Fundació Navegació Oceànica Barcelona

The six Mini GAES Solidaria sailing team skippers have spent the last few hours resting following a sailing marathon of almost 4,500 miles in the Charente Maritime / Bahia Transat 6.50, popularly known as the Mini Transat. This is the most important regatta in the Mini Class and one of offshore sailing’s most gruelling challenges.
Split over two legs, this has been between 24 and 26 days of getting back to the basics of traditional offshore sailing. There were no electronic GPS systems, just paper maps and radioed weather reports, and the skippers only found out their positions in the fleet via the official reports from the race organisers. It’s no surprise that the Mini Transat event and the class itself are a great springboard for some of the sport's best skippers who go on to sail in the bigger classes.

Perhaps that’s why the idea of even finishing the race becomes so important in a Mini Transat. It’s the kind of race where anything can happen and the solo skippers have to deal with any technical problems with their own resources and two hands, whilst putting up with all kids of weather within the confines of a boat that's just 6.5 metres long.

A look over the experiences of the six Spanish sailors gives us a good idea of what it means to overcome a series of incidents of all shapes and sizes and to go on to complete the regatta.

This weather has produced typical unpredictable behaviour for this Mini Transat. The first leg, from La Rochelle (France) to Funchal (Madeira) threw up heavy breeze in the first part, and lighter unstable winds nearer to the finish. The second leg started with south-eastern insidious breeze that delayed the arrival at the north-eastern trade winds. Further ahead, it was a difficult ride through the two archipelagos; the Canaries and Cape Verde. Both were tactically tricky and the Doldrums were especially complicated, with sudden violent storms and considerable shifts in breeze. The last part of the race began with south-eastern trades and the St Helena high pressure system and the highest speeds were sailed along a narrow corridor to Salvador de Bahia.

Anna Corbella, the first female Spanish skipper to sail solo across the Atlantic

Spain’s Anna Corbella has not only become the only Spanish female to sail a Mini Transat, but she has also become the best finishing woman in the race. This is no mean feat, especially considering the setbacks the skipper came up against the first leg. She had a rocky start, losing a spinnaker during the first night, cutting her face and suffering a broken rudder blade. Despite these problems, the sailor's tactical calls were impeccable and Anna Corbella moved up to seventh place, to finish in ninth.

Anna, like Juan Carlos Sanchis, has stayed in a firm position throughout this race, finishing 17th and positioning herself in the overall rankings in 13th place. Anna has got the most out of her boat, her well-prepared Ulisses and on October 14th, her faithful partner notched up the highest average speed in the fleet for that 24-hour period.

This great regatta means Anna has set a milestone in Spanish offshore racing history and has opened up the horizons for other Spanish sportswomen: "I hope lots of women are encouraged. There's no gender difference when it comes to offshore sailing", she declared when she reached the quayside.

Juan Carlos Sanchis and his amazing comebacks

Juan Carlos Sanchis’ story has been much talked about since the La Rochelle start when the Spaniard was crashed into by a fellow competitor and was forced to return to shore to repair a leak in the hull. In just five hours the shore team managed to fill the hole and Juan Carlos set off with guns blazing to reach Funchal in fifteenth place.

The second leg was calmer for the sailor from the idyllic isle of Ibiza, but not without any somersaults. At Cape Verde he had problems with the bowsprit which meant slowing down to avoid any more breaks. He also had problems with the mainsail battens and decided to sail conservatively, whilst staying in the top half of the fleet.

Gerard Marín, progress

Despite a lack of time to prepare and train with his new prototype, Gerard Marín managed to push forward in both legs, and especially in the first where the skipper finished in 14th position sailing a great race.

For the second leg Gerard had very high hopes after reaching 2nd place after sailing in the leading position for a few days. He had some bad luck after choosing to pass Gran Canaria on the East along with Toni Weijl, Joel Miro and Italy's Andrea Caracci. The group of sailors dropped to the back of the fleet, but once he got to the trades Marín knew how to push his boat to gain positions, finishing in 21st place. Gerard also managed to log the fastest time for a day's run on October 10th and climbed positions to reach the bulk of the fleet. Despite seeing his chances of victory fade away he put everything he had into the race and didn’t give up fighting for one single mile and reduced gaps and pushed forward in the rankings.

Toni Weijl and the consant hurdles

Toni Weijl has stood out as the skipper with the most damage and problems to his boat in this race. In the first leg he broke two rudders and the boom whipstaff, ending up with just the port side replacement rudder. Even so, Toni finished the leg in 24th position and carried out repairs in Funchal and took the start with the other boats thanks to his great technical knowledge.

