Mini Transat preview

We review the Mini class and what's in store for this year's singlehanded race to Brazil in 21 footers

The 16th Transat 6,50 Charente Maritime Bahia (Mini Transat) sets sail from La Rochelle this Sunday, marking the 30th anniversary since Bob Salmon created the race as a reaction to monster entries, such as Alain Colas' 236ft long Club Mediterranee, that took part in the 1976 OSTAR.

To recap a little about why the Mini Transat ranks among our top events in the sailing calendar - the concept of the race, differing little from Salmon's original vision, is phenomenal.

At just 21ft long the boats are tiny to be setting sail across an ocean in a 4,200 mile long, two leg race that this year leaves La Rochelle bound for Funchal, Madeira rather than Puerto Calero, Lanzarote, before heading on to the finish at Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. Despite their diminutive size Minis are highly seaworthy, fitted with bulkheads and enough enclosed buoyancy (like a dinghy) to ensure they float even if they are holed or lose their keel.

Minis are divided into two classes 'Protos' (one-offs) and Series (production boats built to a dumbed down rule, ie GRP construction, fixed keel, etc). Because of the small size of the boats and their relatively low cost, the class (the Protos at least) is a hotbed of innovation, constrained by minimal rules, such as:

- LOA: 6.50m (21ft - excluding rudders and the bowsprit bobstay, pushpit, pulpit and brackets for solar panels, etc.
- Beam: 3m
- Draft: 2m
- Average freeboard: 0.75m
- Bottom of the keel to the top of the mast: 14m
- Max water ballast: 400lt
- Keel bulb: height and width must not exceed 450mm
- The boat shall heel no more than 10° each way with maximum moveable ballast deployed
- The boat shall show positive righting moment when inclined by 90° with a 45kg weight suspended from the masthead (see below)
- Maximum of eight sails allowed including a storm jib and trisail
- Permitted materials for sails - woven polyester and nylon



As a class the Mini has seen the introduction of the first ever canting keel on an offshore boat (by Michel Desjoyeaux back in 1981) as well as a host of other innovations that on occasion has fed up to bigger classes, in particular the Open 60s. Keels have been tried in the class that not only cant but can be turned, slide fore and aft, cant or move fore and aft (and anywhere between) through the use of a ball and socket connection at the hull exit, to a fantastic new system being tried in this race that allows the keel to cant and simultaneously drop down...

The fleets features the whole gamut of rig types - alloy and carbon, massive wingmasts to spindly carbon tubes, fixed spreaders, articulating spreaders, no spreaders, jumpers, etc.

Aside from the geekiness of them, Minis are simply great, great fun to sail. Just 21ft long, the latest Protos weigh less than 800kg, they carry moveable ballast, most often in the form of a canting keel (in the Proto class) or water ballast (in the Series class), the equivalent of around five crew. In terms of the 'engine', the latest boats carry around 45sqm of sail area upwind and more than 120sqm downwind through the use of massive genniker and spinnakers flown from a unique flip-out bowsprit arrangement (also introduced by MichDes) that extends the overall length of the boat by around 40%. Upwind they are inevitably pedestrian thanks to their waterline length, but downwind speeds of 20-25 knots are not unheard of.

Effectively the boat is no less than a pint-size, ocean racing skiff and, provided the gear is made strong enough, they can be raced exactly like a dinghy, albeit over a somewhat longer duration.

But the main reason the Mini class is such a roaring success is that it is not just a hotbed of innovation, it is a hotbed for new singlehanded offshore racing talent. While competing at the top level in the Mini is not cheap it is still possible to participate on a relative shoestring. British competitor David Rawlinson for example paid just 15,000 Euros for his Mini, admittedly one verging on classic status, but still capable of transporting him across the ocean at speed and allowing him the 'Mini' experience. Conversely stars of the class, benefitting from decent sponsorship, are paying in the region of 160,000 Euros for new builds and will have running costs of up to 100,000 Euros a year including paying a shore crew.

Over the years the Mini class has seen most of the top French offshore racing stars passing through its ranks such as Michel Desjoyeaux, Bruno and Loick Peyron, Yvan and Laurent Bourgnon, Isabelle Autissier, Yves Parlier, Jean-Luc van den Heede, Seb Josse, Thomas Coville, 2006 Route du Rhum winner Lionel Lemonchois, to name but a few. It was also the class that launched Ellen MacArthur's solo ocean racing career and from UK shores she has been followed by the likes of Alex Bennett, Sam Davies, Brian Thompson, Simon Curwen, Paul Peggs, Phil Sharp, Nick Bubb, Ian Munslow, etc. In this year's Mini there are just two British entries, David Rawlinson and Andrew Wood.

