Settling in
By Jesse Rowse
“Reality” in the dry storage yard at AOS in the Sub Base in Lorient
I’m finally starting to settle in here in Lorient, France after my journey from the U.S. and a long week of work in the boatyard, preparing my Classe Mini to be launched. I transport my boat with the mast on deck, the keel and rudders removed, and all other extraneous equipment stowed below. This is a great technique to prevent damage during the boat’s travels but it means there is a ton of work to be done on this end before I can actually go sailing. I also took advantage of having my keel off and hung it from a hydraulic hoist in the shop at AOS, the facility in Lorient where I am based, to fair it and to apply several coats of the class-required fluorescent orange antifouling. We are required to paint our keel and rudders fluorescent orange in the Classe Mini so that the boats can be easily spotted by aircraft, should we happen to capsize and invert while at sea. While I have complied, this is something I try not to think about much!
My week of boatyard work was pleasantly interrupted by the arrival of 60 Classe Minis finishing the 2nd leg of the Mini Pavois here in Lorient after having sailed from Gijon, Spain. The non-French skippers tend to gravitate towards each other and I went out to lunch with a bunch of friends from last season and some of the new skippers this year. Our group consisted of sailors from England, the United States, the Netherlands, South Africa, New Zealand, Italy and Spain, all brought together in this little corner of Brittany to go race 21-foot sailboats across the ocean, singlehanded. There was an age range of probably 25 years and a mix of both male and female sailors all with different stories. This is a perfect example of the diversity so prevalent in the Mini Fleet and one of the things that makes it such an amazing and interesting community to be a part of.
“Reality” in the slings ready to put the keel in, launch and step the rig.
I launched my boat on Monday of last week and had a bit of work to do before actually being able to sail. I have a new autopilot computer that needed to be calibrated as well as a rebuilt autopilot drive that wasn’t yet installed. Regardless of all the loose ends that needed to be wrapped up before the boat was race-ready, all of my French friends were heavily encouraging me to participate in an event being held over the weekend, called the Chrono 6.50.
The Chrono 6.50 consists of time trials where a start/finish line is set up just outside the harbor and over the course of three days you must sail the 15-mile course around Ile de Groix four times. The interesting part is that you can start whenever you want after 0800, as long as you finish before 2000, 1400 on Sunday, and sail either direction around the island; the boat with the best time wins. I figured that for the 50-euro entry fee with two nights of dinner it was worth it just to get out and tune the boat up with some other boats around. The Chrono is typically just local sailors. That being said, Lorient is the training base for most of the top Mini sailors, so past winners include many winners of the Mini Transat. I actually turned out to not just be the only American but the only non-French competitor and I think almost all the French sailors lived in Lorient.
I got out on the water a little late on Friday after being at the boat at 0730, still putting things together and finishing all my entry paperwork, I so ended up with a pretty crap time for my first lap. But I got acquainted with the course, the up to 4 knots of current, and made sure that everything on the boat was working properly. I was disappointed with my Friday time and was determined to get an early start on Saturday, complete two laps and try and keep pace with the far newer French boats. I crossed the line for my first lap at 8:30 in the morning and completed the lap in 3hrs 33min, which was about 20 minutes off of the best time in the fleet and the boat felt great so, although exhausted after pumping a ton (literally) of water ballast, I was ready to go again. The afternoon lap was in lighter air, which my boat is relatively quick in, and I was getting to know the current across the course a bit better and ended up with the 5th best time in the fleet for the afternoon lap. Sunday ended up being a wash with absolutely no wind and most of the fleet getting towed in after drifting around for a few hours in the current after crossing the start line.
I’m stoked about feeling like I can still keep up with the newer boats, although in some conditions they are definitely faster. I now have a list of things to tweak to help my speed on some of the points of sail where I felt weak. The event was a blast over all with big French-style parties every evening with the board members and secretaries of Classe Mini serving rum drinks and red wine and everyone really having a great time.
Getting towed in on Sunday, the docks are just past the old U-Boat pens on the right.
I’m getting the boat prepared now for my first real race, the Trophee MAP, which starts on the 4th of June in Douarnenez. This is a 200-mile singlehanded race that weaves through the rocks and islands of the northern Brittany coast before ending up back in Douarnenez. The security checks start on Saturday the 30th and are a pretty intensive process, so I have lots of work to do getting everything organized and gathering some supplies for my med kit to make the check go smoothly. I will also have to look for a good weather window for the 100-mile delivery up to Douarnenez from Lorient, which will need to be timed with the passage through the Raz de Sein, one of the gnarliest current rips I’ve ever been through in my life.
Each year, dealing with the intense current and tough navigation here, I gain a new respect for the top French sailors. It is typical for them to train during the winter months, sometimes even overnights despite the freezing cold, and they never seem to hesitate to get out for a bit of practice regardless of the conditions. The local sailing community among is tightly knit and the sharing of information coupled with the training is really why they dominate in the Classe Mini fleet and beyond. I feel like I have made a respectable showing as a foreigner with one of the oldest boats in the fleet over the course of last season and the beginning of this one, and I definitely feel accepted and respected by the French sailors…even if there is still a bit of a language barrier. There will be trackers on board the boats for the MAP so you can follow the race from home by clicking here.
