After almost six months in the shipyard, the schooner Étoile is going back in the water on 17 April. She’s a sail-training vessel belonging to the French Navy and the third, after the Grande Hermine and the Mutin, to receive the attentions of Guip’s shipwrights. This has been the Étoile’s biggest refit for forty years. Guip Shipyard relaid her working and quarter decks with Oregon pine, replaced some of her deck beams and gunwales (oak), and built a new chart room for the navigation students. Oregon pine was also used to replace the old topmast. Her hull was thoroughly checked and some of her fastenings strengthened. Shipboard electronics were brought up to date by Guip while the company Navtis, joint contractor for the works, completely rebuilt the electrical system. Navtis also took care of the mechanical side of things, servicing the main engine and the windlass and replacing the generator sets. “This job amounted to 18,000 working hours,” says Guip boss Yann Mauffret. The Étoile will remain alongside Malbert Quay for masting and trials until 7 May. In 2015 it’ll be the Belle Poule’s turn for a major refit.
Guip’s reputation for restoring classic yachts is spreading and far exceeds the borders of Brittany. Two of the shipyard’s most recent arrivals are regulars in the prestigious regatta circuit of the Mediterranean. The first of these is Tigris, a 52′ gaff cutter. Built in 1899 at MacAllister’s in Scotland, she’s a Mylne design and used to race on the Clyde. Guip shipwrights will be changing the keel and rebuilding her structure under the waterline. We’re expecting to put her back in the water next summer. The other “southerner” is the Bounty, an elegant 57′ ketch designed by Francis Herreshoff and built in the USA in 1934. She’ll be undergoing a detailed restoration. We’ll be changing the wales (the topmost plank of the hull) and most of the frames as well as restoring her teak deck and deckhouses. This big job will be getting underway in 2015 to give us time to get the Bounty ready for the traditional boat festival Brest 2016.
This old lifeboat from the Isle of Ushant was built in 1960 and is included on France’s register of historic ships. She is in the middle of a major rebuild which is turning out to be a very complicated task. Guip shipwrights are restoring her to her original state, replacing her deck beams and replanking her two-layer deck and triple-skin hull, copper riveted throughout. The sailing trust that runs the Patron François Morin is looking forward to seeing her return to Ushant in the summer.
Hundreds of spectators turned out to see the Saint-Julien return to her native waters of the Mayenne River last October. She’s a traditional floating wash-house and mascot of the city of Laval. Built in 1904 and registered on France’s list of historic vessels, the Saint-Julien’s hull was past repair so Guip Shipyard built her a new one entirely from oak. Her 94′ hull was trailered home to Laval where it was reunited with its superstructure under the supervision of the shipyard. In June 2014 Laval’s floating wash-house will be going back to work as… a museum!
Built by Yann Mauffret and Paul Bonnel in the early days of Guip, back in 1985, the Mab er Guip has returned to the Île-aux-Moines yard for some serious carpentry. Her inboard ballast has been removed, a new deck has been laid, and some hull planking has been changed, including part of the wales. Guip’s yard on the largest island in the Morbihan has also been working on the Crialeis, changing deck beams and the mainmast. Both boats are traditional two-masted fishing luggers, known locally in the Morbihan as sinagot, and are easily recognizable by their tanned sails. In total the yard has built six of them. The Mab er Guip will be taking part in the Atlantic Challenge 2014.
Guip Shipyard joins Bretagne Pôle Naval
Guip Shipyard is now a member of the business cluster Bretagne Pôle Naval which concentrates 130 companies working in the maritime sector. The cluster develops synergies between businesses in the same value chain to create excellence in the sectors of shipbuilding and marine renewable energy.