The entry list usually includes at least one 'pro' sailor making their bid for freedom from the America's Cup or the Volvo Ocean Race. In the past this has included Andrew Cape, Nick Moloney, Jonathan McKee and Don 'Jawsey' Wright. This year gnarly Australian and perennial Volvo Ocean Race bowman Tom Braidwood (below) has added his name to this short list of pro-sailors undergoing mid-life crises.



As we have mentioned elsewhere the Mini is also unique, even among other solo races, in being a properly 'solo' race. Routing is forbidden but this is thanks to the rule that forbids communication with the outside world, no email, no voice comms other than VHF. However radio receivers are permitted to listen to forecasts and Monaco Radio for example transmit the DTFs (but not positions) of the lead boats daily. GPSes are allowed, but computers and therefore any sort of routing software aren't.

In theory at least one of the fundamental principles of the Mini class has been in keeping a lid on costs and for the most part the class has succeeded in achieving this, although there are some exceptions. While carbon has been allowed in the hulls of the boats for some time, it was only for the 2005 race that carbon spars were allowed. To date sails made from expensive materials such as carbon fibre or even Kevlar are prohibited, although we understand this may be relaxed for the next iteration of the class rules.. At present sails are limited to eight, including a storm jib and trisail, plus main, a Solent jib usually with one or two reefs and four kites, typically a genniker and three spinnakers. While expensive sails are banned, oddly PBO rigging has been allowed for some while.

