L'amiral Nielly prend ses fonctions de préfet maritime de la Manche et
de la mer du Nord
In late June 2013 the newly appointed Admiral Nielly moved decisively to ban all self powered craft from entering French territorial waters in
the English Channel. Many organised charity rows were caught out having trained
for months in advance. One crew set off on 1st July but were turned back by a
French vessel. It appears that the French authorities came to this decision
when a cross Channel row was attempted overnight and went wrong, requiring rescue. The authorities are worried about safety issues and frustrated by such
occurrences.
Talks are underway to persuade the French
authorities to change their mind and in the meantime the charity rows have been
done by rowing halfway across the Channel and turning round.
PicoMicroYacht was so fortunate to attempt
the row last year and not delay a year. This was because Full Throttle Boat Charters were able to provide a safety boat at a reasonable price, which convinced me to
do it then... It was a damn close run thing.