The 'Pinnasse a Voile" of Arcachon Basin, France

A fascinating video of Pinnasse racing in the Arcachon basin, southern France near Bordeaux. Very canoe like, with a pointed stern, narrow beam, hard chines, and a pretty upswept bow sheer, the Pinnasse was originally a work boat used for fishing and oyster farming but, today, just like the Maryland log canoe, lives on primarily as a racing sailboat. They feature a low aspect lug rig where the tack of the sail is attached to the bow. To tack, the sail must be dropped and shoved around the mast to the new leeward side and then rehoisted. All very tricky in a tippy boat and this video is captivating as we see the coordination of the 6-7 crew as they hustle to get these craft from on tack to the other.

Also on this video are some video snippets of the always beautiful wooden International 12's racing (the not so common pink, as a hull color, is featured here..... I had a niggling feeling that I got this wrong - the International 12 identification - when I wrote this, but I thought "Romain will correct me if I'm wrong", and he did). Romain writes......

"The pink international 12' is in fact a monotype d'Arcachon.

Slightly longer (14'), wider and with more sail surface, the hull is not lapstrake and the sail type is a balanced lug instead of a standing lug.

It was designed in 1912, one year before the International 12'"

The video also features several classic beauty keelers and, what I assume is a traditional working craft, flat bottomed with open transom and rudder hung off a gantry - a very strange combination but also very forward looking if this was how it was done many years ago.

La régate des voiles traditionnelles sur le bassin d'Arcachon from televisionbassinarcachon on Vimeo.