Mini 6.50 : les dernières infos Tip & Shaft

After the Ocean Fifty and Figaro Beneteau classes, Tip & Shaft looks this week at the Mini 6.50 season. While there are no major changes in this year’s Mini Transat, the class continues to reflect on its future, environmental impact and accessibility, and continues to attract new entrants… as well as former transatlantic winners.

72 solo sailors set off on 19 July on the first leg of the Les Sables-Les Açores-Les Sables race between Vendée and Horta. Even though the number of qualifying miles for the Mini Transat has been halved, the race continues to fill up. Let’s take a closer look at this change and the line-up. 

At 29, Thaïs Le Cam is competing in her second season on the Mini 6.50 circuit, having finished 9th on her Frérots TPM proto in the Mini Transat 2023. Ahead of Monday’s start of the Mini en Mai in La Trinité-sur-Mer (90 entries, 500 miles single-handed, to be followed on our website), Tip & Shaft spoke to Jean Le Cam’s daughter.

For the 2024 season, the Mini Class is launching two new races, to balance out the number of miles acquired by the racers with a view to the next Mini Transat, and is renewing mixed double-handed sailing on the Plastimo Lorient Mini. It is also committed to the path of sobriety, limiting the number of new boats to 25 by 2024 and freezing all new designs.

The general meeting of the Mini Class, which took place last Saturday in Paris, ratified a number of measures, including, for production boats, the freezing of new designs from 2024 and a progressive limitation on new constructions. Jean Marre, who handed over his chair as President to Romain Bigot, talks to Tip & Shaft about the 2023 season and the AGM. 

Marked by speed records, a low number of retirements and an international podium, the 24th edition of the La Boulangère Mini Transat was won in the proto class by Federico Waksman and in the series by Luca Rosetti. Tip & Shaft reviews the race with organiser Emmanuel Versace, weather consultant Christian Dumard, coaches Damien Cloarec (Roscoff) and François Jambou (Concarneau) and architect David Raison.

On Monday (the start has been postponed), 90 solo sailors should set off from Les Sables d’Olonne heading towards Santa Cruz de La Palma in the Canaries, and the end of the first stage of La Boulangère Mini Transat. The second stage will take them to Saint-François in Guadeloupe. And, here, as before each major race, Tip & Shaft analyses the field with a panel of experts

As at the start of each and every year Tip & Shaft goes around the different offshore racing classes to look ahead to the coming season. After the Ultims last week now it is time for the Mini 6.50s, a class that is still stronger than ever at nine months before the start of the Mini Transat, which has new organisers.

Each Mini Transat is unique, but this 2021 edition will long be remembered for a whole gamut of reasons. It also was a great race won conclusively by Pierre Le Roy in the prototype division and Hugo Dhallenne in the series. Tip & Shaft takes stock of the sport and the technical stuff on this 23rd Mini.