As Charles Aznavour sings in one of his famous songs “ I tell you about a time that teenagers cannot know about “... we can say that the “Mini-Fastnet” is the oldest race of the Mini sailing circuit in France. Bob Salmon, the founder of the “concept 6.50” created in 1977 in Great Britain the “Mini-Fastnet” which would occur for four editions before he passed the tradition down to Jean Luc Garnier, president of “Voiles 6.50” in 1984.
Association 1901 affiliated to the FFV, the “Mini” arrived on the continent and the first thing to be done from 1984 onwards would be to join the already “mythic” Fastnet lighthouse to show that we were still dealing with nothing else but an offshore race. A real sailing circuit was quickly organized and the “Mini-Fastnet” will keep on being an initiatory race as far as the novices are concerned and a real challenge for the experimented racers who sometimes came back from some nautical adventures to see if the famous “ Irish rock” was still where it is usually, hoping that the long going down which brought them finally back to Douarnenez since 2002 was set on a crazy and fascinating windy track.
During 25 years, throughout the Mini-Fastnet and the other races of the circuit, the Mini has become strongly famous regarding its limited length and has grown into a permanent laboratory of the striking innovations of the offshore race: oscillating keels, ballasts, double rudder blades, carbon masts and other lateral daggerboards... Nothing is more obvious than the great number of offshore racers who nowadays spin around the oceans of the globe, after having started their sailing adventures on a Mini.
At the end of the race, this year, you will still anyway feel the “warm” and friendly atmosphere of the Nautical Club House. The Winches Touch !
Click the link "Competitors" to find the list of the registered members.
So long !