News Around the World
Que pasa, hombre? There’s something good in the Latin waters right now… Italy is firmly on the move in ocean racing with first and second place in the 2023 Class40 rankings. And then look at what’s happening in the Mini 6.50s… Of course, being an Anglo Saxon journal we should point out that the Mini Transat Race was founded by British skipper Bob Salmon, but with Uruguayan sailor Fede Waksman (above) winning the 2023 edition in the Proto Division and his tune-up partner Carlos Manera of Spain finishing runner-up, it’s no wonder les froggies are not ’appy. Adding salt to the wound, Italian skipper Luca Rosetti took the Mini Series Division as well
radical design. But it also helped me get the most out of my boat. SH: Tell us about the first stage. FW: It was a boat-to-boat race like all the others this season! I had a nice early lead; then there were several stop-start compressions, but I was always able to stay at the front with three of us switching places. Then I made a big mistake thinking that near the Portuguese coast the wind would accelerate, but I wanted to protect the south. There was a slight wind shift to the west and suddenly three boats overtook me and I had pretty soon lost 50 miles! A horror. I finally finished ninth, five hours behind the winner. The strategy in the first stage is not to waste time and avoid risks. And I didn’t do that. SH: Then things went better… FW: The second leg is much longer and the opposing routeing strategies put the boats far apart. You choose sides then the leverage keeps growing. Mostly you sail with a stable wind angle, you do change sails as the wind rises or falls but you don’t go from sailing upwind to downwind as happens in the first stage. We started with a lot of uncertainty about the weather. The fore-
casts are only reliable for three to four days at best. You leave with all these notes and ‘what-if’ routeing models, but you have no updates! And the American and European models had said very dif- ferent things; they varied by the subtlety of the speed of movement of a low pressure but suggested two opposite routes, to the south or to the west. We started and the entire fleet decided on the most westerly orthodromic route to cross the low pressure to the north. Arriving at the island of El Hierro we were all grouped together,
the protos and the series! With Carlos I stayed slightly south of the fleet but we were almost stopped for a day and a half between a ridge and a front, just trying to make the best possible VMG towards the trades. It was pretty stressful actually! Then the trades arrived and all was good, I was going fast and sailing well. Luckily I didn’t see them, but some boats who had gone much further south actually passed us 20 miles across our bow. But I only found that out later! On the approach to Guadeloupe I crossed a ridge to find a better
angle in the final phase. Then I knew I was in first, but I didn’t slow down, I never stopped pushing because in these boats if you relax you can make a mistake. If you leave the cockpit for a moment and go below the bow will go down and the autopilot loses control. Mentally it is very hard, because when you make a decision about
28 SEAHORSE
the route the uncertainty lasts three or four days, and if in the end you do not find what you were looking for the depression is huge. You have to be very positive and make an effort to enjoy it. Plus in Europe it is very hard to train downwind with a medium wind
like the trades, because after sailing 20 miles you then have to return to port sailing upwind at 4kt. The real thing is quite different. SH: So you are winning but always it is about the clock… FW:A few miles before the finish a RIB came with cameras and press, they were celebrating. I asked them about Carlos and I heard ‘18 miles behind’ instead of 80. I thought I wouldn’t make up the five-hour deficit and they were surprised that I didn’t celebrate. Then they repeated ‘80’ to me. This second time I understood and I knew that I had won the Mini Transat 2023. I also set a new 24-hour Mini record of 330nm… but they gave the prize to a series boat which sailed 315nm. One of those curious things that happen in France! SH: And the future? FW: I don’t want to lose momentum. I have nothing finalised, so I am going to look for opportunities in France. But I also have to con- sider working again to earn money because the balance in my account does not reach $1,000. And I have to pay back some loans… I will also look for options in Imoca or the Ultim as an engineer.
I have been asked to sail a Class40 as co-skipper, or something could arise in Figaro. I don’t think I will do another Mini Transat, I need to learn more now about technical details. In a proto 6.50 you can change the mast rake 12° and the boat is completely transformed, something you can’t do in an Imoca. Also I would like to do a few regattas with better navigation systems; I recognise that I am now more interested in the technical aspects of design and boat set-up. Carlos Pich
USA The biggest own goal of all It’s no secret Americans are prone to rebellion… It’s in our DNA to openly question and challenge authority when we think it does not work in our best interests. Our ‘best interests’ of course is a concept always challenged and debated depending on the context, but we have shown a history of being unyielding when goals are set but achievements are not met, especially on a world stage, to develop new approaches until the goals are met.
VINCENT OLIVAUD
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 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110
