After thousands of nautical miles and years of preparation, today was the big day for 81 single-handed sailors: They set off on the first leg of the Mini-Transat, which covers 1350 nautical miles from La Rochelle on the French Atlantic coast to Gran Canaria - across the Bay of Biscay, in the middle of autumn, on 6.50 metre offshore racing dwarfs.
Oliver Tessloff wanted to "just get out of here" from the harbour in La Rochelle shortly before the start. Enough work, enough preparation, it was time for the Atlantic. For the first big jump of the Mini-Transat 2017, because the closer it got to the starting signal at 4 p.m. today, the more crowded the jetties became with visitors, friends, family members, organisers and journalists.
Wolfgang Quix, now 80 years old, was also there with a small delegation from Trans-Ocean e.V. (TO) to see off the four German sailors: Lina Rixgens, Andreas Deubel and Oliver Tessloff will compete in the production boat, Jörg Riechers with realistic ambitions of a podium place in the prototype. Quix then wished all four of them "persevere and get there". He took part in the first Mini-Transat in 1977 - at that time still the "Poor Man's Race" - with a 5.70 metre long waarship. This year's participation of Lina Rixgens and Andreas Deubel is sponsored by the TO.
The 80-year-old Mini-Transat veteran talks about the differences between then and now. Quix took part in the first race 40 years ago
The ocean adventurers had to cross the starting line off the French Atlantic coast under a low cloud cover and drizzle that was not very motivating. 3 to 4 Beaufort from west to south-west forced them to tack for the first few miles, but according to the current forecast, strong winds from astern awaited the sailors when they passed Cape Finisterre on the north-western tip of Spain at the latest. A few hours after the start, Oliver Tessloff holds a good position in fourth place among the production boats, while Jörg Riechers is in third place among the prototypes.
Frenchman Gwendal Pibot has already had to abandon his race and return to La Rochelle for repairs as his forestay is broken.
The first minis are expected to arrive in the Canary Islands in just over a week, and experience shows that the field will be far apart, with the prototypes and fast production minis already setting themselves apart. However, all the boats will be equally keen to finish the first leg safely and master the transition from preparation stress to regatta mode - trim, eat, rest - as quickly as possible.
You can read how the German sailors prepared for the 2017 Mini-Transat, what chances they and their boats have and what their goal is in the current issue of YACHT 21/2017 for which we took part in an adventurous training session on a Mini.
On both stages, the mini-sailors can here in the race tracker be pursued.
Facts and figures on the Mini-Transat 2017:
- It is the 21st edition, 40 years after the first race in 1970
- The distance is 4050 nautical miles between La Rochelle and Martinique via Las Palmas/Gran Canaria, the second leg is the actual Atlantic crossing
- 81 skippers took part in the race, including 71 men and 10 women from 11 nations
- 56 production boats and 25 prototypes are taking part
- The youngest participant (with favourite status in the series boat classification) is 20-year-old Frenchman Erwann le Draoulec
- The oldest is 62-year-old Fred Guérin, who has already sailed the Mini-Transat three times, in 1983, 1985 and 1989
- For 66 starters, this is their first participation, while 15 have taken part at least once before
