NZ entry for Mini Transat

Craig Cuffs to build new Mini from Chris Sayer's moulds

Craig Cuff, 25, from Te Puna in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, has announced his intention to compete in the Mini Transat 2005 yacht race.

It was during Cuff’s last four years working at sea - sailing nearly 30,000 nautical miles - that he decided on a solo yacht racing career. Cuff said that while he had always wanted to compete in long haul yacht racing, the long nights alone on boardproved to him that he was comfortable with his own company and had the stamina for the task.

Cuff recently met yachting icon and former Mini Transat competitor Ellen MacArthur in Auckland, as she was carrying out speed trials in the Southern Ocean on her new 75ft trimaran, Castorama B&Q.

Craig and his Campaign Manager, Mandy Scott-Mackie, met up with Ellen at the old Alinghi base and spent time with her on board the trimaran. Ellen then showed the pair around her land-based maintenance and refit operations before discussing at length the technical specifications of fitting out a boat for competitive singlehanded ocean racing - be it a Mini Transat yacht or the Castorama B&Q trimaran. The afternoon concluded with a discussion on the logistics of a solo campaign and the sensitive subject of raising sponsorship.

To date Cuff has raised one third of the funds required for his campaign from sponsors including Degussa Rohm, Innovation Lamination, FA Kumpers, EMC Partners, MGS, Tauranga Bridge Marina and Bridge Marina Travelift. The quest is currently on for a Title sponsor.

Other skippers from previous Mini Transat races include Bernard Stamm, Thierry Dubois and the late Simone Bianchetti – all of whom share a special place in Bay of Plenty hearts as having come 1st, 2nd and 3rd in Class 1 of the Around Alone singlehanded circumnavigation race of 2002-2003 which had it’s Australasian stopover in Tauranga last year.

Another Tauranga name associated with the Mini Transat is Chris Sayer who came third in the 1999. Sayer went on to build a further boat - with which to enter the 2003 Mini Transat but was unable to compete in the race as an official entry. Sayer sailed the course independently alongside the race itself and would have been placed at the top of the fleet, had he competed.

It is from Sayer’s Bakewell-White design and with the very same moulds, kindly loaned by Sayer, that Cuff is building his boat, NZL501, for the 2005 race. The hull is currently under construction at Innovation Lamination in Katikati using the innovative technology process of resin infusion. Launch is planned for May this year.

Sailing 4,300 nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean in a 6.5m cramped, wet and uncomfortable racing yacht with no bunk, galley or chart table is not the kind of sailing many would choose. As with many before him - including the diminutive yachting giant, Ellen MacArthur, it is Craig Cuff’s goal and in September 2005 it will become a reality for him …. watch this space!