Finding your place between 2 yachting heavyweights
At a meeting on June 7, 2018, elected officials from the Nantes Métropole, CARENE (Saint-Nazaire) and Cap Atlantique (La Baule) conurbations, announced the implementation of a collective strategy for the local nautical industry. "This is the fruit of a process that began with a study commissioned from a specialist consultancy on the positioning of Loire Atlantique and its local authorities in the nautical sector. Between Vendée to the south, known for its large-scale production with Bénéteau, and Lorient to the west, specialized in ocean racing, it was not clear where Nantes stood. There's a desire to define this position, based on the strengths and weaknesses highlighted by the study," explains Patrick Piveteau, president of the We are NINA association, which specializes in digital boating and is associated with the project.
A strong ecosystem for innovation
The boating industry is keen to build on the region's strengths to work on new uses for yachting. "We have a real local innovation ecosystem. On the one hand, there are renowned schools and training courses in the maritime field, such as Centrale Nantes, the École Supérieure du Bois, the École d'Architecture or the ENSM and the Université de Nantes, to ensure a pool of recruits for local companies. On the other hand, organizations such as the Pole Mer Bretagne Atlantique, the Pole EMC2 or our association We are NINA have experience in supporting start-ups and larger companies. The digital sector is also very dynamic. We want to build on this to develop new uses for the nautical industry", explains Patrick Piveteau.
Premises and an innovation competition
The new nautical strategy of the Loire agglomerations will be supported by concrete programs. As part of the development of Nantes' Bas-Chantenay district, scheduled for 2020, premises will be made available to yachting companies, with the creation of a place for start-ups and an incubator. An innovation competition will soon be launched to unite companies in the sector.