Created in 1996, the International Committee of the Atlantic Watersports Games is a 1901 Law association gathering representatives from the different member regions. This association aims at developing the watersports in the Atlantic Area, developing the sports and cultural exchanges and the friendships.
Every year, during a General Assembly, the members of the International Committee of the Atlantic Watersports Games choose the country or region who will organise the Atlantic Games, develop the rules of the competition and decide the action plans for the promotion of the Atlantic Games.
The Atlantic Games: 19 years already
Since their creation in Brittany in 1995, the objective of the Atlantic Games is to gather, every year, for a week of competition, delegations of young athletes coming from all the Atlantic regions of Europe: more than 14 Atlantic countries or regions take part in the Atlantic Games.
- Ireland
- Isle of Mann
- Wales
- Cornwall
- Devon
- Scotland
- Basse-Normandie
- Brittany
- Pays de la Loire
- Cantabria
- Basque Country (Euskadi)
- Asturias
- Galicia
- North Portugal
- Cataluña
The Atlantic Games were organised 17 times in different regions:
- 1995 : Brittany – France (Presqu’île de Crozon)
- 1996 : Wales – Great Britain (Tenby)
- 1997 : Galicia – Spain (Ferrol)
- 1998 : Cornwall – Great Britain (Bude)
- 1999 : Scotland – Great Britain (Largs)
- 2000 : Asturias – Spain (Gijon)
- 2001 : Norte – Portugal (Porto)
- 2002 : Donegal – Ireland (Ballyshannon)
- 2003 : Brittany – France (Pays de Morlaix)
- 2004 : Galicia – Spain (O’Salnes)
- 2005 : Asturias – Spain (Gijon)
- 2006 : Cornwall – Great Britain (Falsmouth)
- 2007 : Brittany – France (Pays de Morlaix)
- 2008 : Euskadi – Spain (Getxo – Sopelana)
- 2009 : Norte – Portugal (Viana Do Castelo)
- 2010 : Cantabria – Spain (Santander)
- 2011 : North Devon – Great Britain (Bideford)
- 2012: Brittany-France (Quiberon)
- 2013: North Portugal
This competition is the only international sports event gathering all the watersports. These sports are:
- Sailing
- Surfing
- Canoeing
- Rowing
- Diving
- Surf life saving
- Kite-surfing
- Fin swimming
- Sand Yachting
Each year, during summer, 300 to 500 young competitors coming from the above-cited countries and regions meet for a week of competition and exchanges.
It’s a championship which level keeps increasing. It gathers the best elements of the watersports federations of the Atlantic Area.
The Atlantic GAMES: Why ?
The Atlantic Games are part of the events which, each year, highlight the maritime and nautical assets of the regions of the European Atlantic Area.
The common points between these countries and regions are numerous:
- Bathed by the sea and subjected to the oceanic climate, these regions are rich of wonderful and varied landscapes, from Scotland to Galicia, Ireland, Portugal or Brittany …
- All these regions are impregnated by their origins and their strong Celtic and oceanic identities.
- They have close economic characteristics: agriculture, fishing, sea linked industries….
- They are located at the occidental end of Europe and subjected to the constraints as to the assets resulting.
Our countries and regions have, without a doubt, a common destiny, linked to their maritimity.
Conscious of the handicap that represents their location on the end of the continent, it falls to these regions to show solidarity and imagination for a pooling of their assets, to make an important economic and human pole in the 21st century.
From 2004 to 2007, these same regions have implemented a interregional cooperation project for the development of the marine leisure in the Atlantic Area, within the European Programme Interreg IIIB. The NEA Project (Nautisme Espace Atlantique) achieved with success, the same partners have then decided to develop together a more ambitious cooperation project, from 2009 to 2011: NEA2 (www.nea2.eu) aims at the sustainable development of the marine leisure sector as a whole, from nautical centre to shipyards, marinas, service societies, clubs…
By this project, the aim is to make from the Atlantic Area a pole of excellence for sustainable marine leisure, recognized on an international scale. The objective is to:
- Contribute to the protection and promotion of the environment.
- Contribute to the development and the economic and touristic innovation.
- Contribute to the social cohesion in the Atlantic Area.
- Contribute to the strengthening of the Atlantic Area identity and the cooperation between these great regions.
Real showcase of the Atlantic Area, the Atlantic Games aim at illustrating and promoting this specific nautical skill, favouring the emergence of new exchanges between our populations.
Source: cijna.org