The first leg of the Transgascogne from Port Bourgenay to Ribadeo via Belle-Ile was extremely close with just 4 minutes separating 2nd and 4th place boats after three days of racing. I lived in my dry suit for the whole race in the tough and very wet upwind conditions and eventually finished in 5th place. Having worked my way up to 3rd I made a tactical error on the second night and dropped to 7th and I had to fight hard to get back into 5th place by the finish. For the last 60 miles or so we had great downwind conditions surfing at up to 15 knots. Another wet experience on the Mini! We will start leg 2 on Saturday with what is likely to be mostly upwind sailing. The good news is that the boat is definitely on the pace. It looks like this year’s Mini Tranast will be very hard fought.
