©Maxime Fradusiak Stopover in Calais: embark for THE maritime festival
Escale à Calais is an important maritime festival on the Opal Coast and takes place every 2 years. This popular and friendly event honors heritage boats and maritime know-how. No one has forgotten the magnificent images of the three-masted ship "The Belem" in the spring of 2024. On board, the Olympic flame crossed the Mediterranean between Greece and France. The famous sailing ship will be the guest of honor at the “Escale à Calais” maritime festival from August 29 to 31, 2025.
A gathering of heritage boats
The Carnot basin of the port of Calais will welcome a wide variety of boats: historical replicas, old work boats, and majestic sailing ships. A commented parade will allow the public to see them sailing. Some will be open to visitors while others will offer trips of a few hours off the coast of Calais.
The exceptional presence of the Belem
The Belem: launched in 1896, this three-masted ship sailed the Atlantic for trade. It then became a luxury yacht and then a training ship. Sold in 1978, it returned to France, classified as a Historic Monument in 1984. The Belem Foundation manages this sailboat welcoming 48 trainees supervised by 16 officers and crew members.
The Belem will be open to visitors during the 3 days of stopover in Calais.
Length: 58 m. — Width: 8,80 m.
Sail area: 1 m² — French flag
Want to set sail? It is possible to book your place on board to join Portsmouth from Calais on September 2, 2025.
More information
©Maxime Fradusiak A naval battle reenactment
They will make their first appearance at Escale à Calais. The two sailboats will offer a unique spectacle at Escale à Calais: the reconstruction of a naval battle with cannon fire and boarding in the Bassin Carnot!
The Grayhound
The British ship of Escale à Calais 2025 is the replica of a Cornish lugger from 1776. Very fast, this sailboat made the fortune of its owner who hunted smugglers! This replica was built in 2011 in Plymouth. Used for family and tourist cruises, it now transports goods and takes part in maritime festivals.
Length: 32 m. — Width: 5.90 m
Sail area: 240 m
Grayhound will welcome visitors and offer entertainment on board.
The Phoenix
Originally Danish (1928), it provided assistance missions in fishing areas. In the 1980s, it was bought by a British company that rents large sailing ships for the cinema. It appeared in 2 Ridley Scott hits, "1492: Christopher Columbus" (1992) and "Napoleon" (2023). Today under the French flag, its home port is Quiberon.
Length: 34 m. — Width: 6 m
Sail area: 372 m². — French flag
Phoenix will be open for visits and will offer sea trips, it can accommodate 55 passengers.
©Yann Caradec 
©Ocean Sails Some boats that will be visible at Escale à Calais
French
Its name is misleading! This three-masted ship built after the Second World War sailed under the Danish flag. It provided supplies to Greenland under the name Kaskelot. Robust, it could face the ice floes. Purchased by an English company in 1983, it changed owners and flags in 2018. It became Le Français…in memory of the schooner that took part in Jean Baptiste Charcot’s first expedition (1) to Antarctica.
Length: 46 m. — Width: 8,50 m
Sail area: 2 m². — French flag
The French will be open to visitors and will also offer sea trips.
©Rick Tomlinson The Joanna Saturna
With Le Belem, It is the sailboat over a hundred years old (1903) present at Escale à Calais 2025. At the beginning, this Dutch ship was engaged in herring fishing. From 1927, it carried out coastal shipping under the German flag. It continued its activity as a transporter by changing flag in 1955. It became Norwegian, then Finnish. It is classified as a Historic Monument in Finland.
Length: 34 m. — Width: 6 m
Sail area: 420 m² — Finnish Pavilion
Joanna Saturna will offer sea trips, the schooner can accommodate 50 passengers.
©Philippe Chagniot The Milpat
The Michel Patrick was a Breton fishing boat from the 1960s. It is one of the rare representatives of the 'malamoks', multi-purpose fishing boats built in Pays Bigouden from 1930 to 1970. It became a pleasure boat in the early 1990s. Abandoned for a while, it was restored by the Fécamp Vieux Gréements association, which has been sailing it since 2008. In 2019, it was renamed by its nickname, Le Milpat.
Length: 22 m. — Width: 5,35 m
Sail area: 165 m — French flag
Milpat will offer sea trips, it can accommodate 27 passengers.
©Fécamp Intercommunal Tourist Office – Christophe CUSSEAU Quay Party at Stopover in Calais
August 29 to 31
The maritime heritage village will bring together associations, enthusiasts and professionals from the Opal Coast coastline! For families, there will be demonstrations of know-how and crafts: model making (with radio modeling baptisms), seamanship, ship carpentry, fish smoking, etc.
For future sailors, sea-related professions will be presented by professionals (French Navy, Maritime Gendarmerie, Sea Rescuers). A helicopter hoisting demonstration will take place in the Bassin Carnot, with a French Navy helicopter and the Notre Dame du Risban lifeboat from the SNSM (National Sea Rescue Society).
The artistic touch will be magnified by painters, watercolourists and photographers finding their inspiration in the maritime beauties bequeathed by Mother Nature and the expressions of sailors and navigators. On the musical side, no maritime festival without sea shanty concerts!
Book a sea trip
Sea trips will be bookable online. On-board visits will only be on sale during the three days of Escale à Calais 2025.