Flemish simulators in Paris for opening ceremony of Olympics
Flanders Hydraulics played a crucial role in preparing for the Paris Olympics 2024. Commissioned by the French government, project leader Katrien Eloot and her team trained the skippers who sailed the delegations across the Seine in July. To do so, they had two mobile ship maneuvering simulators brought to Paris from Flanders.
Smooth sailing thanks to Flemish simulators
A total of 150 boats were used for the opening ceremony, which took place on the Seine on Friday 26 July 2024. 85 of them were part of the ‘flotte principale’, which sailed the athletes between the Pont d’Austerlitz and the Pont d’Iéna. Using two mobile simulators, Flanders Hydraulics trained the boaters on the 45-minute stretch.
You can compare the ship simulator to an aircraft simulator. You are standing in a ship's bridge and you sail as you would in reality on the Seine. The current is calculated, and the wind, and the dimensions of the different sizes of ships are also entered. So every skipper can realistically train to complete the course and sail under the bridges. We also prepared for different weather conditions. Every skipper who participated in the parade knew the entire course by heart.
No easy feat
Organising this course was no easy feat, given that the entire opening ceremony was kept strictly under wraps. Although Flanders Hydraulics was able to design the exact route on the Seine with attractions on the water and banks, they did not have access to the details of the spectacle itself. A soundtrack with music, fireworks sounds and other effects mimicked the conditions as realistically as possible. In addition, the flow of the Seine was continuously monitored to adjust water levels and currents during training if necessary to meet expectations for the day.
“The boats had to strictly adhere to an average speed of 9 kilometres per hour and precise passing times between bridges. No boat was allowed to pass even a second too early,” Katrien Eloot said.
Future prospects
The project framed the developments envisaged by the nautical and simulator team. Now that two mobile simulators are available, the Hydraulic Laboratory wants to put more effort into studies for the accessibility of ports and waterways, as well as at customer sites.