Having had flights and accommodation booked in Lanzarote, I spent nearly two weeks there awaiting the arrival of the Mini fleet. However as you will know, the stop-over was effectively cancelled, with the race running instead straight from Sada in Spain to Pointe a Pitre, Guadeloupe; a leg of over 4,000 nautical miles.
Skippers could of course stop-over on the Island to make repairs, but any pit-stops had to be for a minimum of 12 hours.
The majority of the fleet had to sail to Sada from Gijon. Although it was only 125 miles, two notorious capes had to be rounded, with a big swell and a beat upwind. For the rounding of Cabo Ortegal gusts of up to 35 knots were expected and the fleet were advised to take shelter; some went into port and others took anchorage. However the day finally came when the Minis would arrive in Sada, and so on the 7th November I flew from Lanzarote to Madrid, spending the night in the cheapest hotel I could find- it was fashioned like a warehouse- before catching the connecting flight. I arrived around 1200 on the 8th, just in time to catch the lines of Ludo Mechin (5) and Charles Boulenger (435) as they arrived into port. Florian (633) and a number of other boats were to arrive the following day, which meant I could finally dish out the stack of freeze-dried food which had by now accumulated a vast amount of air miles!
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| Charles and friends enjoying the parade in Douarnenez |
With the start of the epic leg scheduled to start on the 12th at midday, this left most boats with just 2 1/2 days to prepare. You could assume that with all the delays in leaving Douarnenez the fleet would surely be ready to leave; but things always break on the Mini, food stocks need replenishing, routing needs to be updated and skippers need to try and prepare themselves; physically with rest and mentally, too. I spent most of the time food shopping, helping tip boats over onto their sides, looking into electrical problems, soldering, helping to build a new support for 633's NKE wind anemometer, actually finding a new anemometer to purchase (it had fallen from the rig and smashed), and washing dirty clothes. Drying them, and every other sodden thing on the boats, was another matter entirely.
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| A common sight within the Mini fleet- boats on their sides! |
Race day came, with the briefing held at 0600. The dock was alive with babbling Mini sailors who after a month's delay, were finally setting off on one of the most epic of offshore races. I got to watch the start from the media boat, so had a great view of all the skippers from the top deck. It was fantastic to see so many Mini's lining up for the race and I was particularity pleased to see Ludo, in his 1999 (?) prototype, pretty much lead the fleet out of the bay.
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The 8 hr flight from Paris to Guadeloupe-
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| Family & friends greet Aymeric |
It is now the 7th of December and 10 days into my stay here in Guadeloupe. To date, 8 prototypes have finished - overall winner Benoit Marie arrived on the 1st December at 10.46 pm, after 18 days and 13 hours at sea - and 3 series boats, led by Aymeric Belloir (810), who arrived on the 4th. This evening Michele Zambelli (342) and Annabelle Boudinot (791) will have a closely fought battle for 9th place in the prototypes, crossing the line around midnight. We will also see the first big clump of arrivals in the Series fleet; Renaud Mary (535), Alberto Bona (507) and Tanguy Le Turquais (599). It will be a great moment when Tanguy crosses the finishing line, expected in 6th place; having been at the Roma Solo race when he accumulated his last qualifying miles for the Transat, I have been following closely his campaign which he has conducted in a very professional and efficient manner. Unfortunately Ludo, who also gained his last qualifying miles in Rome, suffered numerous problems throughout the race and so required various pit stops; he now lies some 1,120 miles from the finish.
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| Oppies sail in with Aymeric |
With a late night tonight as I watch the boats come in, I am eagerly awaiting the early hours of Monday morning when Florian (633) should arrive. Having held 11th place for most of the leg to Lanzarote, he now lies 19th and some 60 miles behind Pip Hare. I'm sure he will be very happy with his position, having set out with just the aim of finishing....fellow team mate Charles (435) should be equally happy, currently in 24th despite a prolonged stop-over in Lanzarote. There are still another 10 boats behind him, with the furthest being over a 1,000 miles away!
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Below are some photos I took from my recent trip to the beach; there was home made coconut ice-cream for sale and you could also have grilled fish for lunch on the beach.
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| Crab taking a dip... |
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| crab hiding |
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