The big storm is coming. At the end of the day, there was every indication that all the soloists still at sea in the La Boulangère Mini-Transat would be able to reach a harbour - or would be able to in the next few hours. However, the most important question remained on Saturday morning: Will everyone really make it in time before the storm hits the Portuguese coast with tremendous force in the coming hours?
Mini-Transat stage one cancelled
It was initially difficult to obtain direct information from the sailors themselves. They had handed in their mobile phones before the race and did not have them ready immediately on arrival in the harbours. The organisers had announced that they would return the mobile phones to their owners according to an "emergency plan".
And that's what happened: After consultation with the organisers, the race management decided to abandon and cancel the first stage on Thursday (26 September) because the approaching ex-tropical storm Gabriele was rolling towards the European mainland. Click here for the first report. The soloists were informed of the cancellation during the race from Les Sables-d'Olonne to Santa Cruz de La Palma via tracker and by the crews on the support boats.
Race director Denis Hugues had said: "Otherwise we would have sent them to their doom." And this too: "The aim is to have everyone safe by Saturday morning." The Miniists began to flee from the approaching force 4 hurricane, which experts compared to the hurricane Ciarán that had swept across Western Europe two years earlier, claiming lives and causing enormous damage.
Mini-Transat: Marie and Demange sail on
Only the two leading proto-soloists Benoït Marie ("Nicomatic - Petit Bateau") and Alexandre Demange ("DMG Mori Sailing Academy 2") had decided to continue their courses due to their already southerly positions. The forecast told them that although they would experience heavy weather, they would be able to avoid the centre of the storm if they continued sailing. They still had around 350 nautical miles to go on Saturday morning.
Weather expert Sebastian Wache had already given a preview of the conditions this Saturday on Friday and also criticised them: "To be honest, I don't know how some people out there are going to manage it, because at the moment they're not making any faster than 5 knots in some cases. Let's hope it turns out well for everyone! Horta in the Azores measured a gust of 154 km/h this morning! Doesn't reflect well on the organisers to be honest! There were a lot of discussions back then (2021) with the storm that Melwin Fink rode down."
Four years ago, the Mini-Transat organisers had advised their participants to take shelter in harbours during the first stage in view of the stormy conditions. At that time, however, the leg was not officially cancelled immediately. Melwin Fink, who was only 19 years old in 2021, continued the leg, won and took third place on the podium in the final standings. Four proto sailors also remained in the race.
Perhaps we should consider simply postponing the launch to a less stormy time of year." Sebastian Wache
On Saturday morning, it was still a mini-transat list with 72 boats that have arrived in different harbours can be viewed on the organisers' homepage. This meant that there were still more than a dozen Minis at sea. At around 10 a.m., the protos' tracking showed that "only" Louis Hulet on "James Caird" still had a few nautical miles to go to Vigo, as well as Thomas Jouans on "Minimoana" and Timothée Villain-Amirat on "Speedy Maltese".
Mini-Transat: still boats at sea
In line with the larger fleet, there were even more boats at sea among the series boat sailors. According to the last published list, Hendrik Lenz had already made it to Cascais on Friday with "Monoka". The German-Frenchman Victor David ("Ich bin ein Solitaire") and Thiemo Huuk ("Europe") also arrived there. The Swiss proto-sailor Felix Oberle on "Big Bounce - Beltrona", who according to the tracking has sought shelter in the bay of Portimão, has also arrived in the harbour. The organisers have announced further updates as the storm approaches the coast. Click here for the ongoing mini-transat tracking.
Still visible at sea is the Raison 22 "DMG Mori Sailing Academy 1", which will be hit by the storm in the coming hours around 90 nautical miles west of Vigo. However, without her skipper Japanese skipper Hajime Kokumai. The soloist, who was in shock, was rescued by the crew of the freighter "Joe" on 24 September.
Hajime Kokumai was ranked in the top ten in the prototype fleet when it collided with an unknown object off the coast of Portugal. The keel had shifted as a result of the impact. This caused a large leak. The MRCC Lisbon coordinated the rescue operation.
