Mini Transat: The proving grounds

Ninety solo skippers started the first stage of the 2023 Mini Transat, with Peter Gibbons-Neff (USA) sharing the experience of racing his 21-foot Mini Class boat from Les Sables d’Olonne in France to the Canary Islands. Following his Part 1 report, he details days 3 and 4 below:

On the second evening of the Mini Transat there were clear skies, a rising full moon, and the wind was increasing from behind. Awesome conditions for Terminal Leave to surf down wave after wave. With the wind speed in the twenties and my smaller (slightly) A3 spinnaker flying, we were knocking out the miles as the evening transitioned into day 3 of the race.

Knowing this wind direction would not last forever and my relative position in the fleet, sleep was not going to happen. I stayed up all night hand steering most of the time to maximize the boat speed, surf waves, and prevent the boat from wiping out. While the auto pilot is great, it had difficulty with the boat being powered up and with the wave direction that night. Furthermore, when I start wiping out, or broaching, it is usually time to switch to a smaller sail. – Full report

Event information – Tracker – Facebook

After a one day postponement due to storms, the 24th edition of the Mini Transat, reserved for the Mini 6.50, the smallest offshore racing class at 21-feet, saw the first stage get underway on September 25, 2023.

Ninety solo sailors entered the 2023 Mini Transat with the competitors placed in divisions for prototype and production boats.

A notable proving ground for sailors with shorthanded aspirations, it is also test platform for new boat types, with competitors entering in the production division for manufactured boats and the prototype division for custom designs.

Held biennially, with limited participation for safety that includes strict qualification guidelines, the 4,050 nm course is divided in two parts with the combined elapsed time to determine the results:

September 25: Les Sables d’Olonne (France) to Santa Cruz de La Palma in the Canaries (Spain) – 1350 nm
October 28: Santa Cruz de La Palma in the Canaries (Spain) to Saint-François in Guadeloupe – 2700 nm