The 9th edition of the Voiles de l’Espoir (« Sails of Hope »), under the High Patronage of His Serene Highness Prince Albert of Monaco, offers children the opportunity to cross the Côte d’Azur through Grimaud, Cogolin, Fréjus, Saint Raphael, Cannes, and Monaco.

The navigator Armel Le Cleac’h once again honors organizers, volunteers, and children by being the sponsor of this new edition of the Voiles de l’Espoir.

A major national charity initiative called « Un Ballon pour l’espoir » (« A Balloon for Hope ») has just been launched to raise money for the Voiles de l’Espoir.

The aim of this event is to offer a week of sailing to children aged 8 to 14 from all walks of life (from metropolitan France, overseas, and other countries of the world such as Morocco, Luxembourg, etc) who have, for the most part, undergone intensive chemotherapy or a bone marrow transplant.

The organization of such an event requires many volunteers (nearly 700 people) to accompany the 102 children, as well as significant funds to manage all the logistics of the project (accommodation, catering, activities, and so on).

By mobilizing the Clubs of Quatalagor and thanks to an unprecedented chain of solidarity, the Endowment Funds of the Voiles de l’Espoir is challenging itself to contribute to gather the €58,000 euros missing from this 2017 edition of the Voiles de l’Espoir.

The objective is to finance the operation by collecting 2 euros per balloon purchased. The balloon release will be organized by the children present on the Voiles de l’Espoir during one of the stages.

The navigator Armel Le Cleac’h, sponsor of the demonstration, declared: « I am very happy to sponsor the Voiles de l’Espoir again. Two years ago, I was able to measure the happiness that this event brought to the children. This year, although I cannot unfortunately be present, I wanted to support all these young people and the volunteers who accompany them. Good wind to all! »

« Voiles de l’Espoir » is the world’s largest boating event organized every two years for children in remission of cancer or leukemia.

The organizers of Les Voiles de l’Espoir also wish to acknowledge the support of the Yacht Club de France, and the companies Musto and Jeanneau (Voiles partners).

The children participating in this event benefit from a tailor-made program: nautical learning, discovery of the Côte d’Azur, activities, and dedicated supervision… so many moments of escape to offer them an unforgettable getaway. Spread across 60 sailboats, around 100 children aged 8 to 14 from all over the world (France, Antilles, Reunion Island, New Caledonia, Morocco, Luxembourg) will be supervised for 7 days by more than 650 volunteers to allow them to escape and to discover ñ safely ñ the world of sailing and the sea.

Sharing, discovery, and solidarity… these are the slogans of this formidable human adventure organized under the aegis of the French Round Table (la Table Ronde Française).

This article was first published here.