Mini Max is after us. Valuable 500 nm is noted down in qualification miles for first Croatian Mini 232. Rules for participation at Mini Transat 2007 are simple but very rigid.

Skipper needs to sail, on the same boat, at least 1000 miles in regattas and finish solo qualifier (singlehanded non stop sailing) on given route of another 1000 miles in order to get on the list among 70 skippers which will participate in MT.
The list opens during the Paris Boat show in December 2006 and after paying 1500 € starting fee and worked out prior mentioned conditions, skippers and their boats get their starting positions.

Those, which have already been on MT, are in advantage. They only need to sail one regatta in the year of Transat to confirm their participation.

For all the others simple rule is used: the one who finished qualification process earlier and has more miles in regattas gets on the list before.

After all the places are full (cca 50 % of prototypes and 50 % of serial boats) there comes waiting list, where people are waiting for somebody to give up from the race, in order to take his place. This has been very common thing in the past years.
Next year it is 30th anniversary of Mini Transat and there are lot of skippers in competition for the start.

The ones which will get to list first are probably those who will sail the longest regatta of the season, Les Sables D Olonne – Azores and back.

By finishing it they will book down over 2000 miles in their log and get in front all of us which were not in position to sail that regatta.

After the end of the season and 3 regattas I will have 1500 miles plus solo qualifier which I’m planning to sail on the 1300 miles route from Port Camargue to Tribunj (in August in very busy Mediterranean which will be the peak of this sailing season).
Azores were just unreachable point, mostly because of very low budget and more complex organization.

I just hope, that with this 1500 miles, I’ll get on the list for MT, or to be highly positioned on the waiting list, which was the main target of this sailing season and qualifications in Meditteranean, after all.

After qualifications, detailed refit of the boat is planned and the most important thing - search for sponsors which will make all of this possible.

Mini 232 - Sime and Kreso

Regatta Mini Max itself on the route Port Camargue – Ajaccio (Corsica) and back was incomparable easier than previous Traingle du Soleil and very enjoyable.
I was lucky and pleasured that Kreso Djakulovic, skilled skipper and very good friend sailed with me and enjoyed all this mini adventure.
It is completely different world of sailing and sailing lifestyle. As we named it – punk style in arrogantly expensive France where, literally, you need to be a wizard to survive so much time with so little money.
We slept in the tiny inside of Mini, ate tuna, sandwiches and Singapore army survival food - a donation from Singapore skipper Elaine Chua, the only Asian ever participated on Mini Transat.

In the cocpit

We sailed good and learned a lot about the boat, which is more similar to a skiff dinghy than to a regular racing boat.

We applied our experience from class 470 in which we have both sailed, and pushed the boat to 100 %. We learned a lot about choosing the right sails for right wind angles and wind speeds, their trim and the most intresting, the trim of the keel.
On 232 the keel is 2 dimensional and it’s behaving like a sail under water. Due to wrong keel trim, the speed can drop more than half a knot and even the smallest differences in speed on longer routes can be crucial. On a 6,5 meter sailboat which weights around 900 – 1000 kg all the equipment and additional weight must be in function of sailing all the time!

That means that after every manouvre all usefull balast must be placed in the most usefull positions on the boat. This is caled stacking and sometimes you really forget about how usefull it is. I don’t need to mention that when we thought it’s necessary, we hiked like crazy on the rail which looks funny when you realize that there is 250 nm in front of you and you hike like it’s some melges 24 race.

Though that small things make the difference and that divides the top of the fleet from the rest.

Toward Corsica

First leg of the race in Corsica we finished as 5th, which was very good encouragement for the rest of the race and evidence that we can compete with top of the fleet in the Med.

First 3 boats, Metalco (new Manuard), Jason (new Bertrand) and Speedy Bonsai (Manuard) were really out of the league because they are incomparebly lighter than older generation boats, like our mini.

This differrence in weight is not to be ignored in such regattas. For example, Metalco weights some 650 kg because of the weight optimisation and the most modern materials, while our 232's weight is more than 1000 kg.

But, such boat costs over 100 000 € and campaigns for new highly equipped propototipes which are heading for a win in the Mini Transat cost over 300 000 € .

In Ajaccio we had two days of rest which we used for smaller repares and gathering strength for return. Forecast was strong Mistral (northwest) in front of Lyon gulf so all of us wanted to get closer to the shore into smaller waves and more favourable wind before strong Mistral will hit.

After the start of the second part we were mostly in the top of the fleet. For a while held 2nd position and we were very satisfied.

But during the night we have found out all we didn't know about Mediterranean instability and its weather conditions.

Calms and very light winds and distance you gathered on others in the last day very soon drops and dissapears.

Suddenly, you don't know if you are first or last, mood on the boat is changing and boat's speed is not any longer the most important, just luck and instinct.

Weather conditions change really quickly in the Mediterranean and it is very hard to make any prognosis. We've found it out on the practical route which was completely jumping out from the route we've decided to sail concerning the weather forecast. It was really hard to sail with almost no wind on a very wide mini.

Second night, at the wave point at the Poquerolle island, in front Hyeres, regatta was terminated to our surprise. Expected Mistral with prognosis for 45 knots and huge wave the next day, was the reason. Regatta committee made such decision, taking care for most of the fleet, which was away from the shore and for whom such wind would be blasting.

Positioned as 8th we've passed through the passing point. All together we held back 5th position among prototypes and 6th position among total of 42 minis.

We are very pleased with our placement. The most important thing which gives us lot of optimism for next season is that boat has extra space and possibilities for speeding up.

Boat can be lightened up for valuable 100 kg, and with new carbon mast and sails it could seriously compete with newer prototypes, worth hundred thousands of euros.
Until return to Croatia, there is one regatta left in the Mediterranean, Mini Med, also 500 nm but in one leg, around Menorca and back to Port Camargue. Boat will be ready and after it with new autopilot and Mer Veille radar detector I’ll sail her back home through very busy Mediterranean. Super Calin called Totem had a collision with cargo ship during his transfer from Porquerolles to PC and lost his mast and had a lot of damage. His season is over, what he worries the most is how to obtain insurance refunding from the boat which has ran away ran from the point of accident, and was stopped by port authorities.

Big THANK YOU to Jure Jerman for great weather forecast and Elaine Chua, Singapore skipper for food and liner drive autopilot, which will be of priceless value.

Regards, Sime

More pictures from the preparation for regatta could be found in Galery