Stumbling start for La Boulangère Mini Transat 2023: Monday it finally starts!
After a long period of strong German participation, there are no starters with "GER" in their names this time, as Melwin Fink has been promoted to Class 40 due to an accident and is currently impressing as co-skipper with Lennart Burke. However, the field of 90 participants still offers plenty of reasons to be excited.
Lisa Berger will be the first Austrian to compete with her Maxi 6.50 "Dimension Polyant" (start number 980). She wants to finish in the top ten and has shown her potential more than once in qualifying. We will be presenting her in more detail in the coming days as part of our current reporting. Three solo skippers are competing for Switzerland; the most promising is Felix Oberle on "Mingulay" (start number 1028), who has what it takes to make the top five.
Which foils will prevail?
In the prototype classification, the two new foilers from designer Sam Manuard attracted the most attention at the Quai Vendée Globe in Les Sables-d'Olonne: "Nicomatic" from Caroline Boule and her partner Benoit Marie (starting number 1067) and "Xucla" from Carlos Manera (starting number 1081). They are located right at the start of the floating dock and are small technological masterpieces, with the foils being their most distinctive feature.
While "Nicomatic" has huge Imoca-style hydrofoils, can take off completely with the help of trim tabs on the rudders and is already in flight mode from eight to nine knots of wind, the Spanish Manera follows a more conventional line: his boat has no elevators and smaller C-foils that can be completely caught up; for upwind courses he also has conventional centreboards (see detailed photos in the gallery). In half wind or on a beam reach, his boat is more like the Imocas of the previous generation, which have a lot of buoyancy but still glide on the surface of the water with the hull aft - so-called skimming.
Which concept is more likely to prevail is one of the big questions associated with this mini-transat - and whether it will prevail at all. So far, no foiler has triumphed in any of the biennial regattas across the Atlantic, and even now it is far from clear whether the skippers will be able to realise the full potential of their futuristic vehicles.
Protos at the Mini Transat 2023: These are the favourites
Caroline Boule lacks ocean experience and an autopilot at Class 40 and Imoca level. The French-Polish skipper is starting as a rookie on the most demanding boat in the field, and she openly admits her lack of experience and her respect for speed.
"Nicomatic" easily reaches speeds of around 20 knots and even well over 20 knots - but then requires a skilled hand and an alert, hungry mind. Caro" does not assume that she will fly long distances. She is convinced that four to six hours a day is enough to take the lead and stay ahead. Her competitors share this view.
Carlos Manera may have a tamer version of Foiler, but it has state-of-the-art electronics from Madintec on board: a high-performance control unit for the linear drive called "MadBrain", which can act about as brutally as it is named. Is that enough for first place?
Victory not ruled out even without foils
However, it is quite possible that it will end as it always has: with victories for the more conventional Proto-Scows. The number one contender in this squad is Federico Waksman from Uruguay, who is competing with the boat of former Mini Transat winner Pierre Le Roy, a David Raison design from 2020 (starting number 1019). However, he was in for an unpleasant surprise when the Classe Mini told him five days ago that his main boom was too long and had to be cut, which also resulted in a last-minute change to the mainsail - the same main boom, mind you, with which Le Roy won unchallenged in 2021. A rogue who thinks evil of it.
The fastest woman among the Protos with centreboards and tilt keels is predictably Laure Galley (starting number 1048), provided no technical or tactical mishaps occur. The engineering graduate has qualified for the two-year development programme in the racing team of the Japanese-German machine tool group DMG Mori and has so far exceeded all expectations.
The calm, bright-eyed, pleasantly modest and yet highly ambitious skipper is a real discovery. Under team manager Charles Euverte, who previously trained Ministen, she has developed enormously. Irene Bader, a member of the DMG Mori Corporation board and CEO of the sailing team, is also planning to stay with "Laurey" beyond the mini-transat, as she told YACHT today.
What the sailors can expect from the Mini Transat
Tomorrow the Imoca skipper from DMG Mori, Kochiro Shiraishi, will also be at the Mini-Transat start. He was in action at the Défi Azimut in the days before, albeit rather unsuccessfully. Perhaps a successor to the old star from Japan is already growing up on the 6.50 metre boats.
For the fastest sailors, the first leg, which leads over 1,350 nautical miles to La Palma, promises to be sporty at Cape Finisterre. They can expect gusts of up to 30 knots from the south-west, i.e. directly against them. This was confirmed by weather router Christian Dumard at the first skipper briefing this morning. Further weather briefings followed in the afternoon and evening. The sailors are gradually getting fed up with all the appointments: most of them just want to get going. Tomorrow at 1.30 pm the time has come.
The start will be broadcast from 12.30 pm and commented on by Benjamin Dutreux, the Imoca skipper from "Guyot Environnement". You can follow the Live stream on the homepage of the La Boulangère Mini Transat and on the Facebook page the organiser.
