The 58th meeting of PIANC’s Recreational Navigation Commission (RecCom) has been held in Paris, France, thanks to the kind hospitality of Geoffroy Caude who is the current President of PIANC. Elio Ciralli Chairman of RecCom welcomed new members Kathleen Bernaert (representing Belgium) and Marius Tomè i Covelo (representing Spain). The photo shows the Commission’s members gathered in the magnificent Rococo offices of l’Union des Ports de France at Place du Général Catroux . Tim Beckett, the UK’s representative, is 4th from the right.

An interesting item of discussion at the meeting was the example set by many Mediterranean leisure ports in jointly marketing themselves with other leisure attractions in their vicinity through the EU funded ‘ODYSSEA’ programme. There would appear to be great potential for extending the programme to cover northern European cruising areas. The website for the Odyssea initiative can be found at www.odyssea.eu.