Spectacular, adventurous, extreme,dangerous and WHY??? Mini Transat. A sailing race across the Atlantic ocean with boats that are maximum 6 and a half meter long. The ±4000 miles long sail race from France to the stopover in the Canaries and then to the Carib or now to Brazil is one of the hardest solo ocean races around. Lonely in a little boat with ample space and very limited time to sleep.
The goal of the race is simple; sail as fast as you can across the Atlantic in a boat who is smaller then 6.50 meter.
The English 'spirit' has changed over the years into the French 'élan'. They overtook the organization of the race and the class organization. They are always keen to sail the unpossible.
How does it feel to cross the ocean in a tiny, fast sailing, over canvassed boat in a month ? Totally alone, nobody to talk to, to blame or to help you.
Living;
On a six-and-a-half-metre boat, only the essential are fitted in, this allows survival of the sailor for more than four weeks at sea. With about 100 liters fresh water in tanks, 35 kilos food, an auto-inflatable, all the safety material and the sails, there is very little living space. Skippers of a Mini6.50 must displace a good part of this in order to balance the boat position, this is called
stacking.
Sleeping is a problem, spending more than ten hours a day at the helm, in dampness and hazardous comfort, the solo-voyager must manage at best the waking/sleeping rhythms. Rest intervals must be extremely short but sleeping is still a tall order: the boat impacts waves constantly breaking on the deck, wetting everything, while under deck the noise is earsplitting. The choice of food and the organization of rest times are key-factors. Each skipper devotes at least two hours a day to eating, tactics and shipping forecast.
You never really stretch out in rest, so your body is always in tension. Very tiring. A good sleep is extreamly rare.
Sailing.
The chance that the boat is whipped out (knocked down) or that you are wiped overboard like nearly 10% sailors, (based on 2005 figures) is always in the back of your mind. Your will meet and conquer your mental barriers.
