François loves the sea and boats. Living in Charente, he sails on his father's First 31.7 from La Rochelle. But when he gets married, he and his wife choose a motorboat, a Quicksilver 705. For François, even if the pleasure remains to be at sea, the attraction of sailing is strong. But for Madame, it is impossible to imagine selling the motorboat and replacing it with a sailboat. Faced with this dilemma, François resigns himself and looks for a small sailboat that won't cut into the family budget too much.
He discovers by chance during a visit to La Rochelle for the Grand Pavois 2019, a Mini stored in a dealer's park in the technical area. This Mini bears the number 365 and seems to be abandoned. Information taken, it belongs to a Brazilian who has not sailed it since he dismasted in 2005. The boat is waiting without any maintenance.
François contacts the owner Roberto Holzhacker. This Brazilian naval architect worked in the Finot firm. It was a Finot design that he decided to build in 1991 to take part in the Mini Transat. The boat was built in a Brazilian shipyard. She is very well built in vacuum-impregnated carbon impregnated and cooked in an autoclave. She is therefore very light. Even the keel is solid carbon with a 250 kg lead bulb. It is a fixed keel on this model (and not a pendulum keel as it was done later). Since its construction, this Mini has known only one owner. Moreover Roberto is reluctant to part with it. He accepts only on condition that the boat sails again. No doubt the noble cause of François also played a part in the sale.
A Mini to help the war wounded
Indeed, if this Mini 365 has a beautiful story, François is writing one just as beautiful. He is also an active member of an association which helps the war wounded, and which is nicely entitled: "30 days at sea... after that it will be better". This association wants to help by the practice of nautism and sailing, in the course of reconstruction of the soldiers wounded in operation, in service or victims of terrorism. The Mini will therefore be able to participate in this great cause.
1500 euros for a proto without its mast
François and Roberto agree on a selling price: 1,500 euros. If the hull seems clean, the boat has no mast or sail... This Mini enters the Prototype category. It hasn't sailed much and has never even raced the Mini Transat. However, this design by Cabinet Finot has some great successes to its credit and other boats built on these same plans are still sailing today.
First nav' in tow
This small budget allows François to achieve his dream. Here he is the owner of a Mini. To bring it to Port des Barques, his home port, he launches it in La Rochelle and tows it with his motorboat. The adventure begins with a shipwreck! Indeed, the pipes of the ballast tanks are all rotten and are leaking all over the place. After closing the valve, François bails out a hundred litres of water before being able to leave the port..
Arrived at Port des Barques, the sailboat came out of the water again. The renovation can begin.
A renovation in race configuration
The objective is to put this Mini back in the racing configuration of the time by respecting the sail surfaces in particular. Luckily Roberto provided the plans of the boat to François, who was able to ask for quotes from the mast manufacturers. Indeed, if the budget for the renovation is tight, François did not want to go on buying a second-hand Pogo mast. This would have made the task easier, especially by finding a wardrobe among the many sails that exist on the second-hand market. But the mast of this Mini de Série is missing 1 m. It's a shame to cut the performance of the mast in this way.
The D
The (aluminium) mast and rigging will therefore be bought new (budget of at least 3500 euros). But today François doesn't have the budget for the sails (a set of Mini sails costs between 15 and 18 000 euros). So he tracks a mainsail on LeBonCoin and gets the mainsail of an Océanis 321. With a luff and a trim at the coast. This will be perfect for learning and getting used to it. And if the race programme comes up, there will always be time to cut some nice new sails.
Emptied to better equip it
Trained as an electronics engineer, François unloads the rotten electrical harness and starts designing a new circuit. He had it validated by a marine electrician for greater safety. The fittings are also unloaded. Indeed, the deck required a good coat of paint. This will also be the opportunity to change the winches. Originally, they are huge winches, Harken 40s. On today's Mini's, the winches are 20's. François will change them for these smaller models.
If the 365 has NKE electronics in place, the pilot is not connected to the windvane (no wind mode). This will now be the case with a new windvane bought second-hand when the competitors of the Mini 2019 return.
Why not form an oldschool class?
Aboard his "old" Mini François knows that he won't be able to compete in a race with the current boats. But given the number of boats of this age that are still sailing, the ministes are thinking of organising gatherings in the form of a confrontation between these "old" boats. François is watching this very closely. And then if the desire continues to titillate him, why not line up at the start of the Mini Transat 2023 with the 365?
