Salah Benamor invited us aboard his six-metre boat for a regatta in Kraten. It was an immersion in the confined space of a traditional flouka, between tight manoeuvres and the serenity of the sea.
Aboard a Flouka with Captain Salah | Kerkennah
Pierre Gassin’s photographic report from traditional flouka regattas in Kraten, Kerkennah.
Discover this family album, photographed over two years, capturing the spirit of Kerkennah’s festivities and the art of sailing without a keel.
Suspended Time
A Race Against Oneself
Painter, sculptor, weaver, accomplished cook and builder of traditional floukas, Salah Benamor is of course also an excellent helmsman. He proved it to us during a regatta organised in Kraten in August 2025. We set off with a single sail on a six-metre boat, four of us aboard. We almost arrived first, only to be overtaken in the final metres. But winning was never the point.
In such a narrow space, it is not easy to avoid getting in the way of the manoeuvres. The atmosphere between boats is good-natured. Everyone knows everyone. The crews are mixed and span generations, from the passionate teenager to the elder who still wants to show what he can do: the competition becomes a challenge against oneself.
Kraten, a New Home Port
The regatta holds a special place in Kerkennah’s celebrations. A few years ago the races started from Chargui, the central island of the archipelago. For the past two years, Kraten has taken over. This deliberately non-exhaustive, family-oriented album, produced over two years, shows life aboard during the hour of the race. Authentic images, with no effects, montage or filters, as always.
The flouka experience brings a wealth of sensations, calm and serenity. It cannot be compared with a resin hull. It has to be tried.
The Art of the Flouka
The flouka is a small wooden craft whose origins go back to antiquity. It has a single mast and a lateen, trapezoidal sail. It moves with the wind and can also be propelled by oar or wooden pole. One Kerkennah speciality is a two-masted craft with both a lateen and a square sail: the loud, which was also used for transport.
Used by fishermen, the flouka is often sailed in very shallow water. It therefore has no keel like a sailing yacht. The hull is broad with little rake; its olive-wood structure, clad in eucalyptus planking, is heavy and stable. The flouka is ideally suited to Kerkennah’s shallows and is a key element of the charfiya fishing system.
Pride and Heritage
It is a symbol, a pleasure and a source of pride for the people of Kerkennah. As a reminder, charfiya fishing, an ancient and environmentally respectful system, was inscribed by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on 16 December 2020.
Kraten : August 2024 & 2023 © #pierregassin / #galeriegassin