THE YACHT Report - Issue 74 - May 2006
The society columm
New Horizons
The society column is going to expand its horizons. We will, of course, always feature contributions from Doug at ISS, but the column will also now provide a platform for groups representing those working in the yachting industry. The first of these comes from, and is a brief introduction to GEPY, and covers their activities in the last year. We invite contributions from other associations, societies or institutes or other groups.
GEPY (Groupement des Equipages Professionnels du Yachting) is a French association representing 300 members of the yachting industry. As we move into 2006 GEPY's activity in the yachting industry is ever increasing. The association has various working groups; here are some of their activities:
GEPY is cooperating with the MDER (Mission of Développement Regionale) and Riviera Yachting Network (RYN). RYN is a trade association of company members involved in service and goods supply to yachts in the PACA (Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur) region. This group's purpose is to ensure that their membership, now 50% up on last year with 65 members, provides yachts and crew with the right level and type of services in the region. Members include ITM, Monaco Marine, IMS and Foselev Marine. GEPY has helped RYN in communicating with and surveying their members on this critical issue for both clients and businesses.
-Collaboration with the Nautical Pole organised by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Alpes Maritimes.
-A GEPY working group is participating in a new Super Yacht committee organised by the Conseil Superieur de la Navigation' (Higher Council of Navigation) of the French Ministry for Transport. This committee is discussing building standards for yachts. Here GEPY has been explaining to the French Administration the validity of sticking as much as possible to the MCA standards for the French shipyards.
-Last year the culmination of eight years work was achieved: five new STCW compliant yacht specific Certificates of Competency within the French system: Captain 200 (60 miles of a safe haven), Captain 200 gt Sail (Voile), Capitaine yacht 500 (Captain 500 gt
(Yachts) Unlimited), Capitaine yacht 3000 (Captain 3000 gt (Yachts) Unlimited), and Chef mécanicien yacht 3000 kW (Chief Engineer 3000 kW). These new qualifications are complemented by the existing CoC Chief Mate 500 (Chef de quart yacht 500). The first courses: Captain 3000 & Chief Engineer 3000 kW were planned to started in September 2005 at the Ecole Nationale Marine Marchande in Marseille and Nantes. After a meeting between Jean Marie Lacarriere and Pascal Berger and (then) new Chief Examiner. Masters & Mates MCA, Denzyl Pereira, at MYS 2005 Oral examinations were held on the 1st of March by MCA in Marseille. This initiative has been welcomed by the whole of the profession and is an issue which GEPY intend to carry forward.
Each month, except during the summer season, GEPY organises at the Yacht Club Antibes meetings on specific topics. An extremely popular meeting covered subjects from telemedicine provider: Purpan hospital Toulouse, a seaman's emergency medical doctor and the Seaman's doctor from the Affaires Maritimes de Nice. Cutting edge medical Equipment was displayed and attendees could talk with a pharmacist specialising in the yachting industry (for Luxembourg, UK Flags and French legislation). More than 125 members attended this session.
-Another monthly meeting, which attracted 80 members, was a presentation by HMS AV and entertainment specialists. New technologies such as video conferencing, latest advances in Satcom and Inmarsat and Bluetooth were covered.
-The most recent meeting looked at the topical question of the roles of women working on yachts. This was organised by Laurence Vernisch of Easy Yachting before 65 women working on yachts as captain, stewardess, cook, deck crew or those involved in trust companies, management, brokerage and crew placement. The topic was a great success and is sure to be looked at again in the future.
-GEPY's next meeting will take place at Monaco Yacht Club in May. You can add to their 24,000 hits this year so far by visiting them on gepy.fr