Mini Transat: Making the turn

(October 8, 2019; Leg 1, Day 4) – The solo Mini 6.50 skippers competing in the Mini-Transat La Boulangère are just about done with the demanding passage across the Bay of Biscay, with the leaders having made the turn at Cape Finisterre. Virtually all the competitors are opting to pass inside the TSS, aside from four sailors who are going for broke to the Far West, a move they hope will pay off.

Two of the 87 starters have currently been forced off the racetrack, hopefully temporarily, but for a minimum of 12 hours according to the rules. These are Briton Joe Lacey still on a pit stop in Gijon and Jonathan Chodkiewiez in La Coruña.

In the prototype category, François Jambou has taken the lead, with Axel Tréhin hot on his heels, whilst Ambrogio Beccaria is the boss of the production boats.

With the prospect of some long days spent slipping along under spinnaker on the horizon, this is what the Mini sailors were after when they signed up for the Mini-Transat La Boulangère. However, they’ve had to earn this golden ticket and the sailing remains complicated off Cape Finisterre and along the coast of Portugal, requiring the utmost vigilance with the heavy shipping.

Over the next few days, the sailors should be able to power along in a N’ly wind, which is gradually set to fill in, and a good swell over 3 metres. They’re going to need to be quick, whilst maintaining control of the boat and trying to avoid broaching.

German skipper Morten Bogacki (934), Franco-Italian Fabio Muzzolini (716) and French sailors Julien Letissier (869) and Guillaume L’Hostis (868) were the only racers opting to pass to the West of the TSS (Traffic Separation Scheme) at 16:00 UTC. Split between two prototypes and two production boats, they’ll be after a more sustained breeze, slightly less shipping and a longer swell.

Leading the gang of four, Morten Bogacki is enjoying a fantastic debut in this Mini-Transat La Boulangère with a boat that compatriot Jörg Riechers secured 2nd place on in the 2017 race. He’ll be hoping that this bold move will enable him to close on the top French trio among the prototypes.

François Jambou (865) currently has control of the fleet, with Axel Tréhin (945) and Tanguy Bouroullec (969) ready to pounce. Marie Gendron (930) remains in the Top 5 and is doubtless hoping to stave off the attacks of Raphaël Lutard (900) and Erwan Le Méné (800) – among others.

Among the production boats, Italian Ambrogio Beccaria (943) continues to set the pace. Always quick, he’s renowned for keeping any strategic errors to the bear minimum. In his wake, a very compact French group fully intends to knock him off his perch. Félix de Navacelle (916) is still 2nd this evening, but Julien Letissier and Guillaume L’Hostis are making the most of their W’ly option to come back strong: they were 3rd and 4th at the 16:00 UTC position report, making nearly a knot more boat speed than the leader.

Two competitors in the pits
Late morning today (UTC), the support boat Yemanja sent the following message to Race Management: “The 958 is passing behind us at position 43°53’N 8°41’W at 10:39 UTC. He’s heading for La Coruña to try to repair the problems with his batteries and torn genoa.” Skippered by Frenchman Jonathan Chodkiewiez, one of the 22 competitors in the prototype category, he was approaching his destination at 16:00 UTC.

Meantime, Joe Lacey, safely made landfall in Gijón today at 0930 UTC, where he’s repairing damaged electrics and very much hopes to get back out on the racetrack. However, with a minimum stopover time of 12hrs, he won’t be able to join the fray again until 21:30 UTC.

The support boats also have a few other issues to report. Guillaume Quilfen (977) had to scale his mast to recover his spinnaker halyard, while Benoît Formet (887) had also lost the halyard of his large spinnaker at the top of his mast. It remains to be seen whether he too has successfully completed the perilous climb to retrieve it.

Ranking at 16:00 UTC

PROTOTYPE
1- François Jambou (865 – Team BFR Marée Haute Jaune) 906.2 miles from the finish
2- Axel Tréhin (945 – Project Rescue Ocean) 2.6 miles behind the leader
3- Tanguy Bouroullec (969 – Cerfrance) 6 miles behind the leader

PRODUCTION
1- Ambrogio Becarria (943 – Geomag) 932.6 miles from the finish
2- Félix De Navacelle (916 – Youkounkoun) 6.9 miles behind the leader
​​​​​​​3- Julien Letissier (869 – Reno Style) 10.4 miles behind the leader ​​​​​​​

Event details – Entry list – Tracker – Facebook

The 87 Mini 6.50 solo sailors competing in the biennial Mini-Transat La Boulangère got underway from La Rochelle on the first leg to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on October 5. The Mini 6.50 Class has competition in two divisions: the prototypes and the production boats.

Production boats are built out of fiberglass, have alloy masts, 1.6 meter draft, and prohibit material such as titanium, carbon fiber, and epoxy resin. Ten boats must have been built to qualify as an official production boat.

Prototypes, on their side, are free of these restrictions and have been, for years, the very first laboratory for sailing innovations. Canting keels, daggerboards, swinging wing masts, long poles for huge spinnakers, have been tried first on minis. New hull shapes with very wide waterlines and foils are the now the latest innovations.

Race Format:
The first leg started October 5 (delayed from September 22 due to storms) from La Rochelle, France and extends 1350 nm to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. After an often complicated exit of the Bay of Biscay, sailors will expect some long slips down the Portuguese coast before arriving after 7 to 10 days in the Canary archipelago.

The second leg will start November 1 from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and will take from 15 to 20 sailing days to complete the 2700 nm course and reach Le Marin in Martinique, French West Indies. Due to the numerous islands, the restart from the Canary can be tricky before reaching the famous trade winds that offer a long downwind run.

Source: Effetsmer