deliver 'Basecamp', the Artemis Offshore Academy's Mini 6.50. Becky has been preparing for the past 11 months for the Azores race, a 2600 nm race that takes part in two legs.
We had a very long trip from England to Douarnenez, in North Western France, were the boat was. After a 3 or so hour drive to Plymouth, it was then a camp out on the car ferry before another four hour drive through France. I couldn't wait to stretch my legs once we had arrived- unfortunately there wasn't much opportunity for this, as we had quite a bit of boat work to do. It is very cramped inside a Mini, especially for two!
It was good to meet a few other Mini sailors down there, some fiddling, some hoisting sails. It was an exciting place to be, knowing that these sailors would soon be setting off for 2600 miles, alone.
After some rewiring and a few other tasks we set off for Les Sables D'Olonne, just under 200nm.
This was my first proper sail in the Mini, as although I had attended some of the training weekends held in the UK earlier in the year, there had rarely been more than 6 knots of breeze. The first part of the trip was upwind, in about 15-18 knots. This is when I realised just how short and stubby the Mini's are- totally different to the boats I've been sailing this season. We went past a very picturesque lighthouse before turning downwind for the rest of the trip. The boat took off on every wave, surging down each one effortlessly. It was just like being on a surfboard, without the need to stand up or fall in afterwards. Not that falling overboard a Mini would be particularly difficult!
It took just about 24 hours to get to Les Sables d'Olonne, which turned out to be quite a nice place for a holiday. It took some time overcoming the French-English language barrier to find out where we could keep the boat, and where the showers were, but before long we were resting outside one of the numerous cafes. Unfortunately the prospect of any food appearing before sun set wasn't looking hopeful, so we moved on until we found a place serving buckets full of mussels...scrummy!
In a daze the next morning, we woke up only to realise that we had missed our train, the essential link in our travel plans back to Dourarnenz. Oops. It was looking dodgy but eventually we hired a car, drive for four hours, and reached our starting place. One final drive to the ferry port, and then bed! The cabin's on the ferry reminded me of my Haven caravan holidays, when getting the fold down bunk bed was one of the highlights of my holiday as an 8 year old child. Shame that I nearly fell out of it when the ferry took a little roll.
It had been a great trip, leaving me itching to just get out there and start sailing Solo myself- the Mini fleet seems really friendly with some fantastic races in the calendar.