33rd Mare Nostrum: Melwin Fink's new building passes first test with flying colours

He's back: Melwin Fink has successfully completed the first regatta with his new Vector Mini. After the accident with the previous Vector new build in April of this year, the dramatic helicopter rescue of the crew off Mallorca and the realisation that it was a total loss, the 20-year-old Mini Transat third-placed in 2021 commissioned another new build. After delivery at lightning speed, rapid refit in the hall at home in Bad Salzuflen and urgent transport to Spain, Fink has now successfully completed the 33rd Mare Nostrum alongside sailing friend Hendrik Lenz from Bremen without any technical problems.

Melwin Fink: "The new boat is fast!"

The law student from Bad Salzuflen said: "It was a very tough race with lots of restarts. That's why we're super happy to have finished the light wind battle so successfully. My new boat passed the endurance test with flying colours." The Balearic Rally was traditionally organised by the Catalan club Nàutic Garraf, based in the start and finish harbour near Barcelona. It took 33 protos and production boats over 500 nautical miles through the Balearic Islands. In this clip, Melwin Fink tells us what the recurring flautentorture felt like during the race. His comment: "The nerves were raw. Please take it with a sense of humour!"

The two-handed crew Fink/Lenz on the Mini "Karin Monika", named after Melwin Fink's grandmothers, narrowly missed out on the podium. Melwin Fink took stock with one crying and one laughing eye: "Boats crossed the finish line ahead of us that were 60 nautical miles behind us when we were already sailing near Ibiza and they passed Cabrera. The restarts in the race in sometimes very light winds also contributed to this. In the end, we are very happy with the good result." Fink is even happier that his boat made a strong impression in the race after only 50 test miles before the first start of the regatta. "We got straight down to business at the start in 20 knots of wind. Everyone was blasting away. And so did we, of course. It's a good feeling to be able to pedal the new boat like that. It's fast, we could already see that in the conditions." Click here for the Final video of the race from the perspective of Melwin Fink.

The battle for Mini-Trans participation continues

By completing the Mare Nostrum, Fink has earned the first 500 nautical miles for his Mini-Transat qualification account. The next 300-nautical-mile race from Barcelona is scheduled for 16 September. In March 2023, the required nautical miles should be collected after two more regattas. Fink could then move from the waiting list, on which he has to rejoin after losing his first boat, to the main field of contenders. He can then register and hope to get one of the starting places. "The anxiety continues, it remains difficult. But I'm determined to make it," says the young soloist from the Schaumburg Lippischer Seglerverein with a fighting spirit, "the successful Mare Nostrum has given me a real boost. I now know that we have built a good boat. The new North sails also fit. Everything works, which I optimised again in the second run. So we can go on!" Click here to go to Melwin Fink's Homepage.