Mini Transat 2017

[DtM 543]

As requested, thread for this great race.

[Knut Grotzki 120]

Lets walk across the Atlantic

http://foil-magazine.com/mini-6-50-arkema-3-foil/

 

[Knut Grotzki 120]

I can do this as well

 

[huey 2 599]

October 1  Start     http://www.minitransat.fr/en

[Potter 669]

1 hour ago, random said:

Wow, what a great shot.  The foil looks big enough for the boat to trip over in the right conditions though.  And the outrigger brace going through the hull side (underwater on the lee) looks like trouble and drag to me.

Firstly, that is an IMOCA 60 so not sure why it is showing here.

More to the point of your post, the deck spreader stay is actually quite high off the water line, so even when heeled it is only drag when you are overpowered.

[longy 487]

That's what he's talking about. Standard set up in IMOCA's for 20 odd yrs or so.

[jonas a 38]

So what's the odds? Who is the favorite this time around. How fast is ARKEMA? They would need some good publicity after their Texas disaster

[jack_sparrow 7,594]

This would have been a more appropriate man-on-foil pic to post.

[serioladumerili 1]

Sunday up to 20 kts and rain

https://www.yr.no/place/France/Poitou-Charentes/La_Rochelle/

[staysail 321]

8 hours ago, jack_sparrow said:

This would have been a more appropriate man-on-foil pic to post.

...and we all thought it was the leward foil that produced righting moment!

[yl75 1,068]

Favorites are meant to be Ian Lipinski, Jörg Riechers, Erwan Le Méné.

[staysail 321]

What with 81 boats this year I could find no easily understandable list of boats and skippers. The Mini web site has a "Les Skippers" page and it does show the information but you can only fit 6 at a time on one pc screen display!

For anyone like me who wants to be able quickly to see who is sailing which number boat you need a simple spreadsheet list, so I have sorted one out and attach a copy for anyone who wants it.

Mini Transat 2017_1.xlsx

[LeoV 2,232]

B Sineau (915) is high on my list too. But Lipinski has it to lose it.

[serioladumerili 1]

FRA - 53 ITA - 6 ESP - 6 GER - 4 SUI - 4 CRO - 2 BEL - 1 CZE - 1 IRL - 1 NED - 1 ROM - 1 THA - 1

no sailors from GBR and USA

 

[yl75 1,068]

3 hours ago, serioladumerili said:

FRA - 53 ITA - 6 ESP - 6 GER - 4 SUI - 4 CRO - 2 BEL - 1 CZE - 1 IRL - 1 NED - 1 ROM - 1 THA - 1

no sailors from GBR and USA

 

Wow, not even a single Brit, strange !

[Fiji Bitter 1,496]

WTF, start at 6 am ?

 

[staysail 321]

Dont know where you got that one from Fiji, but I am in La Rochelle and I see the attached on my screen just after 11 am local French time, so start time here is 16.00. Boats are towed out of the Bassin Chalutier starting at 13.15 local time.

[serioladumerili 1]

is there any live coverage?

edit: sorry, I found the info

[Fiji Bitter 1,496]

Just now, serioladumerili said:

is there any live coverage?

Website  http://www.minitransat.fr/en/news/follow-start-practical-information  says:

"Live broadcast on the website www.minitransat.fr   "   ???

and also:

""Follow the start on the social networks

The departure from the pontoon and the race start can be followed via the Mini Transat La Boulangère’s social networks
Twitter: @MiniTransat2017

Facebook: Mini Transat La Boulangère

Instagram: minitransatlaboulangere ""

 

[Fiji Bitter 1,496]

Just now, Fiji said:

WTF, start at 6 am ?

 

WTF indeed !

Changed my computer time and voila, the time is shown correctly...

So anyone not on GMT +2 will get the wrong message, French web developers... LOL

[staysail 321]

Voila!

[Knut Grotzki 120]

 

[Knut Grotzki 120]

Has anybody found any live coverage of the start?

[staysail 321]

A few photos of boats leaving the basin.

