Fécamp from June 29 to July 3, 2022
Bringing to life the art of the mariners’ songs
By participating in the 9th edition of the Captain Hayet Trophy. Register in one or more of the five challenges of the competition.
Armand Hayet
It was while listening to the sailors embarked with him on merchant sailing ships around 1900 that Captain Hayet noted down the songs that he published in 1927 in his famous collection, where Jean-François de Nantes or Le pont de Morlaix appear for the first time.
Organized since 2015 by the OPCI (Office du Patrimoine Culturel Immatériel) - previously by Le Chasse-Marée -, the Trophée Capitaine Hayet aims to cultivate the art of the mariners’ song, which combines work songs but also dance songs of the people of the sea, laments and compositions.
Singing on the quay, around a capstan, on board a sailing boat
The Hayet Trophy favors oral transmission: the events are not accompanied by sound. It is possible to accompany the songs... but the instruments must be acoustic! The events take place around the capstan of the association Phare Ouest, from Cancale.
The five challenges of the Trophy
Songs of the harbours, of the vigils and of the forecastle
Listen to the songs of the sea and river people sailing on the rivers and the Seven Seas: Normans or Vendeans, Dunkirkers or Sétois, Guadeloupeans or Basques, but also English or Scots, Americans... Without forgetting the Bretons of course! To (re)discover shanties or harbour songs recalling tragedies or "keeping the seafarers in a cheerful mood"!
Songs of the workers of the sea
All types of work songs - except those for turning the capstan and hoisting - are accepted, and in all languages, interpreted without doing the manoeuvre: songs for heaving at the windlass, for pumping, for unhitching, for hauling the nets, for rowing, for cleaning the “runs”, for unloading, for supporting the caulking, for accompanying the work in the curing workshops...
Songs to dance
The songs are done "in the dance" - often leading the mariners’ round - on the floor around the capstan. All the dances of the maritime environment are possible, from the Catalan habanera to the Breton laridé, without forgetting of course the mariners’ rounds of the Vendée, Breton or Norman sailors.
Capstan chanteys
The event takes place while heaving in! Competitors can recruit singers on the spot to complete their crew. The art of capstan song is to rely on the regular sound of the pawls slamming on the floor while singing.
Songs to hoist
The event will take place on board a docked sailboat. Competitors must hoist with at least four singers, free to complete their crew on the spot. The hauling technique can be chosen: "hand over hand", "one pull", "two pulls" or "running".
“Germaines" for the winners!
A contest, but not a competition: the winners (8 in 2015, 2016 and 2017) can no longer represent themselves: their task is now to transmit their art. They each receive a boxed boat germaine - an art in which French longshoremen excelled - made by a master of the genre: Henry Rannou (and offered to the Trophy: thanks to him!).
Registration for the Hayet 2022 Trophy - Free
The registration includes the indications on the formation (singer, duo or group); the challenge(s) chosen; the text of the song (one per challenge); an MP3 recording.
Rules and registration form available from OPCI: mcolleu@opci-ethnodoc.fr 06 34 96 03 13 here
A candidate (soloist or group) may not enter more than three of the five categories.
Applications that respect the rules will be accepted and confirmed in order of receipt
