Deemed to be polluting, the 24-hour motorboat race in Rouen on borrowed time

Every first weekend in May, the Seine corridor and, with its echo, the city of Rouen vibrate to the "melody" of the engines emitted by the cars of the 24 hours Rouen Motonautiques.

Since 1963, the event included in the World Endurance Motorboat Championship, the counterpart of its automotive colleague at Le Mans, has become an institution and a popular event.

Free, it attracts around 350,000 people every year who flock to the quays and bridges to admire the kicks of thousands of seahorses.

A recent IFOP poll indicated that in spontaneous notoriety, the demonstration ranks third behind the Armada and the Cathedral of Light.

A test pointed out by environmentalists

And yet, the life of this ordeal has never been more than a long calm river.

Following a fatal accident in 2010, the event was split into two parts: 3 p.m. and 9 a.m.

But without losing its capital of sympathy after the fans, on the political point, it is now pointed out by environmentalists.

“In recent years, it has been

I love you neither

with the town hall which however always renewed the authorization and its financial support ”, explains Franque-Emmanuel Coupard La Droitte the president of the Rouen Yacht-Club, the organizing association and former pilot.

However, relations have been strained a little more for some time.

The 2020 edition was first canceled and postponed from October 1 to 3, 2021 due to the health crisis.

But in a recent letter, the city declares that following the commitment of the Rouen Normandy Metropolis in the climate emergency plan, it can "support this event only on the condition of fully using engines. carbon-free ”.

The municipal elections have been there

“In the meantime, plague Franque-Emmanuel Coupard La Droitte, also opposition municipal councilor of the Au Cœur de Rouen group, there were municipal elections and a political agreement between the socialist Nicolas Mayer Rossignol and the Green Dominique Bérégovoy to win the town hall.

In my opinion, in the bride's bunk, there were the heads of the bypass east of Rouen and the 24 heures Rouen Motonautiques.

A sectarian ideology makes us look like idiots who understand nothing about the environment.

With our engines, we are polluters… ”

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Towards 100% renewable energy?

For Franque-Emmanuel Coupard La Droitte, “the criterion of low-carbon engines is discriminating!

We are not treated like other users of the Seine.

Completely carbon-free… How to do it?

What contacts do they have?

We would buy these engines immediately… if they existed!

They don't have a monopoly on ecological awareness.

We have been working on this direction for years, first with a ban on 2-liter engines and noise attenuators.

We have also carried out tests with hydrogen kits ”.

Franque-Emmanuel Coupard La Droitte wants time to bring the 24 Rouen Motonautiques into the ecological era / # PRESSE30  

When one speaks to him about electric motors, immediately the organizer of the 24 hours affirms that it is a false good idea, because the batteries do not have autonomy and do not hold in time.

They have to be produced with rare earths and a lot of water.

It also makes the children, the new slaves, work.

In addition, recycling is almost non-existent at the moment ”.

The Rouen Yacht-Club wants time to "decarbonize"

He also claims time and the same treatment as for others.

“Are they going to ask other cruise ships, cargo ships or barges to stop sailing?

They simply want to deprive us of the use of the Seine.

So, they just have to say openly, without false pretexts, that they want to make the ordeal disappear and indicate it to the population!

"

According to Franque-Emmanuel Coupard La Droitte, Mayor Nicolas Mayer Rossignol has never directly followed up on his letters.

Asked by us, he did not follow up.

A meeting scheduled for Friday February 19 has been canceled and postponed until Tuesday February 23 at the Town Hall.

"We are going to ask for an immediate position," assures the organizer, who considers himself the victim of a "hostage".

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The Rouen Yacht Club, he assures, would like to set up a working group with the city and manufacturers around this transition but needs time.

“We would also like to organize a nautical week with sporting, cultural, economic and educational activities, a real nautical show on the 4 hectares of the Saint-Gervais basin.

We believe in it and we are in the starting blocks, ”swears the former driver.