The Stopover boats in Sète 2024: the Belem, a new flashback

Le Belem a souvent fait escale à Sète mais jamais Escale à Sète. Midi Libre – PHILIPPE MALRIC

Launched in 1896 for trade between France and Brazil, the Belem, expected for Stopover in Sète, is the last three-masted French steel-hulled barque. When he leaves Sète it will be to fetch the Olympic flame.

He very often made a stopover in Sète but never took part in Escale à Sète. Shade. The Belem, the last three-masted French barque with a steel hull, ship classified as a Historic Monument in 1984, second largest French sailboat, has an extended business card. He will soon be able to add a line. Indeed, after the festival of maritime traditions in Sète, the sailboat will set sail for Greece to collect the Olympic flame and then bring it back to Marseille for its grand tour of France .

For transatlantic trade

What a fate all the same for this boat built at the beginning of 1896 in the Dubigeon shipyards for the Denis Crouan shipping company. The three-masted ship, which bears the name of the Brazilian city where it will load its goods, will multiply the transatlantic ships with the holds filled with cocoa beans (for the chocolatier Menier), but also rum and sugar cane depending on its three different owners.

Prestigious owners

But the arrival of engines and the First World War put an end to his first career. It was then bought by the Duke of Westminster who equipped it with engines, transforming it into a luxury yacht with a staircase and woodwork (still visible) and two roofs.

Logbook

Name: Belem
Type: Three-masted barque
Launched in 1896
Pavillon French
Home port: Nantes.
Length: 51 m.
Mast height: 34 m (above sea level)
Sail area: 1,200 m2
Number of sailors on board:16

In 1921, the Belem became the property of Sir Arthur Ernest Guinness and took the name Fantome II. Thirty years and several major cruises later, the sailboat passed into the hands of the great Italian captain of industry Vittorio Cini who made it, in Venice, the training boat of his foundation (after a development project) and gives him the name of Giorgio, his deceased son.

Repurchased in 1978

The love story between Venice and this boat lasted more than 25 years until the sailboat, too old, was put up for sale in 1978 and bought by the French savings banks.

Where and when to see it ?

From March 26 to April 1 quai du Maroc. Entrance with the single ticket which gives access to the deck of all tall ships. Ticket office: quai de la République or at the tourist office and on the website escaleasete.com

The Belem then regains its name, undergoes a makeover, becomes a training ship open to all and always flies the colors of France during major events.

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