The Mini test bed

In La Rochelle we examine the latest technology being employed in the Mini Transat fleet

Aside from the challenge of sailing what is effectively a 21ft skiff across the Atlantic singlehanded, the Mini class is also relatively 'open' rule allowing much in the way of design innovation. The class has the advantage in that Minis are small and relatively low cost compared to, for example, Open 60s allowing designers free reign. It was here for example, that around 15 years ago Michel Desjoyeaux developed his canting keel system - subsequently adopted by the Open 60s, maxZ86s and now the Volvo Open 70s.

Like the Open 60s, the Minis have a stability requirement. They too have the rule whereby at the dock they must heel by no more than +/- 10 degrees with all their movable ballast deployed. But in addition to this they have a 90 degree test where they must show positive stability with all the ballast deployed in the least favourable position when a 45kg weight is hung from the masthead. The result is that the most competitive Minis are even more bullet-shaped in plan with their maximum beam carried almost all the way to the transom than the Open 60s.

Being a starter boat for solo offshore sailors, Classe Mini who run the whole show, are keen to keep costs down and tend to be slow to adopt expensive gear. Thus for example the boats are not allowed to carry comms gear other than VHF, although there is a feeling this may be changed for the 2007 event.

This time round boats are allowed to carry wind instruments. Aside from simply being able to give a graphic or numeric display of what the wind is doing, the wind transducers interface with the boat's autopilot and are now able to steer to true wind angle. Like Open 60s, Minis are lightweight fliers and like other fast boats experience massive shifts in apparent wind angle according to their speed. Steering to true wind angle, with the pilot also hooked up to a gyro-compass to provide ultra-fast and accurate heading information, allows the pilot to maintain control of the helm even under spinnaker in up to 25 knots of breeze.

But the biggest development this time has been in allowing carbon to be used in the construction of masts. Traditionally Mini rigs have been exceedingly light. Thierry Fagnent, who runs the AMCO yard in La Trinite and who is considered the Stradivarius among Mini builders, was also once upon a time the man to build your alloy rig. The Fagnent rigs typically weighed in, fully dressed, at 42-43kg. Carbon fibre equivalents are not only stronger, but are weighing in at less than 30... In the last Mini Transat there was a spate of dismastings - both race leaders Jonathan McKee and Sam Manuard fell to this - so it is hoped the move to carbon will have solved this particular technological flaw.

A majority of the 'proto' Minis now have carbon tubes for masts. This is the cheap option, as aside from the spars costing less, it allows existing boats to make the change to a carbon rig without having to move chainplates. Thus boats built since the new rule was introduced are at an advantage, having more flexibility over their options, as well as being able to have lighter bulb weights to achieve the minimum stability requirements.

The move to carbon spars inevitably has seen the advent of wingmasts in the class and among the 72 boats setting sail tomorrow, four have wingmasts. These include Nick Bubb's Simon Rogers-designed Whittlebury Hall, which has a fixed spreader in front of the mast (the mast rotates off the back of the spreader - click here to see more details of this); Roxy of Alexia Barrier (one of four women competing) whose rig also has a fixed spreader; the former Karen Liquid, Seb Magnen's famous 1999 and 2001 Mini Transat winner, now called Brossard and driven by Adrien Hardy; and former Vendee Globe sailor Bernard Gallay, who has a brand new Sam Manuard design called Bahia Express, winner of the Odyssey de Ulysses race earlier this year. Both the latter two boats have spreader-less wingmast rigs, which are obviously heavier than Bubb's mast, but have the advantage of less windage and closer headsail sheeting angles.

As in the Open 60s the school is still out as to whether or not the aerodynamic efficency and power of the wingmast is faster than having simply the lightest weight tube.

Aside from moving to carbon, this Mini Transat is also the one of the crazy spreaders. Several boats are fitted with spreaders that are arced aft. Most of the boats have full width spreaders enabling tube weight to be reduced, but the downside of this is that it prevents overlapping headsails from being used. Arcing the spreaders enables fractionally larger headsails. Some have arced lower spreaders only, while one boat has spreaders that are cow-horn shaped (see page 4).

With the exception of the wingmasted boats, a majority of the boats are conventionally rigged with Vs and Ds on maximum width spreaders, one boat in the fleet has a AC-style (of sorts) cathedral rig with Ds passing through the rig (see page 3). A couple of boats still have shorter bottom spreaders with Vs descending directly to the deck from the bottom two sets of spreaders, as was used on some Open 60s in the early 1990s to enable an overlapping headsail to be sheeted through the rigging.

All the protos have the maximum length, 3m bowsprit (another Michel Desjoyeaux development). To avoid any jousting on the start line under the rules these must be stowed within the perimeter of the deck prior to the start and thus all the boats have a system whereby the pole rotates forward around a fitting at the foot of the forestay, thus making for an exciting time when the boats are in close proximity at the weather mark... (see page 5).

Minis are allowed to carry eight sails including storm jib and trisail with materials limited to woven polyester and nylon spinnakers. In addition to the heavy weather sails, a typical Mini wardrobe is main, solent (genoa), and a combination of four gennikers and spinnakers of varying sizes. While having a single triangular headsail might seem odd, the sailmakers have cunningly enabled these to be reefed, effectively making two sails out of one.

Among the French boats All Purpose in La Trinite seem to have the lion's share of the fleet, along with Incidence and North, while the UK boats have gone with Parker & Kay, Suffolk's finest John Parker regularly sailing the doublehanded races with Nick Bubb.

In terms of appendages among the protos, there doesn't appear to be as many wacky ideas as we have seen in previous races. All new boats have twin rudders, canting keels operated by a block and tackle system rather than hydraulics. There is some variation over whether to have a single symmetric board (less efficient, but easier to use and lighter weight) or twin asymmetric boards. The principle exception to this are Nick Bubb's Whittlebury Hall and Tanguy de la Motte's boat (which he built to his own design) both of which have keels that not only cant but can be hauled fore and aft. They also have a single canting daggerboard, although de la Motte's can also be twisted by +/- 5 degrees effectively making it's shape asymmetric.

This year a majority of boats have a solar panel hung out of the back of the boat on a special mounting. Aside from the nav lights, the principle power requirement on board is the autopilot and thus several skippers we spoke - including Phil Sharp - are not taking a generator, relying solely on solar power.

So all this wonderful technology, but at the end of the day none of this is quite as important as reliability and having a skipper who can get the most out of the boats.

The forecast for the start is 25 knots northeasterlies that will see the boats launched and past Finistere by the time the weekend is out. Generally the fleet seems to be better prepared than it has ever been and it will be interesting to see if the Bay of Biscay carnage seen in previous races will be a thing of the past on this occasion.

Loads more photos on the following pages...