 |
Copacabana,
affectionately known
as 'Coco' was designed in 1959 by
the famous French yacht designer,
André Mauric. Other yachts that
Mauric has designed include Pen
Duick VI, one of Eric Tabarly's
racing yachts.
Coco is a Pointu, a typical
Mediterranean style of boat, with a
very fine entry, a very flared bow
and a long waterline. She has a big
engine fitted which is typical for the
Med where there is often little wind.
She is unusual as she has a cabin,
a keel and a mast with a simple
sloop rig, as opposed to the usual
Latine rig so common on sailing
pointus.
as 'Coco' was designed in 1959 by
the famous French yacht designer,
André Mauric. Other yachts that
Mauric has designed include Pen
Duick VI, one of Eric Tabarly's
racing yachts.
Coco is a Pointu, a typical
Mediterranean style of boat, with a
very fine entry, a very flared bow
and a long waterline. She has a big
engine fitted which is typical for the
Med where there is often little wind.
She is unusual as she has a cabin,
a keel and a mast with a simple
sloop rig, as opposed to the usual
Latine rig so common on sailing
pointus.
Coco was in a
terrible mess when
her current owner found her and she
needed a lot of work. All of the ribs
in the cockpit were replaced, along
with the entire deck and cabin. The
original mahogany interior was
restored to its former glory. The
painted spruce mast was stripped
and varnished and new sails
bought. Every year Coco competes
at 'Les Voiles Latines' in St Tropez,
a regatta just for these kinds of
boats.
her current owner found her and she
needed a lot of work. All of the ribs
in the cockpit were replaced, along
with the entire deck and cabin. The
original mahogany interior was
restored to its former glory. The
painted spruce mast was stripped
and varnished and new sails
bought. Every year Coco competes
at 'Les Voiles Latines' in St Tropez,
a regatta just for these kinds of
boats.
For anyone who
is interested, here
is an article from Watercraft
Magazine all about the St Tropez
Regatta. Published in 2003
is an article from Watercraft
Magazine all about the St Tropez
Regatta. Published in 2003
Les Voiles
Latines, By Benjy
In late May St Tropez hosts Les Voiles Latines. Right in the heart of the town, in a space normally
reserved for huge motorboats you'll find them, a gathering of nearly 50 Pointus. It makes a splendid
sight when th evening sunlight falls across the brightly painted boats and they simply glow. It's now the
photographers come out looking for some special moment. It's not hard to find one, the participants are
as colourful as their boats. There's a lot of talking. You wouldn't think it was possible that these little
boats could generate so much passion, especially when you consider that they are everything a good
modern sailing boat isn't. They are slow, wet and make leeway like you cannot believe. When they race,
the buoys are set up so as to have the wind on the beam all the time. However, the bay of St Tropez is
notoriously difficult to sail in, with light airs. This and the aforementioned leeway means that not too
many boats actually get to the finish line.
I raced on Niaricoco, the boat of my good friend Jerome who is a sailmaker. Not surprisingly his sails
can be seen on many of the other boats too. He's lived in St Tropez most of his life and knows
everyone. His boat is as immaculate as an old fishing boat could be. It even has a flush teak deck. He
simply loves it and naturally has a sail inventory that would put most blue water cruisers to shame. The
first year I met Jerome I did a lot of work on the boat; it was very flexible due to the rusting of the steel
nails used to fasten the planks and had nearly sunk twice. I refastened the entire boat with bronze
screws, I suspect this alone makes his boat unique but it doesn't stop there.
Niaricoco is a Tarquié. The main difference is that whereas most pointus are lateen rigged, the Tarquié
has a spritsail and is unique to St Tropez. Only 3 examples re known to survive. The other difference is
a subtle but important one. Look at the frames and you will see that they were not laid in the easiest
fashion. All the frames' forward and aft ends are cut perpendicular to the keel. It's easiest to see at the
bows and at the stern. She was built in 1927 on the beach at St Tropez and was owned by the same
family until Jerome bought her a few years ago. It's hard to say how much of the boat is original as
Pointus and not well built, fastened with steel nails through short and often poor quality planking on to
halved frames of oak.
The deck of a pointu is very low but some protection is offered by the high bulwarks which flare at the
bows to stop waves entering the boat. They are extremely efficient at keeping small waves out - and
stopping the boat dead. Pointus generally have no overhangs and the rudder is removable. Many have
petrol engines fitted which are noisy and old - Jerome's is 50-plus - and though the shallow draught
does not give much room for a propeller, they put one in anyway; usually as big as possible. Often when
not underway, the tip of a blade can be seen poking out of the water. Once on the move, the boat's wave
quickly climbs the stern and the prop becomes well submerged. In port, manoeuvring a pointu is always
accompanied by much noise and white water as the barely submerged prop thrashes the surface.
