Why Marseille? Everything You Need to Know About The Home of Paris 2024 Sailing 

Marseille's History and Experience Makes It The Perfect Venue for This Year's Olympic Games

The stage, or rather the marina, is set for the start of the Paris 2024 Sailing Competitions tomorrow, 28 July.

Roucas-Blanc off the shores of the Mediterranean Sea will see a field of 330 athletes compete across ten competitions over the course of the next 12 days - noting a perfectly even gender split of 165 women and 165 men in the games.

The site at Prado Beach, which has an uninterrupted view of the coastline has been adapted to a capacity of 14,000 people, enabling the suspected visitor numbers to the city.

With sixty-five nations arriving to the competition over 400 miles away from the French capital of Paris, Marseille's Marina will be used as a departure point for boats at this year's Olympic Games.

The sailing will kick off tomorrow afternoon with the first race take place at 12:13 p.m. (CEST).

You can find a full detailed sailing schedule here:

Why Marseille?

The stunning and historically rich city was chosen during the Paris bid for the Summer Olympics 2024, back in August 2017. Due to its ideal sailing conditions, modern facilities and maritime heritage, Marseille was the perfect choice to backdrop the sailing competitions this year.

There are a few reasons for this:

• Ideal Sailing Conditions: Marseille offers consistent and favourable wind conditions, which are essential for competitive sailing. The coastal configurations of Rouchas Blancas are correctly oriented for dominant winds of the Mediterranean Sea, offerring optimal strategic and tactical conditions to competitors.

• Scenic and Strategic Location: Marseille's picturesque coastline and beautiful seascapes provide a stunning venue for the competitions. The city's location in the South of France is easily accessible for athletes, officials and spectators, with 128 global airports offerring direct flights to Marseille. Marseille Provence Airport (MRS) is the third largest airport in France and sees an average of 150 to 200 domestic and international daily flights.

• Rich Maritime Heritage: As a historic port city, Marseille has a long-standing maritime tradition. Founded around 600 BCE by Greek sailors from Phocaea, Marseille (then known as Massalia) is one of the oldest cities in France. Its location on the Mediterranean made it an important trading hub for goods, cultures, and ideas between Europe, Africa, and Asia. This is still the case today, offerring the city sailing related experience and infrastructure that make for an ideal and interesting host venue.

• Modern Facilities: Despite its vast history, the city is drenched in modern network facilities suited to tourists and locals. With an abundance of accomodation, public transport infrastructure, recreational and cultural facilities, along with equipped medical and emergency servives, Marseille is a qualified city, adaptable to large numbers of daily tourists. Roucas-Blanc marina in particular, offers state-of-the-art facilities for sailing competitions. These include modern amenities, ample docking space, and properly furnished areas for athletes and their teams.

• Experience in Hosting Events: Marseille has experience hosting various international sporting events, ensuring a well-organized and efficient competition environment for the Olympic Games. The support and enthusiasm shown in the past by locals for these events is reassuring that the games will run smoothly. In particular, the city's track record for hosting watersports and sailing competitions is excellent. Some of these events include; The Sailing World Cup, Tour de France à la Voile, The Massilia Cup, The 42nd Edition of the Solitaire du Figaro, Semaine Nautique Internationale de la Méditerranée (SNIM), The International 14 World Championships, and numerous paddleboarding and kiteboarding competitions and events.

The History Of Maritime Marseille

Marseille indoubtedly has the knowledge and experience in hosting watersports events. However, its culture and history proves to be a great host to tourists and holiday goers too.

Marseille's maritime heritage is a cornerstone of the city's history and culture.

Here are some key aspects of that culture:

The Ancient Port: As mentioned above, Marseille was founded approx 600 BCE, making it one of the oldest cities in France. Located right on the Meditteranean Sea, the city quickly became a hotspot for trading goods across the country and at international levels. Thus, the port of Marseille began its trading between Europe, Africa and Asia on a weekly basis. The Old port (Vieux-Port) has been in continuous use for over 2,600 years in the trading industry for spices, wines and textiles.

Naval History: Marseille has a significant naval history, having served as a crucial port for the French Navy. It played important roles in various historical conflicts, including the Crusades and World Wars. The city’s shipyards were famous for building ships that were used for both commercial and military purposes.

Fishing and Maritime Industries: The local economy has long been supported by fishing. Traditional fishing methods and seafood markets, such as the daily fish market at the Vieux-Port, formerly referred to as la Criée, operates from 8am to 1pm, every day. The small market located on the Quai de la Fraternité hosts around ten stalls with freshly caught meditteranean fish.

Museums and Attractions: Marseille is home to several maritime museums and attractions that celebrate its nautical history. The Musée des Civilisations de l'Europe et de la Méditerranée (MUCEM) and the Musée de la Marine et de l'Économie are open to the public.

Discover The Marseille Marina

See for yourself!

The Marina of Marseille is home to this year's competitions but will also provide fun and entertainment to spectators during the games.

There will be a host of activities available for all ages at the Marseille Olympic Park, including interactive watersports, beach access and athlete demonstrations.

Note: Activities will be accessible to those only with tickets for the days session.