(September 24-28, 2007) The eighty-nine entrants in the 4,200-mile Transat 6,50 Charente Maritime Bahia (Mini
Tranast) are now at the half way point, having completed the first 1,100-mile leg from La Rochelle (France) to Madera (Portugal), and will begin the final 3,100-mile leg to Salvador de Bahia (Brazil) on October 6th. All competitors are sailing the Open 6.5, the smallest of the Open Class, ocean-racing sailboats. Within the race, there are two divisions of the class: production version and prototype version.
The Minis look and perform like miniature Open 60 monohulls which is not surprising as much of the technology and materials deployed on the big Open 60s – twin rudders, canting keels, water ballast, carbon fiber – was first developed and prototyped on Minis. Likewise, many of the world’s top offshore racing skippers – Ellen MacArthur, Michel Desjoyeaux, Yves Parlier, Isabelle Autissier, Bernard Stamm, Jean Luc Van Den Heede, Bruno & Loick Peyron – began their sailing careers in Minis. Minis are to Open 60s what go karts are to Formula One racing. In baseball parlance, they are the farm leagues of Major League Baseball.
This week’s 4:58 minute video is an exciting and informative presentation of the Mini Transat 650 campaign of Lucas Schroder, NED 633.
Click here for additional information on the Mini class.