It is possible to buy a modern GRP version. I didn't ask the price but they are made locally and very
nicely finished. They are about 23' (7m) long, the most common size, though the original pointus range
from around 16' - 36' (5 - 11m). There are even famous Pointus. Piou Piou was owned by Brigitte Bardot
who lives in St Tropez; it appears many times in the film When God created Woman.
One feature common to all pointus is le Capion. It is, put simply, a phallus. A symbolic offering to
Neptune asking for safe passage and good fishing. No one knows for sure where Capions originated
but it's widely believed that Greek settlers brought them more than 2000 years ago. However it began
there's no denying its popularity across the entire Mediterranean.
The racing was a hoot. St Tropez harbour is a busy one even in May and even getting out onto the water
has its moments. But what a sight on the water! There's no denying that the Lateen rig is beautiful, like a
giant butterfly's wing dwarfing the hull underneath it. It is an efficient rig too. Many boats have a bowsprit
and fly a little jib. What is not efficient, at least to windward, is the hull shape. With the wind anywhere
from behind, these boats really can move and there motion is comfortable but try to go to windward and
you soon discover what a keel is for. Some of the faster Italian entries have very deep rudders which
must help but for the most part, little thought has gone into windward performance.
As a sailmaker, Jerome is well placed to see what difference a cloud of sails make but we soon learned
that the spritsail has limitations. There is only a short leading edge and a large part of the sail is at the
back of the boat which just pushes the boat sideways when you try and go to weather. With a little speed
up on a flat sea, it's possible to point perhaps as high as 60 degrees with maybe 10 - 15 degrees of
leeway. With patience it is possible to get home again. If it's rough then you'll never do it. The most
recent addition to Jerome's sail wardrobe is his 'ballon jib'. He's not fooling anyone of course; it's a
high-tech, lazer cut and glued lightweight spinnaker. Frequent was the comment: C'est joli le spi.
Jerome always replied: Non, c'est un foc ballon. If this was serious racing someone would surely protest
but here it's just tres amusant.
Another entertaining aspect of pointu racing is coming about. To gibe or tack? Gybing is easy but slow.
Tacking is difficult but slow. We usually opted to tack, habit being hard to break. It went something like
this: Get speed up, put the helm over and let the jib fly. Then if someone goes forward to back the jib
right out and if the helmsman swings the rudder frantically from side to side, we can come about and be
sailing again in about one minute.
The whole event was paid for by the town of St Tropez and is said to cost about £150,000. Entrance is
free and in fact, they even paid for the Tunisian Pointus to come over. On the first night, 200 people
gather to partake in a noisy, traditional feast: We had a fantastic bouillabaisse followed by an amazing
array of seafood presented on a huge cork platter. The wine supply was endless and there was even a
tart Tropezienne to finish. Then at the end of the regatta is the prize giving, held in glorious sunshine on
the beach with yet more food and wine. We won our class and Jerome was delighted. He was even more
delighted still when the visiting Sardinians invited Niaricoco to Stintino to compete in their August
regatta - all expenses paid!
In late May St Tropez hosts Les Voiles Latines. Right in the heart of the town, in a space normally
reserved for huge motorboats you'll find them, a gathering of nearly 50 Pointus. It makes a splendid
sight when th evening sunlight falls across the brightly painted boats and they simply glow. It's now the
photographers come out looking for some special moment. It's not hard to find one, the participants are
as colourful as their boats. There's a lot of talking. You wouldn't think it was possible that these little
boats could generate so much passion, especially when you consider that they are everything a good
modern sailing boat isn't. They are slow, wet and make leeway like you cannot believe. When they race,
the buoys are set up so as to have the wind on the beam all the time. However, the bay of St Tropez is
notoriously difficult to sail in, with light airs. This and the aforementioned leeway means that not too
many boats actually get to the finish line.
I raced on Niaricoco, the boat of my good friend Jerome who is a sailmaker. Not surprisingly his sails
can be seen on many of the other boats too. He's lived in St Tropez most of his life and knows
everyone. His boat is as immaculate as an old fishing boat could be. It even has a flush teak deck. He
simply loves it and naturally has a sail inventory that would put most blue water cruisers to shame. The
first year I met Jerome I did a lot of work on the boat; it was very flexible due to the rusting of the steel
nails used to fasten the planks and had nearly sunk twice. I refastened the entire boat with bronze
screws, I suspect this alone makes his boat unique but it doesn't stop there.
