Mini Transat – Sada – Pointe-a-Pitre

This morning the Race Director posted an amendment regarding a postponement of fifteen hours to the start of the race from Sada to Pointe-à-Pitre. The new warning signal will be given on Wednesday 13 November at 9am.

There are two reasons behind this new start: first, according to the race meteorologist, the fleet might encounter strong winds with a risk of winds gusting over 40 knots off Cape Finisterre. More importantly, the passage of a front overnight will cause heavy rain and very low visibility. To send a fleet of over 70 boats out at night into in a high traffic area where many fishing boats do not have AIS was an added complication in the circumstances. In many ways, given all the incidents and adventures of the Mini fleet since its departure from Douarnenez, this delay is only a small hiccup …

Mini Transat – Douarnenez To Sada – A leg? No an epic

• The Mini Transat – ready to take off on Tuesday during the day
• Revisiting the incidents that have marked the race since 13 October
• A highly trained convoy

30 days have now elapsed between the theoretical start date from Douarnenez and the new start date from Sada, close to La Coruna, for what will be the longest leg ever sailed in the history of the Mini Transat. It’s been almost a month of tough times and misfortunes before a positive way forward could be found.

On the pontoons of Sada, the competitors are steadily getting into race mode. Computers are operating at full capacity, the latest weather files and the analysis of the best experts are tracked, compared, disected … only a few competitors remain at sea, the last have left the port of Moras, where Jean-Pierre Dick took refuge during the Vendée Globe before crossing the Bay of Biscay, and they should arrive tonight.

Windows are slammed and the race abandoned

Right now, everyone is in a hurry to the long wait to be over. They first had to wait in Douarnenez pending an unlikely weather window. A wait that was all the more infuriating because the two weeks of preparation for the Mini Transat took place in idyllic weather conditions. Two days earlier and the fleet would have comfortably been passing Cape Finisterre and then hurtling on Lanzarote. This is something that the organisers will be exploring for the next edition, to be able to adjust a possible start by bringing it forward a few days if weather conditions require. In Douarnenez, the Race Director was watching for the best time to release the fleet. Every time a window seemed to open the next set of files contradicted the hope of finding the right moment.

Finally on October 29 the race could get underway in a west to northwesterly wind of 25 knots whicheased during the first night. It was during this same night that the Race Director noted a further deterioration of the forecast and decided, as anticipated in the latest changes to the Sailing Instructions, to divert the fleet to Sada, after a first half leg. Unfortunately, the bad weather arrived faster than expected, and it was ultimately decided to stop the race and advise those competitors still a long way from the port of Sada to proceed to Gijon, where weather conditions were better.

A tough delivery convoy

In the great Asturian harbor everyone was once again waiting, this time to join up with the first competitors who had sought refuge in Sada. Despite the small number of boats in Sada, it was most logical that the entire fleet would rally at the Galician port: to have required the competitors at Sada to sail east to Gijon, would have been a kind of double jeopardy. Added to the frustration of not being able to receive a finishing position, would have been a useless delivery considering that the ultimate goal was to achieve the shortest route possible to pass Cape Finisterre. For the competitors sheltering in Gijon, it was now necessary to find a way to leave in convoy. The return to the west was not to be a sinecure: the passages around l’Estaca de Barres and Cape Ortegal was in angry seas and winds gusting up to 40 knots at times. Many competitors admitted that it was the first time they faced such difficult conditions.

Now all of our little family, or almost, are gathered at or near Sada to make the first start of this Mini Transat Douarnenez – Pointe a Pitre. From Monday the winds will shift to the north. The fleet will finally know the intoxication of surfing off-wind. After the hard graft comes the reward.

What they said:

Sofie de Clercq (Ville de Marseillan)
“During my delivery, I had an autopilot problem. To get some rest I decided to heave to several times. But at no time did I think to stop. In any case, I’m really glad I did that. The scenery was really beautiful and I discovered something that I never would have known otherwise. In Minis, 35 knots is acceptable, but 40 knots, it’s just too … ”

Hugues Chollet (Soutenez le Bel Espoir)
“I never thought I’d be able to do what I did. When we left Gijon, we were not making headway, we couldn’t make decent progress. Like many others, I stopped at Moras. At this time, I was at the bottom of a hole, really depressed. With some other competitors we found ourselves on one of the accompanying support boats where they gave us a good meal. The next day, morale had returned, it was almost beautiful. We knew there would be wind, but I told myself, this is a challenge, you have to go. We took a good bashing, but we made it. Looking back, I am proud to have managed it. ”

PFB

Mini Transat – From Sada to Point-a-Pitre
In one hit

• The Mini Transat will start from Sada and go directly to Point-a-Pitre
• A convoy organised this afternoon from Gijon to Sada
• A gate at Lanzarote

They’re off! After reviewing all the options open to them, the organisers of the Mini Transat , in consultation with the competitors, have finally decided that the 2013 edition of the race will be run as a single leg, from Sada to Pointe-a-Pitre. The start is scheduled for November 12.

The decision is made, and it break the feeling of uncertainty that had began to weigh on everyone’s minds. And once again the organisers of the Mini Transat have, in an unconventional way, choosen an original solution : to go directly to Pointe a Pitre, removing the Lanzarote stopover.

The way to Puerto Calero
This choice responds to several constraints regarding the rally from Sada to Gijón, it is a trip of more than 160 miles, or 24 to 36 hours, in conditions that may not necessarily be very easy : the prevailing westerly winds, residual high waves residue, coastal navigation requiring vigilance. In the first of the briefings in Gijon, the competitors requested that a stop of at least 48 hours be observed after the arrival of the last competitor in the Galician port. In adding this new delay the time available for the turnaround time in Lanzarote is compromised, which has the knock on effect of also compromising the arrival date in Guadeloupe.

The choice of the direct route can catch some of the delay caused by the bad weather. However, the fleet will race through a gate near Lanzarote that will establish an intermediate classification before crossing the Atlantic. In addition, competitors who wish may make an express stop at Puerto Calero if they wish to make repairs before undertaking the crossing. Finally, although this leg with be the longest distance in the history of the Mini Transat (about 3,600 miles as opposed to 3,1000 for Madeira to Salvador de Bahia), it could well be shorter in time, because it avoids crossing through the Doldrums. The arrival of the first boats could be celebrated around the 1st of December.

Logistical issues
Originally, the Race Director wanted to be able to start on November 11. But there are a number of logistical issues to resolve. Firstly, many competitors had sent equipment to Lanzarote in anticipation of the stopover there and it is necessary to repatriate that equpment to Sada. Computers, stores and especially freeze-dried food, clothing suitable for sailing in the tropics, all these need to be returned quickly to the Galician port. Logistics are being put in place, but to ensure that everyone can recover their equipment the start is moved to November 12. As of this afternoon, the first soloists begin passaging to Sada. Some have already decided to wait until tomorrow when the wind should begin to drop. Within days, the entire Mini family will be reunited and on a war footing to take a historic step. Certainly, this race is unlike any other!

PFB