Hope this helps those visiting Carnac Eurocat
The Carnac experience pre-event.
Carnac Eurocat is one of the international catamaran highlights of the season. If there is a new race boat coming to the market this is where it makes its race début. It is also where the established classes continue to show their strength and make themselves known.
The Carnac Yacht Club is typical of many French clubs, a central regional facility with a host of club, dinghies, windsurfers and of course catamarans , school group sessions, hire boats and private owner boat parking. The club launch area is a wide slipway into a harbour bowl which when the tide is in can be tricky specially for single-handers. If you arrive a day or two before the event you will have the option of boat parking on the hard standing and launching from either side of the harbour bowl or boat parking on the beach and launching from the beach area, either way check it out at low tide as there are a few rocks! The club changing rooms do not facilitate storage of bags in fact it is just a wet room with showers , so you need to take your kit bag with you and leave it in your car or under the boat cover in your boat space. (Nb. if you shower at the club they expect you to wear your pants or trunks in the shower!)
The club is a bit light on toilet facilities, which are unisex, so get in there early before everyone else leaves the briefing or be prepared to queue !
As you approach the town of Carnac take the road that brings you around the outside of the main town , via the “stones” so you arrive at the seafront with the harbour right in front of you , the club to the right and the beach to the left. You will see a small car park just to the left of the T junction, this is the prize set up point for many sailors with road trailer in the car park and boat just over the wall on the beach, possibly the place for a Sprint 15 base camp?
The committee boats are moored just off the harbour , it is a good idea to leave the beach when they leave their moorings and follow them to the sailing area which may not be where you thought it might be!
Read the sailing instructions carefully (well that goes for all events) but this is a multi start event and multi course normally with a separate finishing boat so they can get individual start away without waiting for all fleets to finish. When hanging around pre start make sure you keep your eyes open hove-to on stb, there are a lot of boats around, various levels of sailing skill and sailors eating bread and cheese during the races!
See you there.
Brian.
