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Charente-Maritime (Department, France): Yacht clubs

Cercle Nautique d'Ars-en-Ré
Régates de Royan
Société des Régates Rochelaises
Yacht Club Classique
Yacht Club de l'Océan
Yacht Club de Saint-Martin-de-Ré

See also:

Cercle Nautique d'Ars-en-Ré

Burgee of CNA - Image by Ivan Sache, 20 December 2004

The island of Ré, aka the white island (l'île blanche) is located in the Atlantic Ocean, a few miles off the port of La Rochelle. A bridge is linking the island to the mainland. Ré is some 30 km long and less than 10 km width. From the Hundred Years' War to the fall of Napoléon's Empire, the island was disputed by France and Britain. In 1625, the island was besieged by Duke of Buckingham. The fort of Saint-Martin was assaulted on 6 November but the garrison commanded by Toiras resisted. King of France Louis XIII sent from La Rochelle fresh troops commanded by Marshal Schomberg. The Brits were defeated by Toiras and Schomberg, who captured six cannons and 46 flags.
Ré is today an extremely popular and crowded summer vacation place.

The port of Ars-en-Ré (1,083 inhabitants) is located on the south-western shore of the island. The streets of the old village are so narrow that the corners of the houses had to be trimmed to allow teams to turn. In the past, the port of Ars was used to export salt produced on the island to the Netherlands and Scandinavia. The narrow bell-tower of the St. Etienne church, painted in black and white, was used as a beacon.

The Cercle Nautique d'Ars-en-Ré, founded in 1953, has a burgee (image) horizontally divided yellow-light blue-yellow (1:2:1). In the middle of the light blue stripe is shown the Whales' Lighthouse (phare des Baleines), flanked by two mirrored blue anchors.
The Whales' Lighthouse (phare des Baleines), built in 1854 on the westernmost point of the island to replace an older lighttower, is 55 m high and served by an helicoidal stair with 257 steps. The lighthouse is named for the Whales' Cove (conche des Baleines), located east of the lighthouse, where hundreds of whales are said to have beached in the Roman times.

Ivan Sache, 28 December 2004

Régates de Royan

Burgee of Régates de Royan - Image by Ivan Sache, 28 December 2004

Before the Second World War, Royan was one of the main French sea resorts, famous for its conches (sandy coves) and its mild weather. The Royan Pocket surrendered to the Allied troops only a few days before the German capitulation and the town, except the borough of Pontaillac, was completely destroyed by bombings.

Régates de Royan (website), founded in 1851, is the third oldest French yacht club after the Société des Régates du Havre (1838) and the Société Nautique de la Baie de Saint-Malo (1848).
Its burgee is vertically divided blue-white-red with a black anchor in the white stripe and a black "R" in the blue and red stripes.

Ivan Sache, 28 December 2004

Yacht Club de l'Océan

Burgee of YCO - Image by Ivan Sache, 17 July 2002

Yacht Club de l'Océan (YCO, website), founded in 1959, is based in Saint-Denis-d'Oléron, a port located on the northern point of Oléron island.
The burgee of YCO is a 1:2 blue triangle with a yellow triangle placed along the hoist and charged with the letters "YCO" in blue.

Ivan Sache, 17 July 2002

Yacht Club de Saint-Martin-de-Ré

Burgee of YCSM - Image by Ivan Sache, 1 May 2010

THe YCSM (website), founded in 1965, is based in the fortified town of Saint-Martin-de-Ré (2,588 inhabitants in 2007).
The burgee of the YCSM is red with a white cross and the red letters "Y.C.S.M." placed in the horizontal arm of the cross.

Ivan Sache, 1 May 2010