Mini Transat 6.

50
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Two mini transats along the Spanish Mediterranean. Note the width of the sterns, which
allows these minis to reach high speeds by planing.

Mini Transat 6.50 also known as Transat 650 is a solo transatlantic yacht race that
starts in Western France and ends in Brasil covering over 4000 miles with single stop in
the Canary Islands. The yachts are very small with respect to the race, and are sanctioned
by the Miniclasse 6.50 organization. Miniclasse 6.50 closely monitors the craft but
applies only minimal design restrictions such as length (6.5m), beam (3.0m), draft
(approximately 2.0m), and material specifications[1], making the mini transat 6.50 an
open design.

The race will run this year (2011) starting on September 1st, and runs on odd-numbered
years. Sailors must qualify by covering one of two specified 1000 mile courses along
with having 1000 miles of ocean racing experience, much of it solo.

6.50 Class

The Mini 6.50 is very short for its intended use and is beamy being nearly half as wide as
it is long. Its width carries to the stern, allowing the craft to plane as a fast motorboat
does. Minis typically sail as fast, often cruising the ocean at 25 knots. They have two
connected rudders and a narrow steel or iron fin keel with a lead bulb at the end. The
mast height is typically twice the Mini's length. They also have a retractable bowsprit that
extends a spinnaker-genoa "kite" two or more meters beyond the bow. Mini's must be
self-righting when capsized, and this is proved by pushing the end of the mast under the
water while the vessel's hatches open.

There are two divisions: production and prototype. Production boats use approved
designs and comparatively conservative materials[2]. The prototype division is more
liberal with respect to dimensions, such as keel depth and mast height, and it allows for
advanced technology such as "canting" keels and carbon-fibre masts. The prototype class
is approximately 7% faster.

By far, the most successful mini design is the commercially-produced Pogo 2 designed
by Jean-Marie Finot of Groupe Finot (now Finot-Conq) in 1995. In 2010, California's
Open Sailing USA began building the Pogo 2, under license, giving hope for substantial
mini racing in the Western Hemisphere. Though considered "accessible" as an ocean
racing class, a new Pogo 2 costs upwards of $50,000 (USD).

[edit] Race culture

There are no prizes and the Mini Transat is not necessarily considered a race for the win.
Sailors are competitive yet mutually-supportive during training and preparations, they
tend to be closely-grouped during the race, and a race completion is seen as a personal
victory. Non-completion means, at very least, loss of the mini. The race is considered
dangerous and there was a drowning during the first leg of the 2009 race. Racers typically
sleep only 20 minutes at a time [3] and rely on computerized autopilot systems to keep
the craft on course while they sleep. The class is considered an incubator for professional
ocean racers as well as a test platform for larger ocean classes such as the Open 60 [4].

Other than the single-handed transatlantic crossing, there are a good many other races
held for the class. In-between years see double-handed events, such as the Mini Fastnet,
Mini Barcelona, Select 650 and Open Demi-Cle. The Transat years incorporates more
single-handed events.

[edit] History
Bob Salmon developed the idea of a mini-transatlantic race in the late 1970s in England
with the intent of promoting affordable offshore solo racing. It was partially conceived as
a response to the trend for bigger and more expensive boats such as sailed in the OSTAR
race that seemed to exclude ocean racing for sailors with moderate budgets.

The first Mini Transat started from the Penzance Sailing Club in 1977 and races have
since run bi-annually on odd numbered years. The early races first started in Penzance
with a move to Brest, France in 1985. Since then it has started in Brittany or La Rochelle,
France, with a stop in the Canary Islands ending in the West Indies or Brazil.

http://www.yachtingworld.com/blogs/elaine-bunting/453787/pocket-rocket

These startling photos top and bottom show a new prototype Mini 6.5m design starting
the Mini Pavois solo race from La Rochelle yesterday.

It's David Raison's new Mini number 747, Magnum, which he designed himself. The
21ft racer has been two years in the making and is the latest pocket rocket in this
excitingly experimental box rule class.
First, a bit of background on Raison himself. He is a French marine engineer and one of
the classes long-standing innovators and designer/sailors. He is a hotshot skipper and was
2nd in the 2003 Mini Transat in the production series division.

So his new prototype is aimed at winning rather than merely proving some concepts. But
what a weird look it has, with this peculiar rounded, bath-tub shaped bow.

Raison tells me that his thinking was to get a boat as wide and thus as powerful as
possible. "The latest boats are at the maximum [dimensions] from the transom to
midships and it's becoming more and more difficult to get a normal bow," he explains.

"So I decided I don't care about the bow; I'm trying to get a really wide boat."

Raison says that part of the inspiration behind it was blunt-bowed US scows. But the
scows were never designed that way for hydrodynamic efficiency; it just made them
easier and cheaper to build.

So I'm perplexed as to why you'd give away so much waterline length - something you
can see quite clearly in the photo above.

"Waterline length is something from the past," Raison argues. "These open boats aren't
displacement boats any more. Drag is more important. The shorter the waterline length
the quicker you can get into [a planing] regime."

These aren't the only radical ideas. Magnum has an ultra lightweight rotating carbon
wingmast with pre-stretched Dyneema lowers but no jumpers or diamond. At the transom
it has kick-up/retractable rudders.

The keel is interesting, too. It cants from side to side and has a telescopic fin so that the
bulb can be progressively lowered to the 2m maximum draught allowed by the rule as the
keel gets swung out to windward. This is not a completely new idea, as it was first tried
in 2003 on a Bouvet-designed Mini.

Unfortunately the blunt-bowed concept is so far unproven. David Raison was forced to
pull out of the Mini Pavois on day one when the rudder fuses (the sacrificial low-load
lashing for the kick-up mechanism) broke. Raison points out that the boat was launched,
without keel system, only ten days ago and "had zero mileage" at the start.

You can see in the photo below that the keel was not fully canted, and the leeward
daggerboard not completely lowered to avoid putting them under full load in the windy
conditions at the start.

Speaking of his retirement from the race, Raison comments: "It's not surprising. We had a
really fast preparation and things were not tested or calibrated properly. I need to check
things progressively. But the boat will definitely be faster."