22nd Mini-Transat: Bogacki with lightning start in Mini-Transat stage two

Only one of two German sailors is still in the race on the second leg of the 22nd Mini-Transat La Boulangère: While Morten Bogacki on "Lilienthal" was even sailing in the lead at the start of the second leg of the race across the Atlantic and was battling with Tanguy Bouroullec for the lead in the Proto classification after the first night on Sunday morning, Berlin-based Hendrik Witzmann had to give up the continuation of his Mini-Transat premiere with a heavy heart. A serious knee injury forced the 46-year-old helmsman to retire. "It's tough," said Witzmann, "but you have to accept that you can't do it. The knee is extremely sore and immediately becomes thick again with every movement. I can hardly move it. You can't sail across the Atlantic like this."

How the queen's stage of the Transatlantic Regatta began for the soloists in Las Palmas

Morten Bogacki, on the other hand, started round two of the Atlantic endurance test in top form. On the first evening, the 33-year-old soloist, who races for the Düsseldorfer Yacht-Club and the Kieler Yacht-Club, even led the proto fleet. On Sunday morning, not a nautical mile separated him from the leading Frenchman Bouroullec on "Cerfrance". After the first 17 hours, however, the duo had already built up a lead of more than 15 nautical miles over third-placed Matteo Sericano on "Eight Cube". An early break to the west gave the Frenchman and the German a strong pole position, at least for the moment.

Bogacki had used the break of several weeks between the two mini-Transat stages primarily to get his boat back under control. On leg one from La Rochelle to Gran Canaria, both autopilots on board the "Lilienthal" had failed. Bogacki had to steer his boat by hand for five brutal days and nights. In the meantime, a weak cable connection and a wobbly relay have been identified as the cause of the problems with the steering computers and have been replaced. Bogacki said at the weekend in Las Palmas: "This second start is less nerve-wracking for me than the first. The boat and I are fine. I think anything between fourth and seventh place is still possible for us. After the technical problems on leg one, it will be rather difficult to finish on the podium." The former 505 Junior World Champion made it clear right at the start of the second 2700 nautical mile leg across the Atlantic in initially moderate winds that he is one of the top contenders in the Proto classification.

Hendrik Witzmann helps Amélie Grassi

Of the 22 proto-soloists who originally entered the race, 21 started the second leg. Marie Gendron, who came fourth after stage one, had to return to the harbour in Las Palmas after the start with her "Cassiopée", which she had built herself over the years, due to technical problems. The same fate befell the fifth and best skipper of the first leg in the series boat ranking: Amélie Grassi also had to return to the starting harbour with damage, but has since been able to resume the race with her "Action Enfance". Hendrik Witzmann helped her overnight by dismantling his forestay fitting and reattaching it to Grassi's boat. Félix De Navacelle on "Youkounkoun" initially led the series classification of the still 61 boats ahead of the Brit Joe Lacey on "Earlybird Racing" and Guillaume L'Hostis.

Here to see the intermediate results.