I can't find any live coverage either,

[yl75 1,068]

it is live on facebook right now :

https://www.facebook.com/pg/CollectifRochelaisMiniTransat/videos/?ref=page_internal

[Knut Grotzki 120]

Arkema looking impressive. Close hauled not their easiest course...

[staysail 321]

3 minutes ago, yl75 said:

it is live on facebook right now :

https://www.facebook.com/pg/CollectifRochelaisMiniTransat/videos/?ref=page_internal

Thanks!

[yl75 1,068]

So is Arkema in fact the only boat with foil on this edition ?

[staysail 321]

6 minutes ago, yl75 said:

So is Arkema in fact the only boat with foil on this edition ?

Yes I think so. Watched them all leave the basin and listened to the commentary. I took a photo of each (all 81 I think!) so can look closely and/or post a photo of any boat you are interested in if you have the number, boat name or skipper.

[Miffy 2,140]

51 minutes ago, yl75 said:

So is Arkema in fact the only boat with foil on this edition ?

No. Simon Koster is sailing in proto class as well - #888. Foil, T rudders and kanting keel. 

Edit: he may have abandoned that configuration. 

[yl75 1,068]

44 minutes ago, staysail said:

Yes I think so. Watched them all leave the basin and listened to the commentary. I took a photo of each (all 81 I think!) so can look closely and/or post a photo of any boat you are interested in if you have the number, boat name or skipper.

Thanks for that, I guess next edition will be all foils for the protos

[serioladumerili 1]

I have read that Coster ditched the foils?

[Puntone 35]

The tracker is runing well

 

http://www.minitransat.fr/suivi-de-la-course/cartographie

[Knut Grotzki 120]

Erwan le Mene on ROUSSEAU CLOTURES is leading beating againt the wind - the hullform with moderate angles helps.

[serioladumerili 1]

Well, Erwan took different course, Just him.

[yl75 1,068]

Wow, major option taken by Erwan le Mené !!

[serioladumerili 1]

Matteo Rusticali dismasted 444...

 

[huey 2 599]

[staysail 321]

Anyone know if the MiniTransat rules now allow skippers to access the web freely or shore-based help, for weather info and weather routing advice? The weather patterns in the Bay of Biscay look really complex between now and wednesday and weather routing tomorrow could be the deciding factor for this leg.

[Slim 94]

E‐21‐d‐1 Any request for assistance at sea to third parties (cargoships, support boats….), other than medical, is forbidden.

However, competitors are allowed to ask for weather reports, except to the support boats.

E‐21‐d‐2 Radio assistance between competitors regarding the following points is allowed: ‐ Weather information communication ‐ Weather synopsis analisis ‐ Medical assistance ‐ Psychologic assistance ‐ Technical assistance ‐ Communication of the positions. 

[LeoV 2,232]

No phone, no pc allowed onboard, vhf, little radio and that is it. oh and top of luxury, battery operated barometer is allowed.

 

it is still early, in proto class, between 1 placed and 23, now 18 miles difference, that is more then one proto mini a mile ,

and around 40 series in that mix too.

 

[Panoramix 1,285]

For the time, being North seems to pay. It's a shame for Arkema  3, he looks to be late to tack like many and we might not see a speed test between him and the fat nose boats. If the front doesn't move fast I suspect that there will be a big gap between Southerners and Northeners.

So easy to see that from the comfort of my home office with access to grib data, they probably are doing a lot of what ifs in their heads.

[FRA252 0]

GO FINOT!!!

[Miffy 2,140]

The first three days the pretty weather reports and planning still plays a role. By Tuesday it changes how the fleet responds. 

[Panoramix 1,285]

1 hour ago, FRA252 said:

GO FINOT!!!

FRA 252 as the Finot design mini?

[FRA252 0]

@ Panoramix

yes

 

[Panoramix 1,285]

Top man! Where are you? Are you doing it all yourself?

[FRA252 0]

3 minutes ago, Panoramix said:

Top man! Where are you? Are you doing it all yourself?