The 2007 form

Hull no	Name		Nat	Boat name	Design	Built
				Protos (40%)
198	Adrien	Hardy	FRA	BROSSARD	Magnen	1997
509	Kristian	Hajnsek	SLO	ADRIA MOBIL	Manuard	2004
510	Andraz	Mihelin	SLO	ADRIA MOBIL TOO	Manuard	2004
258	Marc	Gascons	FRA	TIP TOP	Manuard	2000
427	Sébastien	Gladu	FRA	BIRVIDIK	Rolland	2003
431	Andrea	Caracci	ITA	SPEEDY BONSAI	Manuard	2003
454	François	Salabert	FRA	AREAS ASSURANCES	Dejeany	2005
429	Alex	Pella	ESP	OPEN SEA	Lombard	2003
194	Ari	Huusela	FIN	DORADE	Strahlman	1997
348	David	Sineau	FRA	BRETAGNE LAPINS	Magnen-Nivelt	2001
573	Sébastien	Picault	FRA	KASTELL ROCKETT	Garrant	2005
432	Xavier	Haize	FRA	GOUTANOU	Manuard	2003
419	Nick	Brennan	AUS	RAFIKI	Magnen	2006
444	David	Rawlinson	GBR	WWW.OCEANCHALLENGES.COM	Lang	1991
424	Ronan	Deshayes	FRA	PCO TECHNOLOGIES	De Lamotte	2002
618	Peter	Laureyssens	BEL	ECOVER	Finot-Conq	2006
260	Olivier	Cusin	FRA	NEGAWATT	Lombard	1999
317	Rémi	Daudin	FRA	DEOLEN	Rolland	2000
567	Jérome	Koch	FRA	METEOR	Manuard	2006
265	Aloys	Claquin	FRA	VECTEUR PLUS	Magnen-Nivelt	1999
247	Thomas	Ruyant	FRA	REGION NORD PAS DE CALAIS - FABER	Rogers	1999
312	Yannick	Allain	FRA	CENTIFOLIA - INDIBIO	Villenave	2000
551	Raoul	Cospen	FRA	DALET DIGITAL MEDIA SYSTEMS	Manuard	2005
617	Fabien	Després	FRA	SOITEC	de Beaufort	2006
165	Fabrice	Lucat	FRA	HAKUNA MATATA	Rolland	1996
321	Yoann	Vadeleau	FRA	PURPLE HAZE	Dejeanty	2000
508	Jaro	Kaczorowski	POL	ALLIANZ.PL	Réard	2002
353	Nacho	Orti	ESP	MEDI-VALENCIA	Finot-Conq	2001
491	Stephan	Bonvin	FRA	MARCEL FOR EVER	Manuard	2004
500	Andrew	Wood	GBR	DOMOSOFA.COM	Rogers	2004
630	Matthieu	Cassanas	FRA	SEX'N SUN - METALCO	Manuard	2006
624	Yves	Le Blevec	FRA	ACTUAL	Lombard	2006
184	Thomas	Coubes	FRA	PETIT CITRON VERT	Sourisse	1997
				Series (40%)
450	Hugo	Ramon	ESP	EMOTION SAILING TEAM	Lombard Zero	2004
487	Matthieu	Sannié	FRA	ORANGE MINI	Finot Pogo 2	2004
472	Vincent	Barnaud	FRA	MASOCO BAY	Finot Pogo 2	2003
286	Matthieu	Girolet	FRA	LE ROI	Magnan Super Calin	1999
485	Thomas	Bonnier	FRA	ARCHITECTURE(S) ELEMENTAIRE(S)	Finot Pogo 2	2004
281	Dominique	Barthel	FRA	YAMM	Magnan Super Calin	1999
322	Pierre	Brasseur	FRA	PEINTURES RIPOLIN	Rolland Pogo 1	2001
245	Dominik	Zürrer	GER	UBIK	Rolland Pogo 1	1999
576	Thibault	Reinhart	FRA	LES BLOUSES ROSES - COLAS	Rolland Pogo 1	2005
612	Jean-François	Quélen	FRA	GALANZ	Finot Pogo 2	2006
384	Grégory	Magne	FRA	DADDY ON BOARD	Rolland Pogo 1	2002
426	Jelmer	Bouw	NED	ALCHEMIST	Finot Pogo 2	2003
518	Hervé	Piveteau	FRA	JULES	Finot Pogo 2	2004
607	Francisco	Lobato	POR	BPI	Finot Pogo 2	2006
364	Jacques-Arnaud	Seyrig	FRA	POUR A CHACUN SON CAP	Rolland Pogo 1	2001
569	Bertrand	Delesne	FRA	LE GAL - JOSSET MENGUY	Nivelt Mistral	2004
626	Gérard	Marin	ESP	ESCAR L'ESCALA-CN LLANCA	Finot Pogo 2	2006
613	Henrik	Masekowitz	GER	BEIJA MAR	Manuard Tip Top	2006
250	Bertrand	Castelnérac	FRA	MANJULA	Rolland Pogo 1	1999
507	Adrien	Monsempès	FRA	GOLDEN APPLE	Finot Pogo 2	2004
516	David	Krizek	CZE	ATLANTIK FT	Finot Pogo 2	2004
457	Sébastien	Bordiec	FRA	GARCIMORE	Nivelt Mistral	2003
498	David	le Carrou	FRA	LE TREPORT	Magnen Ginto	2004
633	Lucas	Schröder	NED	T-MOBILE ONE	Finot Pogo 2	2006
517	Sébastien	Marsset	FRA	MAREE HAUTE	Rolland Dingo	2004
473	Jean-Claude	Guillonneau	FRA	ZERLINE	Finot Pogo 2	2003
527	Bertrand	Dubucq	FRA	MANIETOL	Finot Pogo 2	2004
589	Koën	Van Esch	NED	K.L.M. FLYING DUTCHMAN	Finot Pogo 2	2005
389	Emmanuel	Laurent	FRA	TOTEM - DOMAINE DES THOMEAUX	Magnan Super Calin	2002
435	Laurence	Château	FRA	OKOFEN France	Finot Pogo 2	2003
332	Alex	Mevay	USA	GENASUN	Finot Pogo 2	2000
642	Frédéric	Donot	FRA	SURFRIDER FOUNDATION EUROPE	Manuard Tip Top	2006
				DCQ PROTOS
679	Samuel	Manuard	FRA	SITTING BULL	Manuard	2007
628	Quentin	Monegier	FRA	TABON	Rolland	2007
667	Isabelle	Joschke	FRA	DEGREMONT SYNERGIE	Finot-Conq	2007
				DCQ SERIES
575	Clayton	Burkhalter	USA	ACADIA	Johnstone	2005
574	Tom	Braidwood	AUS	WOMBAT	Rogers	2005
				20% GENERAL
36	Jonas	Gerckens	BEL	OUFTI	Fauroux	1991
539	Stéphane	Le Diraison	FRA	CULTISOL	Finot Pogo 2	2005
482	Bénédicte	Graulle	FRA	BARREAU DE PARIS	Finot Pogo 2	2004
159	Pierre	Gédouin	FRA	MICROMEGAS	Finot-Conq	1993
303	Hervé	Favre	SUI	TEAM WORLD MANAGEMENT	Magnen-Nivelt	2000
313	Bertrand	de Pontual	FRA	COLIBRI	Rolland Pogo 1	2000
417	François	Duguet	FRA	CREDIT AGRICOLE SKIPPER CHALLENGE	Lombard	2002
346	Laurent	Bourgues	FRA	ADRENALINE	Manuard	2001
480	Véronique	Loisel	FRA	DE L'ESPACE POUR LA MER	Finot Pogo 2	2004
287	Sophie	Guéroult	FRA	FELIBRE	Magnan Super Calin	1999
483	Sigrid	Longeau	FRA	YEMAYA	Finot Pogo 2	2004
623	Maurizzio	Vettorato	ITA	SPAZZIO LIBERO	Manuard Tip Top	2006
520	Jacques	Valente	SUI	TELEKURS TWING	Magnen Ginto	2005
328	Matthieu	Guillon-Verne	FRA	BOUYGES TELECOM/UNIVERSITE DE TECHNOLOGIE DE TROYES	Magnan Super Calin	2000
347	Yann	Riou	FRA	CAMELEON	Rolland	2001
339	Pierrick	Lainé	FRA	ELIMA	Magnan	2002
405	Gaël	Rétif	FRA	OKOUME	Nivelt	2004
232	Sime	Stipanicev	CRO	MARINA	Lucas-Raison	1999
355	Andrea	Pendibene	ITA	PERLE DE SUEUR/CITTA DI VIAREGGIO	Disegnocontrario Naus	2001

