120 entries for 75 spots

Usual flood entries for next year's Mini Transat

30 years after the race was created, the 16th edition of the Transat 6,50 Charente-Maritime/Bahia (the Mini Transat) will leave from Fort Boyard, La Rochelle on Sunday 16 September 2007.

All the greats in solo offshore racing have taken part in this great race including Ellen McArthur, Isabelle Autissier, Catherine Chabaud, Yves Parlier, Jean-Luc Van Den Heede, Michel Desjoyaux, Loïck and Bruno Peyron, Yvan and Laurent Bourgnon, Roland Jourdain, Sébastien Josse, Thomas Coville, Lionel Lemonchois, Halvard Mabire, etc.

“On water, I really learned what solitude is because I had no way to communicate. When I finished the race I realized that I made it by myself as a real solo guy and that it all work fine without asking myself any questions. We become tough to pain… And crazy…” claims Thierry Dubois, winner of the race in 1993.

While the start and arrival port of Salvador de Bahia - Brazil, remain unchanged a new mid-race stopover has been proposed for the 30th anniversary race. Skippers will leave from Fort Boyard on 16th September 2007 and head for Funchal, Madeira. This first leg will provide similarly tactically changing conditions getting out of the Bay of Biscay and round Cape Finisterre, but at 1,100 miles it will be shorter than previous first legs of this race which have ended in the Canaries. The boats will then leave on the longer second leg for Salvador, a 3,100 miles passage that will take then across the Doldrums.

2007 will again see 75 entries, three more than 2005. Incredibly at the Paris Boat Show when the entry book opened and already the organisers have received 120 application. This includes 12 women and entries from 20 countries. To get a place on the start line the entries must go through a rigorous qualification procedure including a passage and a number of racing miles. As ever the class is divided into two classes, Protos and Series.