To participate in the Mini Transat, competitors must first qualify, both on and off course. For this last part, skippers must complete a 1,000 mile course in the Atlantic or the Mediterranean, depending on their geographical location. They are free to choose their departure date, depending on the weather conditions.
Grégoire Chéron - Mini 887 - will participate in the Mini Transat 2021. If he has already obtained his qualification for the race, he still has to sail from Concarneau - his home port - to Ireland, before going back down to the island of Ré and joining the port of Finistère again. This race must be completed solo and of course without stopovers.
If the first few days of sailing went smoothly, with beautiful sunrises and dolphins accompanying him, the rest of the course was to hold a few surprises. As he finally rounded the Conningbeg buoy and headed south in the English Channel, his automatic pilot stopped working.
With bad seas and bad weather, Gregoire decided to turn back to England. After 4 days at sea, the sailor was tired and did not want to take any risks. After alerting the emergency services, he was quickly joined by a local rescue boat which helped him get back to the port.
Grégoire gives us his impressions and explains us this choice to have interrupted his qualification. We wish him good luck for his new attempt!
