Frenchman builds yacht to sail to France from Lanka
Shirajiv SIRIMANE
VOYAGE: For the first time a French family is building a yacht
in Sri Lanka with the intention of sailing to France in two months from
the Galle harbour. This is the first time that a yacht is sailing from
Galle to France.
Graham Oliver Fancon who has already completed building half of the
yacht said that he would finish the yacht in
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Fancon working in the boat.
Picture by Shirajiv Sirimane
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two more months.
The vessel would be built mostly with local raw material and he is
being assisted by Boat Builders and Marine Engineers Nath (Private)
limited of Galle.
The yacht when completed will have the capacity to accommodate five
people and the total cost would be around US $ 40,000. If this boat is
built in Europe the cost would be double as some of the material and
labour costs are high.
"After reaching France we hope to keep the Yacht and do further
cruises with it," he said.
He said a locally manufactured sail and wood would be used for this
family cruiser build with fibre glass. Fancon who is a professional
sailor was in Sri Lanka for four years with his wife who is a teacher.
"Since her contract is finishing and we have to go back to the
country, I thought of designing this boat as it would be more economical
and amusing rather than flying," he said.
Two of their children aged 4 and 6 too would join this voyage.
He said that the journey to France would take around 40 days and they
would have stopovers in the Maldives, Gulf and Greece.
Chairman, Cey Nor Foundation Rohan Jayasinghe also met Fancon and
discussed with him as to what assistance they could provide. |
