SOLO

By David Schmidt

A conversation with Chris Tutmark about his 2009 Transat 6.50 adventure.

Imagine racing singlehanded across

4,200 open-ocean miles. Now imagine doing this on a 21-footer that carries a seemingly disproportionate amount of sailcloth for its modest LOA and ballast. Crazy, right? That’s certainly what most American sailors might think, but the Classe Mini enjoys a strong European following—especially in France—as a launching pad for solo sailors. Some skippers compete in physically grueling, sleep-depriving events such as the 4,200-mile Transat 6.50 (formerly the Mini Transat), which starts in La Rochelle, France and ends in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, with a stop in Madeira, to gain exposure before hopefully matriculating to a Class 40 or an Open 60 campaign. Others, such as Chris Tutmark, 43, of Seattle, Washington, do the event for the challenge of 4,200 solo miles. Unlike most other skippers on the

starting line of the 2009 Transat 6.50, Tutmark self-funded his campaign. Tutmark, a professional rigger, gave himself a tight timeline to learn, prepare, and sail his brand-new Classe Mini,

48° NORTH, APRIL 2010 PAGE 48

What was your solo-sailing experience prior to your Transat 6.50?

Essentially, I had zero solo sailing

experience. I had done 1,000 miles of racing, plus the 1,000-mile nonstop trip called “the qualifier” that you need to do to participate in the race. I did all of this in France, commuting back and forth from Seattle.

Chris Tutmark

including logging his qualifying miles. A delay in his boat’s build time gave Tutmark a scant six months to prepare for the event. To complicate matters, the boat – Mini Anarchy, USA 724 – a Nacira-designed Mini, was in France and his business, Tutmark Rigging, is Seattle-based, necessitating numerous “commuter” flights. The hours were grueling, but the outcome exceeded expectation: Tutmark safely finished 22nd out of 32 boats in his class, and he had an adventure of a lifetime. I caught up with Tutmark on the phone to find out more about his race.

Why the Classe Mini? What drew you to this class?

The Mini is a boat that I could afford

to do myself. It’s a box rule, so a lot is about the sailor and the preparation. I like the boats – I think they’re cool. Plus, it was an opportunity to sail in France and to see other parts of the world. The Mini Class is a family. Everyone

competes on the water, but off the water we are all friends.

What was your hardest moment during the race?

There were two main parts to my

race, the preparation and the sailing. For the preparation, just the steepness of the learning curve was really hard. Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96