From Paris, with love…
by Mission Ocean on 22 Dec 2016
Pair of tourists Mission Océan
Imagine vast halls filled with France’s top boating professionals. Sleek Beneteau hulls nestling alongside shiny Jeanneaus on blue and red carpets, imposing 42-foot Lagoons standing proudly next to streamlined Catana models in gleaming cases, and all manner of suppliers touting their wares like fishmongers at a Sunday market (only in a smart shirts and shiny shoes). This was the sight that greeted us at the Nautic Paris International Boat Show, held in the Porte de Versailles exhibition park.
We were lucky enough to be offered a stand for the duration of the show, to present Mission Ocean, raise awareness of marine pollution and promote some of the wonderful actions that are being taken to preserve the coastline where we live in the Alpes Maritimes.
The show is organised by the Fédération des Industries Nautiques, whom we had had the good fortune of meeting during the Yachting Festival in Cannes in September. A last-minute drop out saw them offer us a rather large exhibition space directly opposite the main stage, where the opening ceremony took place, as well as a variety of interesting conferences and presentations on a whole range of subjects throughout the week.
A few calls around our partners, and we were loaned a literal carful of posters, leaflets, flags and educational packs from the CPIE des Iles de Lérins et Pays d’Azur (CPIE is a great network of environmental education centres – if you are in France or planning to visit, you should check them out, there is likely to be one near you), and the town of Cannes who are running a brilliant campaign against litter in the streets called The Sea Starts Here.
A local participative science group joined us with microscopes and plankton samples freshly fished in Brest, and we were provided with some great video footage to show from our local Chamber of Commerce, the Groupe Phocéen d’Etudes des Requins (Marseille Shark Research Group) and Coral is Moral, a UK based organization campaigning against coral bleaching and working on reef reconstruction across the globe.
The feedback from visitors to our stand was overwhelmingly positive, and we met hundreds of sailors just as passionate about the seas as we are. Even the sceptics were keen to discuss and listen, and we were also approached by oceanographic institutes, researchers and even representatives from UNESCO, with some incredibly exciting projects to offer.
In addition to discovering innovative new products and meeting plenty of potential partners for Mission Ocean, we also rubbed shoulders with a couple of sailing stars – and a whole lot of others in the making. British sailing legend Sir Robin Knox-Johnston made the trip to Paris to present the Golden Globe Race 2018, a 50th anniversary remake of the infamous 1968 Sunday Times race that was marked by Donald Crowhurt’s suicide, Bernard Moitissier’s controversial decision not to cross the finish line, and of course Knox-Johnston’s victory on the 22nd April. The race in 2018 will follow the same rules – and use only the same technology – as the original 1968 regatta.
We are pretty excited to say that a couple of the GGR skippers have expressed an interest in sailing with Mission Ocean, to participate in our research projects and also gain some of the 10,000 miles of sea time that they must accrue to qualify.
Our mentor, Marc Pajot, dropped in to show his support for Mission Ocean, and spent some time sharing great bits of advice with us. Olympic Medallist, winner of the Route du Rhum and double semi-finalist in the Louis Vuitton cup, Marc knows a thing or two about blue water sailing, and is now running Pajot Yacht Selection, a successful yacht brokerage consultancy in the south of France. He has been a great support in the search for our cat, and debriefed with us after our meeting with the owner of our ‘dream boat’, a Lagoon 47 from 1994.
Those of you who read our last article will know that we were pinning a lot of hope on this meeting, and it actually came off rather well, with our offer being provisionally accepted the next morning. Progress of the sale is looking like it will be very slow, however, and our gut feeling is that the owner may end up not going through with it at all. In addition, she has been all but abandoned for the last three years and needs an awful lot of work.
Our backgrounds in superyacht engineering and refits mean that we aren’t afraid of a challenge, but if the sale drags on we may have to let her go, or risk jeopardising our schedule. That would be heart-breaking, but we do have a couple of wonderful boats in reserve, which require a bit less TLC. Whilst all of us cruise with our hearts and souls, from time to time we have to screw our heads back on and make a tough decision.
Neither Henrique nor I are strangers to the boat show world, having represented companies at the Monaco Yacht Show for a number of years, but after nine days on our feet in Paris (not to mention negotiating public transport, record pollution levels and chilly December temperatures), we were ready to head back home to warmer climates and sea air.
We flew down the motorway, buoyed up with the success of dozens of great industry contacts, encouraging discussions with fellow seafarers, and encounters with sailing nobility. Now comes the work of sifting through the business cards, notes and emails… We hear that the Paris show is losing its flare, but if that is true then we certainly didn’t notice, and whole-heartedly recommend a visit in 2017.
Mission Ocean is Henrique Agostinho and Laura Beard. Their three year plus mission is to share their love and respect for the ocean with others, through education, and scientific research. Neither is a stranger to the water, so they have combined all their skills and passions into this bold, courageous and inspiring project. Sail-Worldcruising.com is delighted to be with them for the journey of their lifetime. You can also find out more on their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/missionocean06
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