by Anne Hinton
The 6.5 metre long Mini singlehander is an extremely popular class with several hundred boats in existence and with race starts seeing a norm of 60 boats. Most of the racing is from France or in the Mediterranean, but sailors come from all over the world to participate in races, while leaving their boats in western Europe.
The MiniTransat 2013 to Guadeloupe, last autumn, had a very difficult start from Douarnenez in northwest France due to stormy weather in the northeast Atlantic.
Mini racing in France earlier in 2013. Image copyright Jacques Vapillon/Sea&Co.
The first leg to Sada (Spain) was cancelled due to weather concerns after competitors were more than halfway across the Bay of Biscay. The whole race was then sailed as one leg from Sada to Guadeloupe, via the Canary Islands. Following the re-start, here were further issues due to large waves, initially, off Portugal, which led to a number of boats pulling out, including some top sailors, and unstable Trade Winds later on.
MiniTransat 2013 start off Douarnenez. Image copyright Jacques Vapillon/MiniTransat 2013
At the MiniTransat 2013 race start there were 84 entrants, with a waiting list of qualified sailors in case any boat dropped out at the last minute. The re-start from Sada enabled some, such as South Africa's Craig Horsfield (who flew to France from Seattle, USA, to compete) to race despite having to pull out on the first leg due to damage. Horsfield finished as first native English speaker in 10th position in the Series class in Guadeloupe.
Some pre-race favourites, very successful earlier in the season, didn't make it into Guadeloupe due to the conditions. Image copyright Jacques Vapillon/Sea&Co.
Some, who had not qualified to sail their boats, raced the virtual regatta, which had several thousand participants. In this, German Mini sailor Chris Lükermann was 34th shortly before the finish. Lükermann will race the 2015 MiniTransat in his Pogo 2 Series boat. The virtual regatta provided a chance to try out his navigation skills.
Aymeric Belloir (France) was first Series boat into Guadeloupe. Image copyright Jacques Vapillon/MiniTransat 2013.
Earlier in the race, Aymeric's boat almost disappeared in the waves! Image copyright Jacques Vapillon/MiniTransat 2013.
The first three Series boats (Aymeric Belloir, Justine Mettraux and Simon Koster; a Frenchman and two Swiss) were all sailing Nacira Minis. An initially tight race between the two Swiss saw Mettraux, from Geneva, pull away from Koster, from Zürich, when the latter had to stop for repairs in the Canaries. Meanwhile Belloir had the legs on both, finishing about a day ahead in first place in the Series class!
Richard Hewson in the new RG Series Mini: very fast across to Sada. Image copyright Jacques Vapillon/MiniTransat 2013
Richard Hewson in the new RG Series Mini: very fast across to Sada. Image copyright Jacques Vapillon/MiniTransat 2013
The new RG6.50 Series boat was clearly in the lead on the cancelled leg to Sada. From the statistics, the results of Richard Hewson (Australia) show that the RG is better than the Nacira. Unfortunately an illegal fishing boat put paid to Hewson's chances in the race after Sada and the RG did not complete the event on this occasion. The undaunted Hewson, a previous winner, as skipper, of the round-the-world Clipper Race, is currently seeking sponsorship for the 2015 MiniTransat with the RG Mini. The Tassie Devil will undoubtedly be the Series boat to watch for 2015!
Simon Koster arrives as third Series boat into Guadeloupe. Image copyright Jacques Vapillon/MiniTransat 2013.
In 2015 there will also be the new Pogo 3 boat. Both the RG and the Pogo 3 have more volume forwards than other Series boats, but the Pogo 3 also has its rudders under the cockpit, which could make them difficult to change in mid-ocean.
Justine Mettraux (Switzerland) finished second in the Series boats into Guadeloupe and is now moving on to compete in the Volvo Ocean Race with Team SCA. Image copyright Jacques Vapillon/MiniTransat 2013.
Justine Mettraux, from Geneva. The fastest Swiss Miss in a Mini is now turning her attention to the Volvo Ocean Race. Image copyright Jacques Vapillon/MiniTransat 2013.
Mettraux is moving into the Volvo Ocean Race, having gained a position with the women's team, Team SCA, for this event. Koster is looking to change to the Proto class for the next Mini Transat. This means that top Series Nacira boats will be available second hand for the next event.
Marie celebrates his arrival in first place into Guadeloupe. Image copyright Jacques Vapillon/MiniTransat 2013.
In the Proto class there were not so many participants as with the Series boats. On the last day of the race to Guadeloupe, the leader changed from Giancarlo Pedote (Italy) to Benoїt Marie (France). Rémi Fermin (France) was third to reach Guadeloupe in the Protos.
Marie closing on Guadeloupe in first place overall. Image copyright Jacques Vapillon/MiniTransat 2013.
Proto class and overall MiniTransat 2013 winner Marie is an engineering graduate of Nantes University in France and completed his Masters degree at Auckland University in New Zealand. While in New Zealand, Marie also coordinated the build of the JP54, Jean-Pierre Dick's design, in Tauranga.
Giancarlo Pedote (Italy) with his radical David Raison design. Image copyright Jacques Vapillon/MiniTransat 2013.
Prysmian is also very fast on a reach. Image copyright Jacques Vapillon/MiniTransat 2013.
Rémi Fermin (France) arrived third Proto into Guadeloupe. Image copyright Jacques Vapillon/MiniTransat 2013.
Pedote is looking to compete in the Vendée Globe, and was the clear overall season winner of both the Protos and overall class racing in Minis in 2013.
Competitors saw some amazing sunrises and sunsets across the ocean. Image copyright Jacques Vapillon/MiniTransat 2013.
A new event for the 2014 season is the 5th April race from Lorient. Training for this event is well under way, helped by the extremely mild winter in northwest Europe.
Prysmian at sea. Image copyright Jacques Vapillon/MiniTransat 2013.