Niaricoco is a Tarquié. The main difference is that whereas most pointus are lateen rigged, the Tarquié
has a spritsail and is unique to St Tropez. Only 3 examples re known to survive. The other difference is
a subtle but important one. Look at the frames and you will see that they were not laid in the easiest
fashion. All the frames' forward and aft ends are cut perpendicular to the keel. It's easiest to see at the
bows and at the stern. She was built in 1927 on the beach at St Tropez and was owned by the same
family until Jerome bought her a few years ago. It's hard to say how much of the boat is original as
Pointus and not well built, fastened with steel nails through short and often poor quality planking on to
halved frames of oak.
The deck of a pointu is very low but some protection is offered by the high bulwarks which flare at the
bows to stop waves entering the boat. They are extremely efficient at keeping small waves out - and
stopping the boat dead. Pointus generally have no overhangs and the rudder is removable. Many have
petrol engines fitted which are noisy and old - Jerome's is 50-plus - and though the shallow draught
does not give much room for a propeller, they put one in anyway; usually as big as possible. Often when
not underway, the tip of a blade can be seen poking out of the water. Once on the move, the boat's wave
quickly climbs the stern and the prop becomes well submerged. In port, manoeuvring a pointu is always
accompanied by much noise and white water as the barely submerged prop thrashes the surface.
It is possible to buy a modern GRP version. I didn't ask the price but they are made locally and very
nicely finished. They are about 23' (7m) long, the most common size, though the original pointus range
from around 16' - 36' (5 - 11m). There are even famous Pointus. Piou Piou was owned by Brigitte Bardot
who lives in St Tropez; it appears many times in the film When God created Woman.
One feature common to all pointus is le Capion. It is, put simply, a phallus. A symbolic offering to
Neptune asking for safe passage and good fishing. No one knows for sure where Capions originated
but it's widely believed that Greek settlers brought them more than 2000 years ago. However it began
there's no denying its popularity across the entire Mediterranean.
The racing was a hoot. St Tropez harbour is a busy one even in May and even getting out onto the water
has its moments. But what a sight on the water! There's no denying that the Lateen rig is beautiful, like a
giant butterfly's wing dwarfing the hull underneath it. It is an efficient rig too. Many boats have a bowsprit
and fly a little jib. What is not efficient, at least to windward, is the hull shape. With the wind anywhere
from behind, these boats really can move and there motion is comfortable but try to go to windward and
you soon discover what a keel is for. Some of the faster Italian entries have very deep rudders which
must help but for the most part, little thought has gone into windward performance.
As a sailmaker, Jerome is well placed to see what difference a cloud of sails make but we soon learned
that the spritsail has limitations. There is only a short leading edge and a large part of the sail is at the
back of the boat which just pushes the boat sideways when you try and go to weather. With a little speed
up on a flat sea, it's possible to point perhaps as high as 60 degrees with maybe 10 - 15 degrees of
leeway. With patience it is possible to get home again. If it's rough then you'll never do it. The most
recent addition to Jerome's sail wardrobe is his 'ballon jib'. He's not fooling anyone of course; it's a
high-tech, lazer cut and glued lightweight spinnaker. Frequent was the comment: C'est joli le spi.
Jerome always replied: Non, c'est un foc ballon. If this was serious racing someone would surely protest
but here it's just tres amusant.
Another entertaining aspect of pointu racing is coming about. To gibe or tack? Gybing is easy but slow.
Tacking is difficult but slow. We usually opted to tack, habit being hard to break. It went something like
this: Get speed up, put the helm over and let the jib fly. Then if someone goes forward to back the jib
right out and if the helmsman swings the rudder frantically from side to side, we can come about and be
sailing again in about one minute.
The whole event was paid for by the town of St Tropez and is said to cost about £150,000. Entrance is
free and in fact, they even paid for the Tunisian Pointus to come over. On the first night, 200 people
gather to partake in a noisy, traditional feast: We had a fantastic bouillabaisse followed by an amazing
array of seafood presented on a huge cork platter. The wine supply was endless and there was even a
tart Tropezienne to finish. Then at the end of the regatta is the prize giving, held in glorious sunshine on
the beach with yet more food and wine. We won our class and Jerome was delighted. He was even more
delighted still when the visiting Sardinians invited Niaricoco to Stintino to compete in their August
regatta - all expenses paid!