Thousands of people gathered on the banks of the Odet River, in Quimper, western France, to see seven chocolate boats competing in the sweetest regatta ever.

Georges Larnicol first made headlines last year, when he managed to sail in a 1.2-tonne-heavy chocolate boat, in Concarneau port. Now the 56-year-old master chocolatier, who owns a dozen shops throughout western France, has taken his passion to a whole new level by creating seven functional chocolate boats and showing them off to the world during a race. All of the boats were made of melted unsold chocolate, measured two-meters-long and weighed around 450 kilograms, each. The boats only had room for one sailor, who had to use chocolate oars to steer it to the finish line.

The chocolate boats started out in front of the Quimper courthouse, and sailors had to row all the way to the city prefecture and back to the their starting point. Seven of them set out on the river, but only four returned. Despite the three sunk boats, the chocolate boat regatta proved a success, at least judging by the laughter and cheers of the crowd. Many assumed it was all a well-planned marketing scheme for Larnicol’s chocolate shop chain, but the veteran chocolatier said he and his team did it all for fun.

After the race, Georges Larnicol renewed his promise of creating a 12-meter yacht out of chocolate and sugar, in time for the Brest Maritime Festival, in July 2012.

Stories and photos via Ouest France