However, in the second leg the technical problems continued. After the Funchal-Bahia start Weijl found himself with a blocked canting keel following a tack. Toni was forced back to shore where the shore crew found that the axle had dislodged during an unfortunate manoeuvre and made sure it was fixed back in. Toni set off again with a two hour delay, but ready to climb positions quickly. To try to reach the trades early on, Toni Weijl, Gerard Marín and Joel Miró decided to go through the Canaries between Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria. It was a decision designed to conserve material, but tactically it wasn't successful, as the group found themselves with less wind than the rest of the fleet who had passed between the islands to the West. Before reaching Cape Verde the problems didn’t cease and a broken backstay and the base of the mast sinking. Despite all this Toni managed to move closer to the bulk of the fleet and to recover to finish 20th.

Hugo Ramón, mission accomplished

Spaniard Hugo Ramón sailed a promising first leg finishing in 14th place after reaching 10th place after passing Finisterre. The climb up the rankings in this leg showed that Hugo was a great rival for the other boats in the Series Division.

In the second leg this was evident as Hugo made one of the biggest climbs in the race from 17th to 2nd place in just 24 hours. A decision to stay West meant the skipper reaped rewards and placed himself behind leader Francisco Lobato. Unfortunately, this excellent progress was short-lived and a tack East separated him from the top group and he slowly dropped back in the fleet down to 15th place. Despite this, it was a great leg for Hugo, with a good finish that won't surprise anyone. This young Spanish sailor has now sailed his third Mini Transat, which makes the young sailor the most experienced Spanish offshore sailor of his age.

Joel Miro, step by step project

Joel Miró’s first leg was marked by caution, as the sailor chose to sail carefully after an autopilot problem that pushed him to the back of the rankings. Joelprogressively reduced the gap with the race leader and managed to reach Funchal in 26th place and managed to place himself in a good position close to the coast of Madeira for the last stretch with little breeze.

The start of the second leg looked better for the Spaniard, but he formed part of the group who chose to attack the Canaries from the East . This meant he dropped right to the back of the fleet. However Miró made the most of every single gust of wind and climbed to 32nd place in Salvador de Bahia.

Final Rankings.
Prototypes Division:                          

1.    Ruyant, Thomas / Faber France (FRA). 24 days, 23 hours, 38 minutes, 30 seconds. (7.12 knots theoretical average speed).
2.    Delesne, Bertrand / Entreprendre Durablement (FRA). 25 days, 3 hours,  7 minutes,  4 seconds. (7.08 nudos knots theoretical average speed).
3.   Schipman, Henri Paul / Maison de l’Avenir Urbatys (FRA). 25 days, 5 hours,  26 minutes,  23s. (7.06 knots theoretical average speed).
 ....
13.  Corbella, Anna / Gaes Solidaria 385 (ESP). 28 days, 3 hours,  11 minutes,  40s. (6.33 knots theoretical average speed).

...

15.  Sanchis, Juan Carlos / Somni – Gaes Solidaria 403 (ESP). 28 days, 16 hours,  2 minutes,  42 s. (6.21 knots theoretical average speed).
…..
20. Marín, Gerard / Gaes Solidaria 727 (ESP). 29 days, 0 hours,  2 minutes,  35 s. (6.14 knots theoretical average speed).
21.  Weijl, Toni / Gaes Solidaria 684 (ESP). 29 days, 8 hours,  57 minutes,  50 s. (6.06 knots theoretical average speed).
32 entries.

Series Division:

1.   Lobato, Francisco / Roff Tmn (POR). 26 days, 19 hours,  39 minutes,  18s. (7.2 knots theoretical average speed).
2.   Dalin, Charlie / Cherche Sponsor- charliedalin.com (FRA). 27 days, 7 hours,  28 minutes,  10s. (6.52 knots theoretical average speed).
3.   Macaire, Xavier / Masoco Bay (FRA). 27 days, 21 hours, 0 minutes,  14s. (6.38 knots theoretical average speed).
....
12. Ramon, Hugo / Nassau – Gaes Solidaria 450 (ESP).  29 days, 4 hours,  52   minutes,  2 s. (6.09 knots theoretical average speed).
…
32. Miró, Joel / Gaes Solidaria 677 (ESP). 30 days, 16 hours, 1 minutes,  30 s .  (5.8 knots theoretical average speed).
47 entries.