Gahinet and Mouly claim Mini Fastnet

French duo trail blaze back into Douarnanez

Gwénolé Gahinet and Grégoire Mouly on Watever-Nautipark crossed the finish line of the 28th Mini Fastnet at 05.47 indisputable victors in the Mini Fastnet's Proto class.

Leading since Tuesday morning, after the fleet passed Wolf Rock, they never gave anyone else the slightest chance, finishing first by more than an hour and a half. There certainly was a good fight to the finish for the podium places all the way back from the Fastnet to Douarnenez with four boats arriving in just seven minutes.

Louis Segré/David Raison on Roll my chicken were second and Jorg Riechers/Pierre Brasseur aboard mare.de completed the the Proto class podium.

Gahinet and Mouly added this latest victory to their win in April’s Open Demi Clé, These long-term friends are used to sailing together; they complement each other and get on very well.

"To finish with a run of a day and a half was great! We got up to 20 knots on the return to Douarnenez,” says Gahinet “The hardest part was not having enough weather information. At the start, we had our route, plotted out ashore with our coach Tanguy Leglatin, but after that, it was somewhat improvised. We still tried to stay close to the route. At the end, we made the most of the currents.

“The boat is fairly quick in light winds, which helped us when crossing the Channel the first time, we could get ourselves into a good position and stay on the western side. And we had some good speeds with the wind behind us, too. But we didn’t expect to get so far ahead! We weren’t even sure that we were leading!

“It’s a great race, it does you a lot of good to do a long challenge. Generally, we do shorter races that are intense, you need to pull away, you’re there with your nose to the grindstone the whole time. Here, we could enjoy the ocean, find our pace. You don’t see the other competitors. It brings to mind the Transat!”

Gahinet already has an impressive sailing CV in the Mini class including a Series class victory in the 2011 Mini Transat, winner of the Open Demi Clé, and the Pornichet Select and now the Mini Fastnet. He is now favourite for the Transgascogne, which takes place next month between the Vendée and Spain, as well as, of course, the Mini Transat.

Second placed Louis Sègre and his Roll my chicken, teamed up with the very experienced David Raison, winner of the 2011 Mini Transat. They arrived just three minutes ahead of Jorg Riechers and Pierre Brasseur on Mare. Sègre is a young skipper who has been sailing Minis since 2010, but it’s his first complete season as a skipper and he’s consistently been in the top five.

Jorg Riechers and Pierre Brasseur took the last place on the Proto podium. The German skipper, is used to podium finishes and is notably a two time winner of the Marie-Agnès Péron Trophy.

Never a dull moment for Riechers who next week will head off on the Class40's Sables-Horta-Les Sables and then the Transgascogne in Mini after that.

As of this lunchtime, 46 competitors are still out at sea, with the first Series boats expected in Douarnenez late afternoon. The northwest wind is forecast to remain stable at 15-20 knots.

Provisional Proto arrival times

1. Gahinet/Mouly (Watever-Nautipark) at 05.47 and 49 seconds
2. Segré/Raison (Roll my chicken) 1 hour 36 minutes behind the winner
3. Riechers/Brasseur (Mare) 1 hour 39 minutes behind the winner
4. Bertrand/Pulvé (Chasseur de prime) 1 hour 42 minutes behind the winner
5. Delesne/Canevet (Teamwork) 1 hour 43 minutes behind the winner
6. Arthur et Philippe Léopold Léger (Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque) 2 hours 3 minutes behind the winner
7. Marie/Gerckens (benoitmarie.com) 2 hours 50 minutes behind the winner
8. Pedote/Bourguès (Prysmian) 3 hours 25 minutes behind the winner
9. Macfarlane/Picault (www.jeffreymacfarlane.com) 5 hours 34 minutes behind the winner