The skippers involved in the Mini Transat are not entitled to any outside help during their crossing. Indeed, they sail alone and are only allowed to use the VHF to communicate with the outside world. That is to say that they can only communicate with the ships present in a radius of about ten kilometers. During the departure phases or during the first days of navigation, contacts are frequent, but the more the navigation progresses, the more the boats distance themselves and it becomes difficult to communicate.
The only news from Earth that reaches them are the weather reports, the distance to the goal classification and some personal messages, which the race direction broadcasts daily thanks to the SSB stations.
In a world where we are ultra-connected, it is difficult to live without any news, especially the first days. Some people have gone a week without being able to talk to each other. The winner of the 19 e edition, Benoit Marie, learned of his victory when the first press boat came to meet him, a few hours before crossing the finish line.
Accompanying boats
To compensate for this lack of communication, the support boats play an essential role for the fleet. Seven in number, they monitor the racers throughout their crossing. They collect the sailors' confidences, liaise with Race HQ, provide information on the morale of the troops, report any accidents and relay the anecdotes of the crossing.
Finally, they can intervene with a skipper requesting assistance, on the orders of the race director.
Some key figures
4021 is the total number of miles to cover
26 is the number of prototypes that will take part in the race
46 is the number of production boats that will sail in the Mini-Transat
72 is the total number of Minis participating in the race
7 is the number of accompanying boats
68 is the number of men who will take part in the adventure
4 is the number of women who will race the Mini-Transat
52 is the number of pledges
20 is the number of repeat offenders, who total 24 participations in the race
33 years is the average age of the participants
22 years is the age of the youngest navigator, the French Quentin VLAMYNCK
56 years is the age of the oldest, the Spanish Carlos LIZANCOS
15 is the number of nationalities represented on the Mini-Transat (40 French, 7 Spanish, 6 Italian, 3 Swiss and English and German, 2 Dutch and Belgian, 1 Australian, Chinese, Estonian, Irish, Polish, Portuguese and Russian)
45 % is the number of foreign skippers
55 % is the number of French runners