So presently in La Rochelle is a collosal fleet of Minis, increased on Tuesday night by another five, making 89 boats in total, the largest ever gathering for this race. These are roughly divided in half between Protos and the now numerous different designs of Series boats such as the most popular the Finot-Conq Pogo 2, plus a smattering of others. These get complicated due to the designers' names. There is the Magnan-designed hard chined Super Calin, the Magnen-designed Ginto and the Manuard-designed Tip Top. Plus the Marc Lombard-designed Zero, the Bernard Nivelt-designed Mistral, the Pierre Rolland-designed Dingo and several of the original bulletproof Pogo 1s. But the vast majority in the Series class are Pogo 2s, well sailed boats more than capable of finishing alongside the top Protos.

While French sailors of course make up the bulk of the entries, the Mini fleet is deliciously international with Spain having four boats entered, Italy and the Netherlands three each, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Slovenia, Switzerland, the UK and USA each fielding two entries and Finland, Croatia, Czech Republic, Portugal and Poland all having one. A particular feature of this year's entry list are the large number of east Europeans.

Of the 89 entries, six are female, including one, the remarkable Isabelle Joschke, who is more than capable of winning, having so far this year come third in the brutal Transgascogne and won the Pornichet Select and the Mini Pavois, two other significant events in the Mini calendar. In fact Joschke has probably won more events this season than anyone ever before in the build-up year to a Mini Transat. More on her later in the week.

However in in the Proto class the results this year have repeatedly shown just three boats regularly in the chocolates. These are:

Isabelle Joschke (FRA/GER), 30, new Finot/Conq design Degremont-Synergie, winner of the Pornichet Select and Mini Pavois this year, second Trophée Marie-Agnès Péron, third Transgascone. Second Mini Transat, finished fifth into Bahia on leg two

Peter Laureyssens (BEL), 36, new Finot/Cong design, Ecover is a sistership to Joschke's boat. His second Transat, after a decisive win in the Series class in 2005. 2nd Transgascogne, winner of the Open Sail Simrad B&G, second Trophée Marie-Agnès Péron, third Pornichet Sélect 6,50, second Mini Pavois

Yves le Blevec (FRA), new Lombard design, Actual, winner this year of the brutal Transgascogne, Demi-Cle, Trophée Marie-Agnès Peron en solitaire, record holder (winner) in the Solo Chrono, second Pornichet Sélect 6.50. This will be Yves' third Transat, this aboard one of the most immaculately prepared boats in the fleet as one would expect of Orange's chief preparateur

In addition to this is Mini designer Sam Manuard and his new boat Sitting Bull, another immaculate affair like le Blevec's. Manuard was fourth in the Mini Pavois but in the Mini Transat four years ago he was leading the final leg to Salvador when he dismasted.

Others to watch out for are Adrian Hardy on Brossard, Slovenian Andraz Mihelin sailing on Adria Mobil Too (one of a pair of Slovenian sisterships competing for their second time), Tom Braidwood (who has all his peers from the pro-sailing world looking on), American Clayton Burkhalter, related to the Johnstone family of J/Boat fame, Spanish entry Alex Pella - all of whom have been posting good results this year.

The start of the Transat 6,50 Charente Maritime Bahia takes place at 1100 local time this Sunday and the first boats are expected into Funchal on the 1,100 mile long first leg by around 21 September. The second leg of 3,100 miles starts on 6 October with the boats due into Salvador de Bahia on 25 October. The competition at the front of the fleet promises to be every bit as competitive as the Solitaire Afflelou le Figaro.

More photos on the following pages...