"PAIMPOL. WOODENBOATS ARE DEAR TO THE HEART OF THE CONRATH BROTHERS"

One is craftsman in ship carpentry since his youth, the other is betting to launch a new carreer in building plywood tenders at the age of 49. Gilles and Emmanuel Conrath share the same love for woodenboats. This passion was born in their youngest years, when living in the Paris area, they came for vacations at their grand-mother's summer home on the nearby island of Bréhat. Continued on page 23.

"The woodenboat fiber reunites the Conraths"

Last week, in the large building on the Dayot dock, Gilles Conrath and his crew were busy sanding wood, laying boards, nailing them... they were hurrying to finish the job on the trawler "La Sirène". In the warehouse on the other side of the street Emmanuel, Gilles brother, was assembling plywood parts to build a tender.

The passion for wooden boats is a family story with the Conraths. Gilles and Emmanuel recall their youth when they used to live in the Paris area, and when they couldn't wait for vacations to come stay with their grand-mother in Bréhat and spend a few hours on "Le Pirate", a wooden boat that she ordered from a local yard according to the traditional crabbing boat type in 1962... The boat is preserved today in the middle of Gilles's garden.

An extension project in Kerpalud

At the beginning of the eighties, as an apprentice at the famous Tertu boatyard, Gilles Conrath, then in his late teens, thinks and builds with his hands his first boat, the "Reder-Noz" (Night Rider in breton), a 26 foot sailboat, now laying at Coz Castel. In 1984, he creates his own shop, first in Kérity, then at the old slaughterhouse in Kerpalud, and finally on the Dayot dock on the Paimpol harbour in 2000. There, "Le Vieux Copain", "L"Etoile Molène" and numerous other famous and not-so-famous boats pass through the hands of the ship carpenter. Just like "La Sirène", last week. In his shop, the mariniere on his back, the crayon in his pocket and the hand-rolled cigarette in the corner of his mouth, Gilles eyes expertly his crew's work. "We have to rush to be done in time", says he to his men.

The customers count on him and projects abound: restauration, newbuild as well as a "diversification plan". The artisan plans to extend his business in Kerpalud. "We plan to raise a building large enough to accept the boats straight from the harbour with the new 70-tons elevator and to store sailboats without dis-masting!" In a first phase, the boss's involvement would be limited to carpentry but he doesn't exclude to rent sheltered space to professionnals and pleasure boaters alike to let them work themselves (on their own contractors) on their own boat...

The brother in tenders

Emmanuel Conrath shares his taste for woodenboats with his brother. But he didn't walk the same path to get there. After 25 years in information technology in the Paris area, he decided to drop everything to ride the bullet in boats. He left his native Oise to come closer to Paimpol. In the warehouse accross Gilles's shop, he builds 8-foot glued lapstrake plywood tenders. This type of construction requires much less technicity and know-how than massive wood and traditionnal carvel planking, "but the esthetic is the same!"

What remains to prove is whether there is a market for his plywood tenders. It seems that the answer to that question would be yes, indeed, according to the builder. The prototype for the tenders, presented at the "Grand Pavois" trade show in La Rochelle did please the crowds. To the point that the South African owner of a crusing catamaran (also presented at the show) bought it on the spot on the condition that it should be delivered at the end of the show, so that he could take it on deck when resuming a cruise around Europe!