The regatta is for a French doctors' initiative which provides heart operations for children throughout the world.
The assembly work on the 300t crane, which had been prepared with ballast and a lattice jib, started whilst the numerous visitors were still sauntering around at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. However, the crane was not positioned as first planned in the centre between the four massive tower legs but on the road bordering the Champ de Mars, the Avenue Gustave Eiffel.
Wind turbulence between the piers of the 300m monument meant that the original plan, to hoist the boat through the inside of the Eiffel Tower to the first storey, was impossible. In consequence the crane had to be moved. In view of the high lifting capacity of the LTM 1300-6.2, the 20% additional radius for the 5t boat resulting from the new site for the crane to the side of the structure, did not pose a massive challenge.
S.E Levage, based in Sallenoves, 20km south-west of Geneva, is primarily active in the Rhône-Alpes region which stretches from Lyon to the Swiss and Italian border.
