Voilerie Phocéenne

Voilerie Phoceenne was founded in 1972 and is located at 4 Anse du Pharo in Marseille, near the Vieux-Port and on the waterfront. Taken over in 1979 by its current manager Herve Cordesse, it relies on a team of experienced professionals and states that its manufacturing is French. It holds the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant label, a mark of recognition from the French State that distinguishes outstanding know-how. The workshop is open Monday to Friday, from 9am to 12.30pm and from 2pm to 6.30pm.

The loft has a 400 sqm floor and six sewing machines, five of them pit-mounted, with a stock of polyester, nylon, aramid, kevlar and carbon cloth. For cruising, each sail is designed after a discussion with the owner to settle materials and cut, then measured on board, with a check of the tuning of the rig: classic, fully battened or in-mast mainsails, furling genoas, sewn spinnakers with carefully studied reinforcements, asymmetric spinnakers and gennakers in a snuffer or on a top-down furler. Maintenance covers the inspection of seams, UV strips and clew, head and tack points, together with the fitting of reinforcement patches.

For racing, design is carried out in CAD, from the choice of cut through to the finish, each sail being made to measure. The team, itself active in racing, assesses new materials and guides owners towards the best compromise between performance, longevity and price. The loft also makes the sails of the region's traditional craft and pointus, Alliance, Noctilo, Diowo and Haloa, with gaff, lateen or lug rigs, combining the desired period appearance with today's materials.

A 500 sqm workshop is devoted to rigging. The team checks, tunes and replaces standing rigging, masts, mastheads and mast steps, cables, turnbuckles, swages, furlers and spreaders, and advises on running rigging, halyards and sheets. As a Sparcraft dealer for the PACA region, the loft offers cruising or racing sections suited to rating rules and, as a Facnor and Harken agent, advises on furlers and top-down furlers. Any custom stainless steel part, including pulpits, is made on site, and the team travels to measure, install and tune the rig.