CPH...copenhagen/DK...denmark.

yes pretty much all by myself (many thx 2 "MASTER C" the educated boatbuilder & B. 4 the raspberry pi)  

[Panoramix 1,285]

Good luck... feel free to start a "rebuild thread" for us mere mortals.

[Slim 94]

8 minutes ago, Panoramix said:

Good luck... feel free to start a "rebuild thread" for us mere mortals.

Yeah, please do - and what's a rasp pi got to do with your build?

[FRA252 0]

18 minutes ago, Slim said:

Yeah, please do - and what's a rasp pi got to do with your build?

1. "rebuild thread" in plans ... as a blog

2. "rasp pi" ... electronics hAck

NOW back 2 the race ... 

GO FINOT!!! PROTO 667 & POGO 518

[FRA252 0]

667***8TH

518***53TH

GO FINOT!!!

[Kenny Dumas 211]

So that little 7 mile port tack early turned into a 4 mile lead pretty quickly by getting inside the lift for Erwan and Ian.  But the big payoff is coming next when they get +10 knots and a 30 degree lift in the next few hours...blastoff!  

[terrafirma 1,062]

How many foiling boats in this race? Who are the bigger names on the foilers also? Sorry for my ignorance, haven't been following the build up. 

[Haligonian Winterr 32]

2 hours ago, terrafirma said:

How many foiling boats in this race? Who are the bigger names on the foilers also? Sorry for my ignorance, haven't been following the build up. 

Only Arkema to the best of my knowledge. 888 was originally built with foils, although constrained by old rules, but sailing with classic boards this race.

 

There were a few Protos in past years that were experimenting with T Rudders for pulling the stern down (like i14s) rather than overall lift.

 

HW

[Haligonian Winterr 32]

Allez Jorg! 934 in 9th

 

Scow bows

3 - 865 Lipinski

9 - 934 Riechers

16 - 888 Koster

17 - 900 Arkema

 

HW

[jonas a 38]

The women seems to be doing well. Clarisse Crémer 3rd in serie and Charlotte Méry 8th in proto

[Schakel 125]

Sander van Doorn. (only dutch contestant)
Is still in the race in the serie division.

[Knut Grotzki 120]

Zigzag - Costly Adventures - when you get sleepy and don´t notice a windshift (or have no instruments to assist). Have a closer look at the tracks.The big light blue one - Ian Lipinski of Griffon. Early to tack north, then a short "Crazy Ivan" until he realized the wind would shift anticlockwise. Lucky guy - otherwise he would have been doomed. When his track crossed the rhumbline he was late again to tack.Tacking takes until you have shifted everything to the new windward side ...

[Panoramix 1,285]

Finally it looks like the wind will fill from behind. Good news for those who didn't get the timing of the tack right. They will go dead downwind, that's bad news for Arkema who needs reaching conditions.

[LeoV 2,232]

Go Lombard, in other words Le Mene, boat nr 800. Old style design.

It normallygets funny after Finesterre, who gets there first is normal golden, but sometimes the leader thinks he is mid fleet or worse

But now they have AIS and I do not know how that influences that.

Good article from Lizzy about food, tactics, weather etc

http://no-frills-sailing.com/minitransat-solo-sailing-with-skipper-lizzy-foreman/

[Knut Grotzki 120]

Ah, finally 9pm with the updated tracker. What we have now is two groups. South leader is orange Keni Piperol on Proto 8th with the Northern Group of green Erwan Le Mene Proto1st and blue Ian Lipinski Proto 2nd and a tiny bit to the northeast Jörg Riechers (Go! Go! Go!) the German favorit as Proto 3rd. Will it pay out for southern Keni?

[FRA252 0]

the game is ON! GO FINOT!!! 

 

[serioladumerili 1]

Me think same distance, same wind strength, just wind angle will count. At least to Cap Finistere

[Schakel 125]

Sander van Doorn star is rising!

Yesterday 21, now in 16 th place.
Only 1026.0 nM to go to Las palmas.
 

