Hard labour! The boules are going one for one in the ovenfire.
Photo: Henk Reesink. Source: magazine petanQue, The Netherlands.
On an industrial zone on the outskirts of Marseille is La Boule Bleue, Marseille’s ‘true’ boules manufacturer. La Boule Bleue remains a family run artisanal business, where boules are still « hand crafted » rather than made on an automated production line. Every 2 to 3 years, manufacturers usually introduce a new boule to their range. Many players just think, “a boule is just a boule” but I’ve always been curious to know how manufacturers set out to improve the performance of their boules.
Maurice Rofritsch and his son Hervé (at the left): the third and fourth generation of the Rofritsch-La Boule Bleue saga.
By Ray Ager
Without asking for any ‘secrets’ of their manufacture to be divulged, I asked how La Boule Bleue went about creating a new boule. The proprietor, M. Hervé Rofritsch, very kindly explained that there weren’t really any ‘secrets’. “We listen carefully to what players tell us they want. Usually they want a better performing boule, with a lower rebound, traditionally a soft boule but also a longer lasting boule rather than a boule that quickly wears out. With our specialist metallurgy knowledge that we’ve developed over the years, we can thermically treat boules so that they’re soft on the inside to give a lower rebound but hard on the outside so they last longer. Also the metal manufacturers are constantly bringing out new materials. We evaluate their properties and will use new materials, if we consider them advantageous. Each manufacturer basically follows the same process.”
Photo: Henk Reesink. Source: magazine petanQue, The Netherlands.
La Boule Bleue has an excellent website www.laboulebleue.fr which gives a lot of information about boules manufacture and history, as well as an online shop.
If you try to find your favourite club or petanque website in our links-calogue hotboule and it is not there it is because we have cleaned up a bit
Finally some petanque-product news have arrived. It is not often new things appear, boules are quite simple items, and the differences are subtle mostly. But this time it is a completely new product
It is 7h30 I have slept only 4 hours and I am one of them. My team number is 207 and we are playing against V.Chavinat game 1581. I go to the games Office, get my playing pack (3 bags, 3 t-shirts , 3 bobs/soft sun hats, 3 chifonettes) and my playing card on which we will have to enter the score at the end of the first round and return it to the same office.
We just got word of a new petanque-game, for all of those of you with a PC. It's called "petank party", and looks quite unique...
We have integrated petanque.org with yet another newcomer to the web, this time it is youtube. So please give us your ideas!
Links are being cleaned outNew petanque-product hits the webGérald at Mondial La Marseillaise a Petanque 2008-08-04Crazy petanque game soon availableYoutube joins petanque.orgLyon library - story on Boule lyonnaisePetanque.org integrates with flickrPetanque.org is 10 years old! Illegal Petanque ExposedA Petanque calendar for 2008
Removing an illegally played ball (6 )Visiting France (1 )Team Turns (3 )english speaking petanque player marseille (4 )English speaker in Marseille (1 )International compation surface (1 )wc´s (2 )Bouchon Tossing Techniques (1 )technique (12 )Cheating? (2 )2009 the world game competition arena (1 )No boules for playing games (4 )anyone made a surface? (2 )quintais (6 )new terrain? (5 )
