Mini-Transat qualification: Melancholy after 12 days solo: "I'm really sad that it's over"

They struggled, scolded each other, flirted with cancelling, but also pushed and cheered each other up. Two aspirants for the Mini-Transat adventure have just completed a round in the Mediterranean that is more than the annual average for most owners: 1,000 nautical miles was the target, but it turned out to be more than 1,200 because an extensive weak wind zone along the southern French coast forced them to take detours.

Axel Solbach and Lisa Berger's two Mini 6.50s have been moored up again in Barcelona for a few minutes now. The German started a fortnight ago on Sunday, two days before Lisa Berger. The Austrian, who celebrated her 32nd birthday somewhere south-west of the Strait of Bonifacio, had already returned yesterday lunchtime. She had sought advice from the Kiel-based meteorologist Sebastian Wache and chose a shorter and faster route for the return journey.

In between, their patience and stamina were severely tested. For days, they only made progress along the Côte d'Azur at between two and five knots. "It was really tough. You start to doubt everything," said a noticeably energised Lisa Berger to YACHT this afternoon. And her mini-companion commented dryly as they approached Barcelona this morning: "You've got plenty of time after all."

By then, they had almost forgotten the two lows that had taken their toll three days ago. The first to suffer was Lisa Berger, who had deliberately opted for a strong wind ride between the southern tip of Corsica and Cabrera near Mallorca. With top speeds of well over 30 knots and in the sometimes breaking seas, her Maxi 6.50 "Mojo" accelerated to a barely controllable speed of up to 20 knots - and only with a triple reefed main and reefed jib. "That was brutal," says the woman from Attersee, who has been preparing for a career as a single-handed sailor for almost ten years.

"That even made me doubt for a moment whether I was good enough for the mini-transat and the Azores race," she says self-critically. "I was really a bit scared." Her anemometer, which she had changed shortly before the start, showed far too little pressure, "maybe 15, 16 knots when it was blowing at 30 to 40". As a result, she "carried too much sail for far too long". When she had finally reefed completely and her boat was still catapulting through the waves, barely under control even when steered by hand, she finally took the jib down on the bucking Mini. "I thought I'd flip over if I didn't get through the waves cleanly!"

The battle lasted a night and a day, at the end of which she could barely keep her eyes open. Because in the front line, which was accompanied by heavy cloud cover, the solar cells did not recharge the lithium batteries sufficiently. A borderline experience. But Lisa Berger says: "I'm really happy about it. You learn from every situation, and since then I've thought a lot about how I would approach it next time."

Looking back, the lulls tugged at her nerves even more, as she explains in a video worth watching on Facebook and Instagram. But the sunrises and sunsets as well as the countless encounters with dolphins, a pilot whale, turtles and a small bird that sought shelter on "Mojo" during the front were enough to reconcile the Upper Austrian. When it was clear that her drinking water supply would last, she even treated herself to a shower in the cockpit.

She never had any problems with being alone. "I arrived and had the feeling that I had got to know a lot of people," she says. For one thing, unlike in mini regattas, where all communication by mobile phone or satellite is prohibited, she was able to chat with friends as long as she was sailing close enough to a radio network. Secondly, she constantly dreamt of imaginary visitors on board during the short sleep phases. It was just her, her Mini and "Wilson", the autopilot - named after Tom Hanks' equally imaginary partner in "Lost".

When Lisa arrived at Port Vell, right in front of Barcelona's promenade, she was greeted by a mini-buddy who had lent her his Garmin InReach tracker for the qualification. He handed her a cold Estrella - something that had been missing on board. However, the skipper didn't really want to arrive. "I'm really sad that it's over," she said at lunchtime today. There is no more convincing conclusion for single-handed sailors after 1,200 nautical miles solo.

Axel Solbach, who wanted to head for Mallorca on a more direct course after the halfway mark off Genoa, had his biggest "hang-ups" west of Corsica. He wrote that he was even considering postponing the Mini-Transat 2023 by two years. Because a lot depends on the qualification. Although it is not one of the compulsory regattas on the way to the actual race across the Atlantic, it is an important basic requirement for admission to the Azores race, for example.

Solbach set course for Marseille in order to preserve the option of a premature cancellation. But then, perhaps spurred on by his Facebook community, which includes Wolfgang "Wolfie" Quix, the doyen and pioneer of the German mini-transat scene, he went through after all. With the foothills of a mistral, he also travelled from the south of France to Mallorca, where he once again got caught in a weak wind zone. He only reached Barcelona today in the early afternoon - five days later than his most pessimistic routing before the start.

Lisa Berger was already waiting for him there, rested, exuberant, happy and ready for more races. The next one for Axel Solbach is already in a week's time: the Mini en Mai, a 500-mile classic from La Trinité-sur-Mer. Lisa's "Mojo", on the other hand, will have a short stay in the shipyard before continuing on. Both have decided to trailer in convoy. Mini spirit!