The Domain : The Spirit of Sperone
In life there are no solutions there are forces in motion you need to create them and the solutions follow " Saint Exupery Night flight Vol du nuitThe Spirit of Sperone Jacques Dewez 1936 2005
Domaine de Sperone was created by Jacques and Guy DEWEZ at the end of the nineteen sixties
Jacques Dewez was very modest about his remarkable career and was extremely committed to anything he decided to do in his life
In 1944 at a very young age he voluntarily enlisted for the air force and became not only an outstanding pilot but a passionate sailor of long distance yacht races
His involvement with Bonifacio was just one part of his demanding career and not always the easiest
His ability to convince initiate and achieve results and then to resist the pressure and acts of violence with courage or common sense as he would modestly put it was at times difficult
As with the storms he confronted in both the sky and on the seas the violence surrounding Sperone never at any point affected his sense of commitment or optimism
Jacques was a man of honour and always put other people first
He never took credit for Sperone even though he and his brother Guy DEWEZ who was passionate about architecture were the creators of Sperone
He felt that Sperones success belonged to all those who had been involved He simply liked the idea of having put Sperone in motion and enjoyed joining others in developing and enriching Sperone into what it is today
JACQUES DEWEZ AND HIS LIFE
Voluntarily enlisiting in the airforce in 1944 at the young age of 18 he trained in the USA receiving his pilots licence that same year which he passed with excellence His superior officers remarked on his skill and calm
He became a fighter pilot instructor notably on the aircraft carriers in the Pacific up till his demobilisation at the end of the war
In 1946 with his friends from the Private French Naval Forces Forces Navales Franaises Libres he bought two Catalina hydroplanes from the American surplus taking them to Noumea via Honolulu and founded with his father Henry DEWEZ the first aviation company in the South Pacific called TRAPAS
The company with a fleet of Seabec and Catalinas offered the first French civil aerial connections between Noumea Fiji Tahiti November 1947 Brisbane Australia and Auckland New Zealand
In 1951 a typhoon in Noumea destroyed two of the Catalina planes and precipitated the dissolution of the company which was unable to gain any interest from either the public sector or Air France for it s development
In hindsight however it was the forerunner to what later was set up by New Zealanders then taken over by TIA and UTA and is now a known network in the South Pacific used by Air France
He returned to the USA to become a test pilot for TWA then on his return to France he worked for De Havilland and followed the COMET programme
In 1955 he created the company GECA regrouping a certain number of friends all pilots in various airline companies who with what time they had available got together to work on projects for commercial aviation and the opening of new lines
With the development of the company and the buying of a number of planes the GECA became known as Air Nautic and was based in Nice
Jacques DEWEZ was the General Director and professional pilot becoming a forerunner of charter flights this company served Corsica a part of Europe and even occasionally the Far East The company inaugurated a number of internal links for Air Inter Lille Nice before the company yielded to Air France in 1965
In a parallel direction his time was also given to running a family engineering and development business which was involved in performing the first studies on the infrastructures for a development project in Southern Corsica
In 1962 awestruck by the environmental qualities of Bonifacio it s potential and its enormous coastal areas he was very keen to participate at the first meeting of the local community with regards to a new development project for high end accommodation and a port
In 1965 he was involved with the local authorities in developing the accommodation project for the community of Bonifacio the airport of Figari the hydraulics for the construction of the dam and the port He achieved the latter by buying the lease for the water supply of the nautical centre Bonifacio port from the National Marine in 1966
The following are examples of Jacques Dewezs commitment to the development of Southern Corsica
Airport He retained the Figari site for the project and organised a feasibility study and the execution plans for an airport 1962-1964 obtaining the reservation by the Delegation of Development and Lands and Survey Dlgation de LAmnagement du Territoire des terrains but the Civil Aviation opposed the project preferring that he enlarged the airport of Calvi The project hence was adjourned in 1966 but the study which demonstrated the utility of such an airport on the only site possible resulted in the Chamber of Commerce finally starting construction of Figari airport in 1973
Hydraulics 1964 1968 Jacques commissioned a hydrogeological study of the community of Bonifacio to be carried out by the Water Department of Lyon He then acquired the Domaine de Balistra for construction of a dam with a capacity of 4 million m3 and plans continued up to the final moment However the project was suspended as local authorities decided that the concept and administration of it were better orientated towards the dam project of Ospdale which has a smaller capacity but which covers a wider territory Porto Vecchio and Bonifacio
Port 1966 1967 From the National Marine Jacques acquired by concession the Nautical Centre of Bonifacio which he transformed into a hotel In 1963 absolutely convinced of the importance of the Bonifacio port he created a yacht race A man a woman a yacht which took place every year for some years after He reinforced the piers installed water and electricity points a Capitaincy a shipchandlers and a naval construction and reparation base with a lifting crane all of which employed up to 30 people in the 70s
Faithful in friendship he took with him on his adventure an experienced mechanic from TRAPAS Mac and an old boss from Air Nautic Laurent who became the port captain and a renowned figure of Bonifacio the port itself becoming one of the most reputed stopover ports in the Mediterranean
In 1990 after being unable to unite the developmental side and the management side of the port he returned his concession to the local authorities
Real Estate 1969 2005 During this time with his brother Guy DEWEZ who was passionate about architecture he spent his time creating a housing development The marine village of Ciappili in 1970 is an architectural concept of wooden houses on stilts at varying levels which was then extended to include the creation of Domaine de Sperone in 1985 and its international golf course 1989 today classed as the first golf site in France and amongst the most spectacular courses in the world
Jacques Dewez was passionate about aviation and during his lifetime Jacques received more than 40 different types of flying qualifications from one engine military planes 9 licenses or civil 17 to biplane 11 to 4 engine type DC4DC6 or Boeing 307
Jacques was extremely talented in many sports and participated from 1950 to 1967 as an amateur automobile pilot or semi professional in a number of rallies notably on ice Monte Carlo the 1000 miles and the tour of Corsica He also competed nine times in the 24hrs Le Mans for Aston Martin and for Porsche
His main love was for sailing which he started as a child his talent in sailing single hull yachts allowed him in 1973 to gain first place at the Mediterranean championships Then he progressed to a trimaran for the route de rhum race and the Quebec Saint Malo he was 1st in 1984 in category class 3 teamed with Tony Bullimore and most importantly completed the transatlantic solo yacht race from Plymouth to Newport He particularly cherished this race of which he participated three times firstly on a trimaran Nigel Irens design 40 foot in 1982 at 62 years of age and for the third time again solo this time in a 40 foot single hull in 2005 at the age of 79