This is the impact, realized and demonstrated: the economic model of the shipping company Sailcoop is holding up the tide. With two proposed crossings, to Corsica and to Glénan, the sailing passenger carrier – the first cooperative of its kind – proves that it is possible to reconcile carbon-free mobility, nautical performance and economic viability. Supported by a pool of 2,500 members, Sailcoop is growing quickly and will soon deploy other offerings on its pontoons.
For its first season in southern Brittany, the Sailcoop company operated 320 crossings between Concarneau and Les Glénan, transporting and transporting some 8,000 passengers on Isabelletheir first carbon-free shuttle, and certainly not the last! Because the Sailcoop fleet aims to develop to represent this shipping company of a new type: the transport of passengers by sail. “ It seemed utopian, it is now a reality”smile these three representatives of the day, Arthur Le Vaillant, skipper and founder, Yann Royer, operational director and Grégoire Thery, strategy director.
Founded in 2021 in Vannes, Sailcoop is a cooperative company with a single objective: to offer a low-carbon alternative to maritime passenger transport, but with multiple actions: 1/become a player in coastal shuttles, particularly in Brittany, 2/offer medium-distance crossings between the continent and the islands, and 3/market transatlantic voyages aboard sailing cargo ships.
Proven player in the ecological transition
After two years of full activity, Sailcoop is already addressing two of its objectives. Since the summer of 2022, the cooperative has been operating between the continent and Corsica aboard a 15-meter monohull, a private sailboat which it manages; and since this year, she has “ attacked the shuttle market » by inserting a regular rotation in southern Brittany, between Concarneau and Les Glénan exactly, aboard a 61-meter catamaran designed and built for the occasion. « We financed and built a first sailing shuttle with a capacity of 80 passengers”, specifies Yann Royer, operational director within the Sailcoop team. The call for subscriptions (2,500 members contributed to the capital) followed by two fundraisers (more than a million euros collected) which were supplemented by a bank debt, made it possible to raise the million and a half necessary for the implementation. water from this boat.
Results: the Sailcoop cooperative created 5 full-time jobs, hired 24 skippers, transported 11,000 passengers in 2024 and achieved 500,000 euros in turnover. But not only that! In terms of extra-financial performance, Sailcoop's activity has made it possible to mark a reduction of almost 90% in its carbon footprint, i.e. 218 tonnes of CO2 avoided.
At this rate, the maritime cooperative expects to reach its balance point from 2025 (with a turnover forecast of one million euros), and an almost immediate regenerative impact. “ We have already demonstrated that passenger transport by sail is possible, environmentally desirable and economically viable,” underlines Grégoire Théry, Director of Strategy and Development.
A new call for subscriptions for new ambitions
Building on these results, Sailcoop is broadening its horizons and is already planning significant steps in its development. After a year of consolidation of the model (in 2025), Sailcoop will launch the construction of a second sailing shuttle with a view to operating the Lorient-Groix connection from 2026. « The potential for passengers to be transported is enormous in Brittany, and we wish to become a key player in the maritime offer, to the point of obtaining a public service delegation“, deploys Grégoire Théry, convinced of the reinforced (and proven) compatibility between Sailcoop's economic model and the ecological emergency.
At the same time, the team will also expand its offering by opening the marketing of Atlantic crossings on partner sail-cargo ships. « To do this, we are going to open a dedicated site, called Voilà Sailcoop. This digital platform will bring together all of our services and ambitions as an owner of sailing shuttles, a promoter of low-carbon travel and a research and consultancy office on decarbonization.“, summarizes the Strategy and Development manager.
To finance this action plan and change scale, Sailcoop is running a new subscription campaign, open to all new members. « Having demonstrated that sailing passenger transport is viable, we would like to launch as soon as possible studies to design the first large-capacity “sailing liners”project the captains of Sailcoop, this laboratory of ideas mobilized to consolidate the wake of possibilities.
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