News Around the World
The arrival of the Scows in Class40 and the Mini 6.50s (above) caused disruption in these fleets (plus unhelpful depreciation) but it has also given both classes a boost with a flood of new boats. This is Romain Le Gall’s Series class Maxi 650 Trompette designed by the inventor of the offshore scow David Raison and built by IDB Marine. Several IDB 6.50s started the 2019 Mini Transat but suffered problems from an overly light fit-out. With problems resolved Raison now has high hopes for his Series entries in this year’s big race
as usual, with the finish of the second leg at Saint-François, a new destination in Guadeloupe. Other things stay the same… Denis Hugues, Mini Transat race director for more than 20 years, tells us that the total number of entries is still limited to 84 boats and that there is, as usual, a large number of skippers on the waiting list. ‘Eighteen to 20 boats, most of them now qualified, have to wait – quite a number of those will not be accepted at the start.’ The fleet is still divided two-thirds Series Class production boats
and one third Proto one-offs. But for the first time in many years the numbers in the Proto class are growing again. One of the reasons for this is that, although a new Proto is usually very expensive, an old one-off is now often cheaper that a recent production boat whose price typically exceeds 100,000 euros. Of course a very modern Proto, say a foiler (there are still only
three in the fleet), can reach close to 300,000 euros! But Denis says that a Mini Foiler is not an obvious solution because she has to be heavy to satisfy the righting test. Not to mention the extra cost of the two foils… The racing level of the Mini Transat never stops getting higher
and higher thanks to the drastic qualification obligations and the growing number of Mini training centres in France. The competition is particularly intense between the skippers of the numerous pro- duction boats. To begin with the Pogo 3 and Maxi 6.50 (scow) are now both very refined; the Pogo (Verdier) has been racing for several years but now the more recent Raison Maxi is also up to speed. If two skippers could be mentioned as the big Series class favourites, one is Léo Debiesse, very consistent in the Mini races sailed during the last three months – and especially efficient in light weather through the transition zones. Also Hugo Dhallenne, who performs at his best in the fresh conditions! Two sailors are favourites in the Proto division: Tanguy Bouroullec,
very quick reaching on his Pogo Foiler (also Verdier), and Pierre Le Roy helming a David Raison design very close to the scow Maximum, winner of the Mini Transat 2017 skippered by Ian Lipinski and in
28 SEAHORSE
2019 with François Jambou. They both impressed during recent races. Two years ago the Scow won but it could favour the Foiler this time. A sailor such as Sébastian Pebelier, who modified the bow of
his Mini (as do some of the Class40s), should also be in the leading group, as well as François Champion and the astonishing Russian skipper Irina Gracheva. If Pebelier can do as good a job with his ‘scow-modified’ Mini as Luke Berry in the Fastnet (with his similarly modified Class40), then that will also be a nice story for the skippers of the older Minis. Yannick Bestaven, winner of the last Vendée Globe: ‘Naturally
my victory in the last Vendée Globe was magical but, before that, my victory in the Mini Transat remains my biggest success, especially in 2001 when the competition was particularly high with people like Sam Davies, Brian Thompson, Corentin Douguet… And many others who are today challenging at the highest levels ‘The Mini is a fabulous race. Really unique for several reasons:
on a 6.50m boat your backside is really at the level of the water… and also the communication equipment you have is absolutely min- imal (no computer, no satellite link, no pictures or videos transferred, no contact with the earth…). The Mini gave me the desire to make ocean sailing my job. It was my first big challenge in this field, and I have a crowd of souvenirs engraved for ever in my memory.’ Since Bob Salmon founded the race in 1977, with the objective
of rediscovering the adventurous spirit of the first Transat, the Mini allowed more than 1,000 sailors to cross the Atlantic on a boat of only 6.50m long. ‘It is a sort of a Paris-Dakar but raced on a moped,’ added Yannick. Ian Lipinski, skipper of the Class40 Crédit Mutuel, has won the
Mini Transat twice, on a production boat in 2015 and two years later on a one-off scow designed by David Raison. Ian shares many of Yannick’s emotions about the race: ‘The tiny 6.50s are extra- ordinary boats. They give you unique feelings. The Mini represents their first steps in ocean racing for the vast majority of the skippers…
CHRISTOPHE BRESCHI
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