The name Creizic may sound cumbersome, but it stands for an island in the Morbihan, the small sea, an inland waterway flooded by currents with a navigable connection to the Atlantic. The Frenchman François Vivier is at home there in Brittany. His domain is smaller retro classics made of wood. The Breton launched a series of so-called voile avirons, sailing boats that are easy to row. They were classically built from planks on frames, which resulted in rather heavy hulls. With the Creizic sailing rowing boat, Vivier has now launched a new daysailer that is easy to build yourself using the stitch-and-glue method. For this purpose, pre-cut panels made of six millimetre thick okumé are supplied with the edges already pre-punched, which are held together with cable ties or wire and then laminated over. At 140 kilograms, the boat is quite light and the GRP coating makes it resistant to mechanical stress and moisture.
Daysailer for rowing, sailing and camping
The cockpit is large and extends to the mast of the lugsail. The rig can be extended by a mizzen. Side decks increase safety as they increase the angle of flooding. They also allow the oars or rigging to be stowed underneath and simplify the installation of a cockpit tent on the Creizic, which is also designed as a hiking boat. The daysailer is designed to be unsinkable thanks to buoyancy bodies in the bow and stern.
According to François Vivier, the lightweight hull and long waterline allow the boat to be rowed over long distances. The retractable centreboard and rudder also provide flexibility. There are no fixed storage compartments for weight reasons. Instead, there is space for two watertight barrels that can be lashed to the hull. These containers can be used as water ballast, which should be useful for single-handed sailing.
Documents and materials are available at various levels, from a simple plan to further familiarise yourself with the boat for 6 euros, to a CNC data set and templates, to a kit for 9,000 euros or the ready-to-sail boat for 20,200 euros from the shipyard in France. In Germany Stefan Lauckenmann the designer François Vivier and his boats.
Technical data Creizic
- Hull length 4.60 m
- Waterline length 4.34 m
- Width with rubbing strip 1.69
- Draught 0.16-0.89 m
- Weight ready to sail 140 kg
- Sail area 9.5 + 1.5 m²
