Ship profile for the sailing ship: "Notre Dame des Flots"

Photos of the sailing ship:

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Notre Dame des Flots, Volker Gries, Brest/Douarnenez 2004 , 07/2004

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Brest/Douarnenez 2004,
07/2004

Notre Dame des Flots, Volker Gries, Brest/Douarnenez 2004 , 07/2004

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Brest/Douarnenez 2004,
07/2004

Notre Dame des Flots, Volker Gries, Hanse Sail Rostock 2011 , 08/2011

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Hanse Sail Rostock 2011,
08/2011

Notre Dame des Flots, Volker Gries, Hanse Sail Rostock 2011 , 08/2011

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Hanse Sail Rostock 2011,
08/2011

Notre Dame des Flots, Volker Gries, Hanse Sail Rostock 2011 , 08/2011

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Hanse Sail Rostock 2011,
08/2011

Notre Dame des Flots, Volker Gries, Hanse Sail Rostock 2011 , 08/2011

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Hanse Sail Rostock 2011,
08/2011

Notre Dame des Flots, Volker Gries, Les Tonnerres de Brest 2012 , 07/2012

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Les Tonnerres de Brest 2012,
07/2012

Notre Dame des Flots, Volker Gries, Les Tonnerres de Brest 2012 , 07/2012

Source, location, date:
Volker Gries,
Les Tonnerres de Brest 2012,
07/2012

Videos with the sailing ship:

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Technical data of the sailing ship:

Name:Notre Dame des Flots
Registered port:La Rochelle
Nation:FRA
Type of rigging:KETSCH
Year built:1942
Yard:Gravelines, Dunkerque, FRA
Overall length:28.50 m
Length (hull):20.40 m
Breadth:5.80 m
Draught:2.90 m
Sail area:320 m2
Ship's hull:Holz / Wood
Power:100 PS
Engine:Baudoin Diesel

Portrait of the sailing ship:

Last update: 13 May 2021

  • begin of her building was in 1942 at the shipyard Gravelines next to Dunkirk, FRA, although designed as a sailing ship she was completed as a motor driven boat first, used after the war since 1947 in the fishery for the next 24 years.
  • purchased by Jean-Pierre and Pitchoune Despres in the mid of the 1970s, during a 7-years restauration work she was fitted to be used for cruising and rigged as a ketch.
  • since 1983 "Notre Dame des Flots" sails on world-wide journeys, the owning family lives on board.
  • 1983 North Sea and Northern Atlantic.
  • 1984 Atlantic voyages and participation in the Cutty Sark race St. Malo-Québec.
  • 1985 North Sea voyage and participation in Sail Amsterdam, voyage into the Mediterranean.
  • 1986 voyages crossing the Atlantic Sète-Antilles-New York, visited Québec.
  • 1987 voyages at the Canadian coast and to the Antilles.
  • 1988 Martinique, Haiti, Panama, Galapagos, Marquesas Islands, Tuamotu, Tahiai, Bora Bora, Cook, Nouméa and Australia (Great Barrier Reef), Timor Sea, Bali, Indian Ocean, Rodrigues, La Réunion.
  • 1989 Madagascar, South Africa, Saint Helena, Brazil, Martinique.
  • 1990 Martinique, St. Martin, Azores back to La Rochelle.
  • 1991 voyages at the French coast, Fort Boyard, North Sea, Iceland.
  • 1992 voyages at the French coast, Africa, Brazil, Antilles.
  • 1993 voyages at the Antilles, North Sea, Norway, participation in the Cutty Sark race.
  • 1994 voyages in the North Sea, Spain, Portugal, participation in the Cutty Sark race.
  • 1995 Fort Boyard, Baltic Sea, participation in the Sail Amsterdam and Cutty Sark race, back to France and sailing to the Antilles again.
  • 1996 voyages at the Antilles, South Pacific, New Caledonia.
  • 1997 South Pacific, Nouméa, Vanuatu, Salomon, Carolines, Mariannes, Philippines, Hong Kong, Japan, Aleutian Islands, Alaska, British Columbia, USA, San Francisco, Mexico, Panama, Antilles.
  • 1998 Antilles, France, Fort Boyard, North Sea, English Channel.
  • 1999 Fort Boyard, La Rochelle, Nantes, promotion tour to New York, Antilles.
  • 2000 Martinique, La Rochelle, Fort Boyard, Brest Sailing Festival.
  • 2001 La Rochelle, Brazil, Patagonia, Ushuaia.
  • 2002 voyages at the coast of South America, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Antilles.
  • 2003 Antilles, Azores, France, Fort Boyard, French coast trips.
  • 2004 Fort Boyard, French coast, Sail Brest and Douarnenez.
  • 2005 French coast, La Rochelle, Brazil, Patagonia.
  • 2006 Malouines, South Georgia, Tristan da Cunha, South Africa, Saint Helena, Ascension Island, Brazil, Antilles, Azores, France.
  • 2007 voyages at the French coast, La Rochelle, Brazil, French Guiana, Antilles.
  • 2008 Antilles, Bermudas, Québec, Newfoundland, Labrador, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, France.
  • 2009 voyages at the French coast.
  • 2010 visits at the Western coast of Ireland and the North of Spain.
  • 2011 participation in the Semaine du Golfe du Morbihan, following journey to the Baltic Sea with visits of the Kiel Week, Gdansk, Helsinki, Sankt Petersburg, Tallin, Sweden, Danmark and Rostock
  • 2012 voyages in the Mediterranean, Cadiz, Tanger, Melilla, Oran, Bizerte, Parlermo, Bonifacio, Toulon, La Ciotat, Marseille, Barcelona, then to the coast of South England.
  • 2013 participation in the Semaine du Golfe du Morbihan, voyages at the French coast.
  • 2014 voyages at the French coast, to the coast of South England, attendance at the start of the Route du Rhum regatta.
  • 2015 voyages in the English channel and North Sea, to Spitzbergen, Newcastle, Bergen, Alesund, Bodo, Tromso, Longyearbyen, New-Alesund, Lofoten, Shetland, Orkney, Srornoway, Oban, Belfast and back to the French waters.
  • 2016 voyages at the French coast and to the coast of South England.
  • 2017 participation in the Semaine du Golfe du Morbihan, Fête du Notre Dame des Flots in Gravelines and Grand Fort Philippe then along the French coast.
  • 2018 visit at the North of Spain, to the coast of South England and at the French coast.
  • 2018-2019 maintenance and extensive repairs at the ship during the winter.
  • contact via the shipping museum of La Rochelle is possible.

Contact:

Website (français, 13 May 2021):
http://www.notredamedesflots.fr/
Notre Dame des Flots: news with many photos, history, the voyages, the crew, contact address

Literature for further reading:

We recommend the following references for your further research of the ship. The references marked with have been included in the generation of the ship profile on this page.

Ollivier Puget, Jean-Noël Darde
"Partir sur les Grand Voiliers - Le guide pour embarquer"
Guides Balland 2000 ISBN: 2-7158-1277-9
Page: 248 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data Quelle with contact

Thaddeus Koza
"Tall Ships - the Fleet of the 21th Century"
Tide-Mark Press, East Hartford 2000 ISBN: 1-55949-551-0
(http://www.tallshipsinternational.com/)
Page: 128 Source with picture Source with history Source with technical data