Boulangère Mini-Transat Start

Mini Transat start in Santa Cruz de La Palma © Matthieu Honoré - Mini Transat

The start of the Mini Transat took place in light wind conditions on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. local time. The 89 competitors set course for a waypoint located 100 miles southwest of the Canary Islands, designed to help them avoid a low pressure system further north. From there, in about 24 hours, they will head west toward Guadeloupe.

"I'm really excited to set off," said Joshua Schopfer shortly before departure. "The stopover was long, and it's time to get back to sea. I've been able to work well on my boat Mingulay, which is now perfectly ready for the Atlantic crossing."

Following the cancellation of the first leg of the race due to Hurricane Gabriel, the sailors had to get back into "race mode"; they know everything will come down to this single stage. "We have to live with the situation — there's no choice but to accept it. The Mini Transat is the culmination of two years of work, including many other races. Of course, my goal is to achieve a good result. But there's always an element of luck in a race like the Mini Transat, and the overall assessment has to take those two years into account. In my mind, all this preparation has been a great success, both humanly and athletically. So I'm heading across the Atlantic on a solid foundation. Everything that happens from now on will be a bonus."

After passing the waypoint, expected in about 24 hours, competitors should encounter the famous trade winds. "They look fairly steady, around 15-20 knots, but they can quickly rise to 30 knots with sharp shifts and inevitable squall lines," explained race director Denis Hugues.

The race can be followed through the following channels:

• Tracker
• Event Website
• Instagram