Atlantic Cluster, the result of a process
The desire to create a maritime cluster in New Aquitaine was born in 2017, as Martin Lepoutre explained to us in the fall of the same year . It stems from the merger of regions and the consequences of the NOTRe law. A prefiguration association had been created in July 2017, chaired by the former owner of the Rochelais shipyard RM Yachts. After 1 and a half years of setting up, a constitutive general assembly could be held on January 31, 2019. This was the opportunity to choose a definitive name: Atlantic Cluster and to elect its board of directors of about twenty members and its office headed by Laurent Da Rold, from the nautical design office Yacht Concept. The association had already recruited in the summer a director, a permanent employee, Gaelle Pallu de la Barrière, formerly in charge of communication for Neel Trimarans.
To represent all the sectors of the nautical industry and all the basins of the region
The objective of the Atlantic Cluster is to be the geographical and economic reflection of all aspects of boating in New Aquitaine, says Gaelle Pallu de la Barrière. "At the end of 2018, we reached 90 members, 60% of whom are in the northern area including La Rochelle and Rochefort, 30% in the center around Bordeaux and the Bassin d'Arcachon and 10% in the south, in the Basque Country. We are aiming for 150 members in 2019."
The members are divided into 8 colleges, covering all activities related to boating:
- Boat builders
- Equipment manufacturers
- Maintenance and refit of boats over 70 meters
- Maintenance and refit of boats of less than 70 meters and small naval repairs
- Harbours and nautical services
- Technical and R&D competence centers
- Qualified personalities (Universities, Cluster...)
- Development partners (Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region and various EPCIs)
A tool for the promotion and financing of boating
The cluster's role is twofold: to give commercial visibility to the New Aquitaine nautical industry and to finance members' collaborative projects. "We have a role of promoting members at the national and international level in public and BtoB shows, just like what other regions do. This will begin at Nautic 2019," explains the director of Atlantic Cluster. "The goal is also to help the collective actions of our members, which will emerge from the working groups formed on innovation and R&D, refit of more and less than 70 meters, environmental management and training and recruitment in boating. Themes such as styrene-free resins, the shipyard of the future, energy transition, the flying boat or the connected boat are already being studied. We will provide direct funding and have the vocation to become a technical validation commission for the New Aquitaine Region, another possible source of funding."
Long behind regions such as Brittany or Occitania, New Aquitaine seems to want to equip itself with ambitious structures for a nautical industry that weighs at the national level.
