Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona

As these lines are being written the solo sailors in the Charente-Maritime Bahia Transat 6,5 (the official name for what is more popularly known as the Mini-Transat), are gearing up for the second leg of the race in Funchal on Portugal’s island of Madeira, due to set off on Saturday October 3rd. All this just one week after the finish of the Istanbul Europa Race, the IMOCA Open 60 challenge joining Istanbul with Brest over three legs with stops in Barcelona and Nice. As the 60 footers reached Barcelona, the Mini-Transat entries were ready to leave La Rochelle to kick off one of the most fascinating regattas for solo sailing fans worldwide. On September 14th as the IMOCA fleet left Barcelona to complete the final leg of the Istanbul Europa Race towards Brest, the Mini-Transat boats were in the middle of the Bay of Biscay with a strong northerly breeze skimming the waves with some fantastic conditions to really maximise the performance of these boats; machines built to sail high on the sea, which despite their 6.5 metre length know only the limits their skippers impose or that race organisers choose to establish.

On the 18th, those of us following both races witnessed a special and unlikely to be repeated event: both fleets had met along the South coast of Portugal; the 60 footers were closer to shore and most of the Minis were over 150 miles to the West. It was a beautiful moment for those of us who follow the course of ocean sailing. The Minis were on course for Madeira and were about to finish off an impressive first leg, having covered the first two thirds of the course with considerable speeds and the IMOCAs were beating windward to Finisterre and were going full steam ahead at 100% performance levels thanks to an unusual configuration in these boats usually designed for one or two…a crew of five.

The Istanbul Europa Race also allowed us to get a glimpse of the preparation process for the Estrella Damm team, which is going very well indeed. Guillermo and Pachi, sailing with Antonio Cuervas, Antoine Mermod and Wouter Verbraak, reached Barcelona in third place, after a brilliant win in the first leg at Nice, sharing the top spot on the leader-board with Michel Desjoyeaux’s Foncia and Groupe Bel with Kito de Pavant. Later, in the third leg a problem with damage to the mast on the mainsail track at the first reef meant the Spanish team were slowed down considerably. A third place finish was an excellent result, and we all hope that their potential will be galvanised in the Transat Jaques Vabre, the double-handed Atlantic crossing that will be a grand prelude to the Barcelona World Race for Guillermo and Pachi.

This was not the only Spanish ocean sailing project taking part in the Istanbul Europa Race. Jean Pierre Dick’s Paprec Virbac 2 had Alex Pella and Pepe Ribes onboard, both fulfilling a rigorous training plan with a view to their participation in the Barcelona World Race 2010-11.

Alex and Pepe have had the privilege of sailing over 2,000 miles with the winner of the first edition of the Barcelona World Race and like Guillermo and Pachi, the pair will also be taking part in the Transat Jaques Vabre, and they’ll do so with the backing of W Hotels. Estrella Damm and W Hotels, two double-handed boats racing across the Atlantic will be another landmark in the history of Spanish sailing and will guarantee an action-packed November.

The tension will be even more tangible as all this follows a no less action-packed October, with the second leg of the Mini Transat and the six Spaniards in the GAES Solidaria team, who have completed a great first leg. Juan Carlos Sanchís and Anna Corbella are among the top ten in the prototypes category and it’s also a memorable regatta for the rest; Gerard Marin and Toni Weijl in protos and Hugo Ramón and Joel Miró in series entries (see links). This is a great team, building for the future. The Mini class is a place where many of the 60 footer sailors have forged a name for themselves. This was seen in Spain with Albert Bargués and now we are seeing it again with Alex Pella. The prospects are looking more exciting than ever.

Santi Serrat 
sserrat@fnob.org