A WSB that changes the order of things
While the 25 Protos and 65 Series of the Mini Transat set off - with a day's delay - from Les Sables-d'Olonne on September 27, 2021, a storm warning issued on October 2 reshuffled the cards for this first leg.
"While we were passing Cape Finisterre, the race organization issued a weather forecast on Saturday morning via the accompanying boats indicating the passage of a front with gusts to 50 knots, explains Hugo Picard in the Serial category (Mini 1014 SVB Team).
This BMS is completed by a request from the organization: all the boats which from Saturday midnight would be in the North and South Finisterre zones were to join a port and take shelter there, all those in the area of Porto were advised to reach the nearest port... according to the runner. It's all about nuance.
"According to the weather files - 15 knots of north-westerly wind - we would have had plenty of time to reach Porto. Except that on the water it was totally different. We had a south-westerly wind of 5/10 knots for 2 days. So it was difficult to estimate where we would be the next day. With gusts over 50 knots, these are not safe conditions for a Mini 6.50. I quickly made the decision to stop, thanks to the hindsight I have of the class having been president for 3 years. Anyway the pack of 4 was already ahead. I reached Baiona, where there were quite a few boats. The first one arrived around 9 pm and the last one around 5 am. I was very happy with this decision and so was everyone else. Even in the harbor, it was tough" says Sébastien Pebelier, in the Proto (Mini 787 Decosail).
In the series, it was more or less the same reasoning. While the leading pack is sailing within VHF range, it is a common decision to reach the port.
"Other than the four protos, we were all concerned with this request. There were 10 or 15 boats within VHF range. At first, we thought we would plot south. We would have taken the front. It wouldn't have been fun, but we would have used the storm surge. We had 24 hours to sail southwest at full speed and it would have passed. Except that why put ourselves in danger when we are offered a chance to relax and be able to set off again? If the leading group continued, the rest of the fleet would have followed. And the whole fleet would have been in danger. We were not in the middle of the Atlantic and it would have been dangerous to continue if we believe the previous editions. But if we stopped, everyone would have stopped too. And everyone would leave in a fair way" says Hugo Picard.
This is what happened to the 22 sailors in Baiona, who decided to take the ranking before the BMS in order to leave, respecting a time interval between each departure.
" It was beautiful to see. We all got together quickly around a table to find a solution to not ruin the stage. On paper it should have gone well, but there was no wind for the start. It's the weather game" explains Sébastien Pebelier.
All but one of them on a stopover!
Except that if 82 sailors decided to take shelter to preserve themselves and the whole fleet as good sailors, the German and young Melwin Fink in series (920 SignForCome) and the Austrian Christian Kargl (980 - All Hands on Deck) continued their route. Misunderstanding of the WSB? Bad will? Whatever the case, the conditions encountered - finally calmer than those announced by the BMS - allowed Melvin Fink (his Austrian competitor having finally decided to make a stopover) to trace his route and to create a considerable gap. And so it was with a lead of more than a day over the rest of the fleet that he reached Las Palmas. And that's where the problem lies.
Because let's remember that the Mini Transat is a race in two stages which is played on the time and not on the ranking... It is therefore difficult to recover such a gap on the 2nd stage. Especially when the Mini Transat is for many the adventure of a lifetime.
Claims filed
Thus, at the arrival in Las Palmas, 17 ministries have filed a complaint. The majority asked for a time bonus for those who decided to take shelter as good sailors. Some want the cancellation of the first leg. Only the jury will decide what to do.
"For my part, I claimed to try to recover a little time, the one from the BMS for which we stopped. It will create too much of a gap with the head of the fleet. We're in ocean racing, and there's the word race. It's a good way out to give everyone time, to reduce the gaps between all those who stopped, while maintaining the current ranking. The sporting side was forgotten when the WSB was announced. There is a problem of sports equity. We could have envisaged a more structured stopover with a longitude and a time limit to be respected in order to leave, whatever the port of call. This would have allowed the competitors to leave in time, even in the north. In any case I don't want to cancel the first leg. I wouldn't feel comfortable with my competitors, because they deserve their place on this first leg. I am always in their pack, but there I had no wind and I was stuck for two days" explains Sébastien Pebelier.
If these complaints finally reshuffled the cards in Series - except for the first arrived - it is different in Proto, where the 4 escapees have completed their course in more or less 7 days. If Tanguy Bouroullec (969 - Tollec MP/Pogo) first in his category did not wish to express himself on this subject, Pierre Le Roy (10119 - Teamwork) confided in us.
"From my position, I have nothing to claim. My race went well, I am well ranked. Everyone chose individually to stop or not, as a good sailor. If the race is cancelled, I need to focus on the next step. It resets the counters to zero. These are things I have no control over. I'm trying to focus on the second stage and be ready. My goal is to win and I'll just have to do better if stage 1 is cancelled.
In Mini, you also show that you know how to sail well to consider a career afterwards. And that's what I did. People have seen that the first 4 protos have stuck 400 miles before the BMS and the stop of the fleet. Our race went off without a hitch and we had dug our hole before."
What decision for the jury?
The jury will now decide in favor of a decision that will be made public before the start of the second leg. If the request for a stopover was made by the race direction, and followed by almost all the fleet, let's not forget the motivations of everyone. Apart from the danger, let's remember that the Mini 6.50 are not originally approved to cross the Atlantic and benefits from a derogation (hence the accompanying boats). Thus, it would be regrettable that several accidents come to tarnish the reputation of the class, or even force it to forget some races. Because the Mini class is not only a gateway to ocean racing, but also and above all the possibility for many sailors from all backgrounds to live the adventure of a lifetime!
"You have to stop and go to the nearest port. When Denis (editor's note: Hughes, race director) tells you to do so, given his experience, you do it. We already had that on the Transgascogne 2007 and we don't want to go through that again. Remember that these boats are not normally homologated for this, so you have to be careful concludes Sébastien Pebelier.
