The wind has been light since this morning. The fleet is progressing slowly but surely, at about 3 knots, towards the most western mark of the course which is  Sein’s western buoy. Amongst the leaders many have decided to flirt with the  Chaussée de Sein, Irina Gracheva on her  prototype 800 took the southern option which seems to be paying off at the 30^th hour of the  course since she’s now in first position. For the séries Léo Debiesse on the Pogo3 -966-Les Alphas is now sailing in 3rd position of the fleet. This now extends over more than  20 nautical miles which means about 7 hours between the first and last skipper.

Translated into English by www.abitrad.fr

Last night, everyone defended their position but it appears that the God of Wind abandoned the skippers in the early hours. The fleet has now drawn closer in the Bay of Audierne. The front runners are the 5 prototypes : 950-Porsche François Champion, 787-DECOSAIL Sébastien Pebelier, 1019-BigBounce Pierre Le Roy, 800 Irina Gracheva and Victor Turpin’s 850-Pays d’Iroise.

For the Séries, Léo Debiesse on the  966-Les Alphas leads his category pursued by 4 competitors  less than half a nautical mile away, the 914-Maitri – powered by Velotrade of Brieuc Lebec, Alberto Riva’s 993-EdiliziAcrobatica, Romain le Gall’s  987-Les OptiministeTribord and Hugo Dhallenne’s 979-YC Saint Lunaire.

The fleet are very slowly  getting closer, with  2-3 knots in  Chaussée de Sein which they should reach in mid-afternoon. This morning the routing application  declared an ETA (estimated time of arrival) of between 21:00 and 22:00 this evening.

Translated into English by www.abitrad.fr

So it’s now been 12 hours since the competitors set off from  Douarnenez and the first have reached Groix, so  82 nautical miles at an average of slightly less than 7 knots. Good weather,  smooth seas, and no withdrawals up to now apart from the 589 which never left.

At the head of the race we find the  prototypes : 950-Porsche François Champion, 787-DECOSAIL Sébastien Pebelier and 1019-BigBounce Pierre Le Roy bunched up together.  The 800 skippered by Irina Gracheva has caught up and got much closer to the first three. And 2 nautical miles further two other boats bring up the rear of the first group : Victor Turpin’s  850-Pays d’Iroise and Timothée Villain-Amirat’s 756.

Looking at the Series,  two Pogo 3 are in front : the  914-Maitri – powered by Velotrade of Brieuc Lebec and Léo Debiesse’s  966-Les Alphas. Alberto Riva follows on the  993-EdiliziAcrobatica, a Vector (rounded bows), then a  Pogo 3,  Loïc Blin’s 871 and  Romain Le Gall’s Maxi 987-LES OPTIMINISTES TRIBORD (also rounded bows). This group of five largely make up the head of the fleet which now extends over 25 nautical miles . The night should prove to be quite tactical and therefore tiring, a crucial point of the Trophy.

Translated into English by www.abitrad.fr

Four hours after departure, the  950-Porsche skippered by François Champion has crossed  the Raz de Sein first, separated almost nautical mile from Sébastien Pebelier on  787-DECOSAIL. The third prototype is the 850-Pays d’Iroise skippered by  Victor Turpin.

For the Series, Romain Le Gall’s Maxi 987-Les Optiministes Tribord heads up the category just in front of  Loïc Blin’s 871 and Melwin Fink’s 920.

Right now the fleet extends over about 8 nautical miles.

Translated into English by www.abitrad.fr

The  17th  Marie-Agnès Péron Trophy got started slightly late, at  09:15 with a slight westerly wind (3-4 knots) and a cloudy sky. It was  François Champion on the prototype 950-Porsche who reached the first mark before the others then set off for the  Raz de Sein, followed by Julie Simon’s Series  963-DinaMips. And it was Georges Kick on the 529, an hour after the start, who went round the same buoy last.

Translated into English by www.abitrad.fr

Because of the weather forecast, and the absence of wind at the start of the race the course has been reduced to 165 nautical miles as follows:

1 Start North area of Tristan island
2 La Plate leave on port (48°02,4 N – 04°45,5 W)
3 Le Chat leave on starboard (48°01,5 N – 04°48,8 W)
4 Men-Hir leave on port (47°47,8 N – 04°23,9 W)
5 Cap Caval (Card W) leave on port (47°46,5 N – 04°22,6 W)
6 Spineg (Card S) leave on port (47°45,3 N – 04°18,8 W)
7 Basse Perennes (Card W) leave on port (47°41,1 N – 04°06,3 W)
8 Jument de Glénan (Card S) leave on port (47°38,8 N – 04°01,3 W)
9 Ile de Groix et ses dangers leave on starboard
10 Speerbreker (Card E) leave on starboard (47°39,1 N – 03°26,3 W)
11 Basse Mélite (Card N) leave on starboard (47°38,8 N – 03°25,5 W)
12 Edouard de Cougy (Card E) leave on starboard (47°37,9 N – 03°23,9 W)
13 les chats leave on starboard (47°35.8 N – 03°23.5W)
14 Jument de Glénan (Card S) leave on starboard (47°38,8 N – 04°01,3 W)
15 Bouée Chaussée de Sein (Card W) leave on starboard (48°03,8 N – 05°07,7 W)
16 Tevenec leave on starboard (48°04,3 N – 04°47,7 W)
17 Basse jaune leave on starboard (48°04,6 N – 04°42,4 W)
18 Finish

Start tomorrow at 9:00

Franck Lauvray alias Francky calls all his boats “Alice”. Why? Because it slips along obviously! His Mini project dates from when he was 20. He even designed the boat of his dreams ten years ago. But to achieve his desire  for a transatlantic crossing before hitting 50, he acquired the 346. It’s the oldest boat of the fleet which will head off tomorrow morning. But it’s the boat which sticks the closest to his image, with an wing mast and a heap of innovations since 2001 plus the 4 transatlantic crossings that the boat has completed.

A strict amateur, originally from Orvault in Loire-Atlantique, Francky has been sailing at a high level since he was 18. Notably in the Admirals Cup in 1999 “I’m the Pierre Coubertin of the Mini’s! I’m philosophical about things”. With his sheer desire to sail and achieve his 30 year old dream, Franck represents the true spirit of the Mini’s.

For information on his project: https://sites.google.com/view/mt2021fl/accueil