Fair stands the wind

The seaside town of Ouistreham (the administrative centre of the department of Calvados, in the region of Lower Normandy) decided to set up a residential and sailing/buggy-sailing centre, to take advantage of its excellent location at the heart of a short-stay tourist area with visitors from Caen, but also from the Paris region, the medium-sized towns inland and even as far as England. In the low season, the centre is to be permanently used as a training centre for school groups and sports teams. To ensure that the centre is occupied to capacity, equipment hire and organising training courses will complement the centre's activities. The project came to fruition in 1997 in large part from ERDF support. In the process, half a dozen year-round jobs and a varying number of posts for organisers and sports instructors have been created. The centre is managed by a joint committee made up of representatives of the local authority and of the association responsible for the day-to-day running of the centre (the Fédération des �uvres laïques du Calvados). In consultation with other organisations the centre designs and offers new educational projects to the public.