Last March, la Belle Classe Academy welcomed ten professional guides from the Franco-Swiss company “Grands Espaces”, specialized in polar cruises, for a five-day STCW “Safety and Survival” course run.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Written by<\/span> Aurore Teodoro \u2013 Photos : Mesi \/ Yacht Club de Monaco.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The reputation of the world capital of yachting knows no borders. Despite its relative youth, the same applies to the Belle Classe Academy, as proven by the ten polar guides, specialized in the world\u2019s remotest regions, who chose the Principality for a five-day STCW \u201cSafety and Survival\u201d course run. “We always strive for excellence and naturally chose La Belle Classe Academy”<\/em>, underlined Christophe Bassous, “Grands espaces” project manager and a specialist in polar marine bacteria and micro-organisms. Their choice was further motivated by the long tradition of exploration of the Principality, initiated by the Prince Albert 1st who went “four times to the North Pole, an principally to the Spitzbergen” and perpetuated by Prince Albert II, noted the geographer Christian Kempf, also founder of the French-Swiss company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inaugurated last September, the Yacht Club de Monaco\u2019s training centre proposes to yachting professionals (captains, owners, crew members\u2026) courses dedicated to navigation techniques but also to the \u201cArt of Service, Etiquette and Protocol\u201d on board. For the Grands Espaces team, this week was focused on safety. These professional guides, who are in first place bird or ice specialist, ornithologist, geologist, veterinarian, photographer, mountain guide\u2026 alternated between theoretical and practical courses: personal survival techniques and first aid at sea, fire prevention and fire fighting, hygiene and safety…Although these cruises have existed for over twenty years, the World Maritime Organization has only recently compelled their guides to get this training, encouraged by an increasing tourism in these hostile territories. While around 7 000 people visited the poles twenty years ago, “we have seen a big increase in visitors to these destinations, with 45 000 people a year in the Antarctic, about 100 000 in the Great North. We pay a lot of attention to the safety of our passengers”<\/em> explains Christian Kempf, who considers these cruise-expedition as above all a “journey for learning. We do this job because we want our passengers to become the ambassadors of these regions and the protection of nature”<\/em>. Another great point in common with the Principality!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"YACHT CLASS N\u00b09 (June-july-august\u00a02017)","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":27573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-yachting-in-monaco-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nA five-day course run<\/h4>\n\n\n\n