Lorient: schooner Tara returns Saturday two and a half years of expedition

Finally ! After browsing 100,000 kilometers, the schooner Tara returns to Lorient. It has on board 70 scientists from eight different nationalities who have collected 36,000 samples from 40 marine sites.

"A visible effect of climate change"

Since 2003, she has conducted eleven expeditions across the world's seas to study the effect of land activity on ocean pollution. These shipments are aimed to collect samples of corals or plankton. For her eleventh expedition, she headed for the largest ocean in the world. She went right through it, doing stopover in no less than 32 Pacific islands and making about 2,600 dives to retrieve elements useful for scientific research.

"200 people took turns on the boat during these two and a half years, reports Romain Troublé, General Manager of the Tara Expéditions Foundation. The schedule was respected to the minute: each stop was made, it's a great victory!"

First named ATntarctica, this boat was designed in the late 1980s to study ice drift. Étienne Bourgeois acquired it in 2003 on the condition that he continue the scientific missions of the ship. He renamed Tara, is surrounded by a team of scientists (including Christophe Gascard, oceanographer who was to participate in the aborted polar expedition) and the ship resumes exercise.

Celebrations all weekend

For his long-awaited return, the city of Lorient is at the party! The festivities begin Saturday in the Cité de la Voile Éric Tabarly. Activities begin at 1.30 pm with an hour and a half treasure hunt the winner will win a trip aboard the famous ship for three days.

An armada of yachtsman will wait for the schooner to wish him a good return. It should arrive around 16:30. She will receive a welcome in music with the group Timber Men Stompers, a quintet of hot swing music from New Orleans that will give a concert from 16:00. Then the evening will end with a closing concert of Maarten Stok, musician onboard Tara, accompanied by the Dutch Nachtschade.

Various exhibitions on the epic of the boat will be offered to the public. They are composed of projections, animations and conferences. A visit to the schooner's upper deck is possible, accompanied by a crew member. These visits are spread from Thursday 1^st to Sunday, November 4 also, so that everyone can enjoy!