohel and Jérôme Lebreton
The game “Cap or not not?” from 11.10 a.m. to 11.40 a.m. with the participation of skipper Jean Le Cam
Port-la-Foret: In 1956, it was a wildcat strike at the edge of a cove near La Forêt-Fouesnant, just populated by oyster beds or former mussel beds. The former co-founder and director of the Glénans sailing school, Henri Desjoyeaux, spotted this site and decided to settle there. With his wife, he bought the land and set up the first construction site for guarding pleasure boats. In addition to wintering in a shed, he extends the activity to repair, maintenance, painting and varnishing.
The development of this activity welcomes sailboats from Port-Manech to Loctudy; Also in the mid-1960s, the land development plan initiated by DATAR recommended the creation of a marina. Henri Le Rest (Mayor of La Forêt-Fouesnant), assisted by the founder of the Ecole des Glénan, Henri Desjoyeaux, the architects Jean Le Berre and Jean Le Couteur will initiate the project, with the support of Olivier Guichard: two parts are planned , digging of a deep-water port, to fill in the marshes at the bottom of the Gouerou cove to the east, the financing being balanced by the construction of villas on the embankments, in particular a “closed city” on the Skoen islet established in the center of the cove.
The dredging works will begin in 1970, to dig the basin of the port, and to carry out the rip-raps; on the other hand, the opposition of residents, in the name of the protection of the sites, is blocking the construction of the planned housing; the land set back from the riprap will remain fallow for a long time…
Inaugurated in 1972, the port then had 600 anchorages. The initial pontoons were torn off by the 1987 storm; new rows of pontoons are then re-established on piles, in another alignment…
Port-la-Forêt is developing -a second section of pontoons is established on the occasion of an expansion…- with the establishment of a line of heavy pontoons outside for local fishermen and passenger launches to destinations in Glénan- and finally, to support the development of the Offshore Racing Centre, a final extension to create a deep basin capable of accommodating the 60-foot IMOCAs in the Vendée Globe. Port-La-Forêt becomes the first deep-water marina in the region.
In 2020, Port-la-Forêt has more than 1,200 berths, including 1,080 on refurbished pontoons. The waiting time to obtain a place for a yachtsman is 10 years. the Marina Park is a dry port with 120 berths on metal rocks.
In 2021, work to extend the fairing and storage area will be carried out in order to bring the fairing surface to 3 ha and the storage capacity to around 100 boats.
Wikipedia
Port-la-Forêt is the marina of La Forêt-Fouesnant. It is one of the most important ports in Brittany, renowned as a mecca for ocean racing.
Located in the heart of the bay of La Forêt, facing the Glénan archipelago, Port-la-Forêt offers an exceptional view of a natural and protected site.
Port-la-Forêt is the port for all sailors: yachtsmen, fishermen and professional skippers rub shoulders there. It has 1130 places afloat which accommodate boats of all sizes, including the impressive racing yachts: the famous 60 footers.
The bay of La Forêt is the ideal setting for preparing for offshore racing. The greatest sailors in the world train there all year round, such as François Gabart, Armel Le Cléac’h, Samantha Davies, Michel Desjoyeaux, Jean Le Cam and many others.