[jack_sparrow 7,594]

I know many people appreciated my daily update with forecast weather last edition which unfortunately died at the Canary as I got swamped by a project. I know I sound like Clean with his many podcast promises that never appear but I will try and do the Canary to the finish this time around along the same lines. Go the Minis..Cheers

 

[DtM 543]

Thanks Jack

[Panoramix 1,285]

The front runners managed to make a bit of a break. It's quite fair considering that they got their tacks right in the bay of Biscay but Ian Lipinski will be really hard to catch up now.

[FRA252 0]

GO FINOT!!!

 

[LeoV 2,232]

Yep, and Simon Koster and a few others (but a bit less so) had their personal windline around Finesterre, almost double the speed of others just a few miles apart.

 

ps, do not forget the statistics page in the tracker, hit the menu icon top rightish

[Kenny Dumas 211]

It's gonna get real interesting in the 2-4 day timeframe from now.  The leaders will be tempted to stay with the pressure as it continues to build in the west and a big hole develops on the rhumbline.  Like 200 miles of line at less than 5 knots windspeed.  Getting across the hole to the left side of the course seems required as the hole slowly moves offshore.  If the leaders get stuck banging the corner to the right, whoever gets across the hole and picks up the new pressure to the left could pass the whole pack.  

[serioladumerili 1]

what about Andrea Fornaro - 931 Sideral? 

[Kenny Dumas 211]

Erwan jibed, off 30 degrees and is bleeding miles to Ian, but I like his strategy.  If the forecast holds, he'll be able to sneak across the hole in 36-48 hrs.

[r.finn 403]

"I sure do wish Ian would stop going 12 knots."  -Entire fleet

 

[Jachtař 5]

Good to see Pavel Roubal doing well, and too bad Milan Koláček has different plans at the moment, would have been good to see him in the mix

[LeoV 2,232]

Man, Lipinsky already doing 250 miles in 24 hrs, damn he is good.

RFinn, last 4 hrs even 12 knots VMG, that dude rocks. He must be and a good sailor and have the physical and mental package to suffer like hell and keep pushing, something I lack, so full admiration.( I like my sleep to much to be ever good in it)

[JL92S 187]

Looking at the pictures of the boats leaving earlier in this thread it looks like Lipinski's rig on 865 is bigger than the others? Could be helping in the downwind stuff

[FRA252 0]

3 hours ago, LeoV said:

Man, Lipinsky already doing 250 miles in 24 hrs, damn he is good.

RFinn, last 4 hrs even 12 knots VMG, that dude rocks. He must be and a good sailor and have the physical and mental package to suffer like hell and keep pushing, something I lack, so full admiration.( I like my sleep to much to be ever good in it)

He's got miles ... https://www.classemini.com/?mode=skippers&id_skipper=634

GO FINOT!!!

 

[LeoV 2,232]

Yep experience counts.

 

Two dismastings:

This one is good for forum discussions, as we do not have all the information but can wonder why.

Do I see two reefs in the main, and a furled code 5 at the moment of dismasting ?

[LeoV 2,232]

10 hours ago, Kenny Dumas said:

Erwan jibed, off 30 degrees and is bleeding miles to Ian, but I like his strategy.  If the forecast holds, he'll be able to sneak across the hole in 36-48 hrs.

More ideas Kenny, I like how the leaders split, Erwan starts to look lonely.

Erwan will feel the light winds coming up and jibe, but so will Ian. So converging again ?

The statistics page with 4 hr speeds tells a lot, nice you can compare sailors.

 

[yl75 1,068]

Must be really tempting to hide a phone for the weather forecasts ...

I guess when passing cape finistere they can get some 3g

But it looks like Erwan is really going to get stuck in the wind hole.

[serioladumerili 1]

The leading serial boat have a problem?

[LeoV 2,232]

Phone,its tempting,  if they find it, lifelong ban FFV.

And the class is full of weird stories, so many know everything will get out in the open.

Like the guy in the past,who hoisted his liferaft outboard, so now everything is sealed.

He too thought he would never be caught.

 

Serio, who ? Remi ? nothing strange to see.

One guy airlifted, do not know reason.

