New twist in the case of the flood of protests after stage one: How the mini-transat is jeopardising its innocence

There is no peace in the stage harbour of Santa Cruz de La Palma: After a jury decision following the flood of protests after stage one awarded 18 protesting skippers and their boats a flat 24-hour credit, stage winner Melwin Fink, stage runner-up Christian Kargl and Scotsman Piers Copham are now fighting back. They do not want to accept the decision, which penalises their performance at sea in particular, without a fight. Following the jury's decision, Melwin Fink is still in first place - but no longer with the huge lead that the 19-year-old sailed to on the water. Fink is only just under two hours ahead of Hugo Dhallenne ("YC Saint Lunaire"), who has moved up to second place. Christian Kargl has even dropped back to 13th place. This is according to the results list on Yellowbrick, but not on the Mini-Transat homepage, which was still showing the original results on Friday afternoon.

On the first leg from Les Sables-d'Olonne to Santa Cruz de La Palma, the German and the Austrian had not followed the race committee's 'recommendation' to seek shelter in a harbour. This "recommendation", which was understood and interpreted by the skippers in very different ways as a "request", "urgent advice" or even an "order", sparked increasingly heated discussions. The fact is: there was no official cancellation of the race. However, the majority of the Mini sailors, who had followed the race committee's warning of the approaching storm and the associated "recommendation" to seek shelter in a harbour, insisted on the right of the majority and the esprit de corps in the Mini class. Many saw themselves at a disadvantage because they had visited a harbour of refuge - for varying lengths of time - and only then resumed their course.

Melwin Fink and Christian Kargl, on the other hand, had initially continued their course without stopping, considering the conditions to be sailable after new weather forecasts arrived later. Both had interpreted the race committee's announcements, which they were able to receive and hear, as "may" and not "must" and had also agreed on this. At the time of their decision, neither had an overview of the fact that the entire fleet had followed or would follow the "recommendation" of the race committee, with the exception of the Scotsman Piers Copham. When looking back at the decision-making chain of those involved, it is important to realise that mini-sailors are severely limited in their communication and do not have the information options that Vendée Globe skippers, for example, have. "I didn't expect so many people to stop," explained "SignForCom" skipper Melwin Fink after crossing the finish line. Without stopping, he reached the finish line in Santa Cruz de La Palma in first place in the series boat classification after a strong and focussed sailing performance in just ten days, 35 minutes and 37 seconds.

"All Hands On Deck" skipper Kargl had to make an unexpected 15-hour stop due to flat batteries and crossed the finish line off the Canary Island a good 19 hours after Melwin Fink in second place. A good six and a half hours after Kargl, Hugo Dhallenne ("YC Saint Lunare") was the first French chaser to cross the finish line. Because Kargl "repaired" in the harbour, the jury explicitly removed him from the group of skippers who received a 24-hour credit. However, the jury did not ask all the sailors in this now advantaged group whether they had also used the harbour stop for minor or major repairs.

The loser in the tug-of-war over morals, rules and justice is the entire mini-class

Not only Lennart Burke, who was initially listed as a strong tenth on the tenth leg, and who, as an experienced regatta sailor, had protested after crossing the finish line of the first leg to be on the safe side so that any decisions would not pass him by, now described the mood in the mini class as "sad". The "Vorpommern" skipper looked forward to the award ceremony planned for Saturday with a "queasy feeling" and wondered what the atmosphere would be like. Whether the award ceremony can take place as planned remained open on Friday afternoon, as the five-member international jury, which is scattered all over the world, must now reconvene via online conference to decide on the appeals of Fink, Kargl and Piers Copham. Kargl submitted a request for a review of his result on Friday morning and is awaiting a decision. Fink has filed a motion to reopen the case. It is particularly important to him that all those affected are finally heard. He has not been spoken to either.

Even before the pending jury decisions on these two latest motions in the protest chaos, one thing is clear: the loser of the tug-of-war over morality, rules and justice is the entire Mini class, because a fair solution for everyone is out of sight. The different reactions of the sailors and the resulting dispute were only made possible by the race committee's decision against an official cancellation of the leg and the ambiguous "recommendation" to call at a harbour of refuge. Initially different publications by the jury and organisers caused further confusion. Fink and Kargl did nothing other than what they set out to do: to compete in an ongoing sea regatta according to their judgement of good seamanship and to finish it in the best possible way. The case of the Scotsman Piers Copham, who finished twelfth in the proto classification, is even more different. Following the "recommendation" of the race committee, he had decided against a harbour stop because he had assessed the dangers of entering a small harbour entrance as higher than his preferred option of staying out at sea. There he turned round, left the jib standing back and weathered the storm before continuing on his course. He later told other mini-sailors that it had just been a typical sailing day, as it happens all the time in Scotland. He finds it hard to accept that Copham should not benefit from the jury's credit decision for his sailing "stop solution" at sea.

"Everyone was actually in the right"

The mini-wires continue to run hot in the social networks. There is a lot of talk of "farce", "scandal" and "injustice". All terms that are not usually associated with the closely-knit Mini family. The fact that the international jury had to make its decisions from a distance and without interviews with or statements from all the sailors involved does not make the sprawling case any better. Lennart Burke, who freely and fairly admits that he can understand all the sailors' views in this case, says: "Actually, everyone was in the right. I don't know what's going on either. Some of the things that happened were extremely unprofessional." For example, the jury did not question him. When asked whether the general 24-hour credit rule for all protesters was a fair solution, Burke said: "A general solution like the one that has now been established is always difficult. The boats stopped for different lengths of time. The whole situation is a shame, a shame, a shame and divides the class." However, it hasn't done much damage to his friendship with Fink and Kargl: "Everything is fine between us." The three of them still talk to each other and go out to eat together." However, when it comes to the current topic, Burke also admits that there is "a bit of restraint". All those responsible have one week to calm the waters and send the fleet on the second leg across the Atlantic on 29 October with the best possible decisions.