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Sailing in Montana, a sudden obsession
Janvier – Février 2025
An overheated Côte d’Azur boat show can propel you 12 months later to the “most beautiful lake in the world”. That’s what happened to Hervé Nollet, owner of the Rosewest boatyard, who set out to deliver his ballasted dinghy named Cape Cod. An expedition like an American dream – from which you’ll never escape.
By: Steve Warson . Photos: DR et Yachting Classique
At the Cannes Boat Show in September 2023, a Texan strolls the quays in search of a 70-foot sailing yacht.
As he rounded a bend in the pontoon, his eye was drawn to the smallest boat on display at this event, which is now marked by excess and luxury. He takes three minutes to exchange a few words with Hervé Nollet, the exhibitor and builder of this Cape Cod. The yacht is named after a chic peninsula on the East Coast of the United States, but its design is an interpretation of the traditional mackerel boats of the Arcachon basin.
What could have been going through the mind of this American sailor in search of a cruising yacht? A moment’s rest? Love at first sight? He leaves with a two-page prospectus briefly describing the beautiful yacht, less than 9 meters long on deck. Just a souvenir? Just a dream? He didn’t even take the time to climb aboard.
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“We embarked on an expedition to the land of the American Indians, with a few questions in mind”.
Six months later, the prospectus – too well imprinted in his head – and a few e-mails later, came the sequence: “‘Charlie lands in Bordeaux’.” As others do with wine, the property developer “came to sniff out the spirit of the site”, recalls Hervé Nollet.
Then, excited as a child, and without taking the time to navigate the boat, he set about configuring every detail in the virtual reality room. Six months later, the yacht was ready to set sail from La Rochelle, bound for Baltimore. After 15 days at sea, it is scheduled to cover the last 4,000 kilometers to a Montana lake on the back of a truck.
Baltimore. Remember this video from last March: that giant sinking freighter destroying a bridge, causing one of the biggest maritime disasters of all time. Traffic was blocked for several months. That’s how long it will take to reschedule the launch of La Dame du Lac on Flathead Lake.
It’s also the time it takes for Hervé Nollet and his partner to organize a 10-day stay on site, following Charlie’s pressing invitation. And to discover this body of water with a surface area approaching that of Lake Geneva. Twenty hours’ travel each way… Eight hours’ time difference… All that wasn’t enough to make us hesitate,” says Hervé. And so we embarked on an expedition to the land of the American Indians, with a few questions in mind”.
Full article at : https://yachtingclassique.com/voguer-en-montana-une-soudaine-obsession/
‘As soon as we disembarked, we discovered a breathtaking scenery, a harmonious blend of plains and mountains, sometimes populated by fir trees, sometimes more arid, flowing endlessly into the waters of a lake of unique clarity’, he recalls. And that’s all there is to it. They arrive at the tiny and charming Dayton marina. It’s run by Buck Love (his real name): Ray-Ban glasses, a wry little smile, an atypical character with a rich background, with 82 years of exceptional experience at sea and in the mountains.
To complete the cast, there’s Phil, who looks like the mad scientist from ‘Back to the Future’, and Mel, a Clint Eastwood… in slow motion! The three of them watch the little Frenchies disembark, wondering why they’ve come all this way for a simple launch. The boat waits patiently under its packaging. No stress, good humour, chat and laughter: in just a few hours, the boat is ready to sail on deep blue water you’d never want to return to.
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Sailing on Flathead Lake
Getting there: three-quarters of an hour by car (pick-up, of course) from Kalispell airport (Montana). It’s a 15-hour journey from France. Area: 510 km² (580 km² for Lake Geneva), altitude: 882 m. Winter comes quickly. Depth: 113 m. It takes its name from an ancient Indian tribe, the ‘Têtes Plates’. Main town: Polson (4,500 inhabitants).
The marina is in the small town of Dayton (population 80). There are 150 sailboats in the tall grass, a single large pontoon with 100 boats alongside, a 4 m² reception office, a clubhouse and, above all, an outdated travel lift. No shipchandler within 30 miles. The few houses on the waterfront are reminiscent of those on the east coast of the United States: a house, a pontoon and a boat on each side. ‘But the general atmosphere seems less codified,’ observes Hervé Nollet. The season runs from mid-May to mid-September.
During his stay, Hervé Nollet encountered steady winds of 8 to 15 knots and flat water at 21 degrees. A day’s outing brings you across… three boats, usually motor boats. Far from the hustle and bustle of the Arcachon Basin or the Gulf of Morbihan: another world.
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