Qute, racesite:

Luca Sabiu (Vivere la Vela). Beset by recurring technical issues since the start, the Italian sailor set off his distress beacon last night and has been airlifted by helicopter to La Coruña by the Spanish Navy.

 

[serioladumerili 1]

Yep, Luca has broken two ribs

[Schakel 125]

14 hours ago, LeoV said:

Phone,its tempting,  if they find it, lifelong ban FFV.

And the class is full of weird stories, so many know everything will get out in the open.

Like the guy in the past,who hoisted his liferaft outboard, so now everything is sealed.

He too thought he would never be caught.

 

Serio, who ? Remi ? nothing strange to see.

One guy airlifted, do not know reason.

Qute, racesite:

Luca Sabiu (Vivere la Vela). Beset by recurring technical issues since the start, the Italian sailor set off his distress beacon last night and has been airlifted by helicopter to La Coruña by the Spanish Navy.

 

As a fellow dutchman: Do you follow Sander van Doorn (series 886). He is falling behind at the moment.
Yesterday position 16, now 51? What happened?

And sorry to hear Luca has broken two ribs, Must be painfull.
Good for him he is airlifted. But what happened to his boat?
Put on a barch by sea rescue? Or abandoned?

 

 

[FRA252 0]

667***12th/PROTO

518***39TH/SERIE

POGO3 ...1,2,3!!!

GO FINOT!!!

[FRA252 0]

 

[FRA252 0]

http://anton.fr/radio/mp3/17-10-05 RADIOCOLUMBUS-7-Minitransat.mp3

GO FINOT!!!

[yl75 1,068]

Pogo 3 is a verdier design, not finot

(and most probably one guy within verdier team more than verdier)

But then Verdier started with Finot

[Miffy 2,140]

21 minutes ago, yl75 said:

Pogo 3 is a verdier design, not finot

(and most probably one guy within verdier team more than verdier)

But then Verdier started with Finot

 

Hervé Penfornis did a lot of the actual work on the Pogo 3 and has his own design firm. A lot of the independent firms collaborate with a primary firm getting the contract and then parsing out the work. 

[TheDragon 542]

Are the half of the field stuck in that huge hole truly without wind information and forecasts? So they don't know which way to go? Makes Ian Lipinski and Arthur Leger appear either incredibly foresightful or very lucky.

[Kenny Dumas 211]

I guess it shows that they really don't have forecast info.  Otherwise there wouldn't be anyone on stbd right now.  It seems that the stbd jibe guys have a knot or two better speed than port, maybe due to sea state?  So most are just staying on the favored jibe, while anyone in the back of the fleet could put it on port until the pressure builds and make great gains.  Imagine the discussions after the leg ends and everyone looks at their tracks vs wind record and they figure out what happened.

[r.finn 403]

Based on results from http://histoiredeshalfs.com/Histoire des Minis/709.htm , Leger is punching a bit above his weight and it's awesome.  I don't know his back story, but he's been sailing that boat since 2008, which was a really successful generation of Lombard design.  Time with the boat is really valuable for these long races and it's showing here.  Great to see. 

[LeoV 2,232]

Leger, very interesting guy, thanks for pointing to him.

http://elixir-aircraft.com/en/company

Lombards have been succesfull since years, curious to see if he gets into the scow mode.

I think he is the top designer with wins from the latest decades, I kept the score in the past but if memory serves right I am talking the truth.

And he Leger lives in La Rochelle, nothing easier then to step into Lombards office for a talk.

PS I did built an aeroplane (experimental) and fly in that aeroplane in the past and boats, so can relate to the feelings. Its a nifty plane design he works on.

[FRA252 0]

667***11TH/PROTO

518***38TH/SERIE

GO FINOT!!!

 

[svendson 4]

Sad to see the Arkema proto so far back in the fleet. Not sure, but looking at the tracker it seems to be more sailor than boat responsible for the ranking. Hopefully Quentin will have a better showing in the trades on leg 2, he must be feeling quite a lot of pressure to perform as the program behind him has to be one of the largest in the fleet.