On Saturday the 20th a fleet of 26 Mini Transat 650’s started the Mini Barcelona race. The course had been set the evening before at the briefing and we would be sailing from the start to a windward mark, rounding it to starboard, then sailing down to Casablanca oil rig and then north up to Los Palamos. before returning to Barcelona for the finish. I would be sailing the new RG650 Series class Mini Transat 650. While the RG 650 is designed as a series boat it is yet to be classed as a full production series boat so I would be racing in the prototype class.

The breeze was fresh as the five minute gun went, and the fleet of Mini Transat 650’s lined up for the start. Due to the wind strength I decided to go for a reasonably conservative start and placed the new RG650 one hundred yards from the starting boat. As the gun went I hit the line with full speed and quickly made ground on the yachts to windward, gradually one by one with superior speed to the other yachts I managed to sail the RG650 under the Mini’s to windward, and before too long the RG650 was leading the fleet, with only one prototype class mini able to sail faster than the RG650.

I worked the RG650 up the shoreline, and when I tacked the boat towards the top mark the rest of the fleet were below us. At the top mark I rounded in a remarkable second place, with only one prototype mini ahead of me, and as the Club Real Marina support boat cheered at the performance I switched the autopilot on and went below to get the medium spinnaker. Before too long I had the big medium spinnaker up and the RG650 was smoking away down wind towards Casablanca at over 12kts.

During the days leading up to the race I had been running a number of different routes using different software and different GRIB files and weather information. The conditions and the data was changing at an irregular speed as we found the conditions unusually unpredictable for the Mediterranean this time of year. Each time I ran a different scenario the route would change substantially, and on the morning of the start I gathered the final information available and set off. The most recent weather information showed the wind would back for the first six hours of the race before a change would come through and the wind would veer to the right significantly. My tactics were to sail the rhumb line, and make as much ground towards Casablanca as possible before the wind veered around.

The broad reach towards Casablanca was some of the most unbelievable sailing I have done in a Mini Transat 650, and the RG650 (keep an eye out for my video soon to be released on Youtube) was powering along at speeds of up to 15.7 kts as we surfed down waves and worked the best angles possible for maximum speed. The RG650 is normally a dry boat, but on this occasion we were so powered up there was a constant stream of water washing over the deck. It was awesome sailing and I was hooting with delight as the boat was plaining toward the bottom mark – life does not get much better than that! The wind began to pick up, and after a few hours of sailing towards the Casablanca rig I peeled to the code five, a smaller flatter spinnaker that would be more suitable to the conditions and lift the bow up over the waves. The wind began to veer before expected and to keep the speed up I was reaching at tighter and tighter angles. The RG650 was fully powered up, and I was probably pushing it to maximum limits, sailing on a knife edge at unbelievable speeds. I found the RG650 incredibly stable in such conditions and very predictable and easy to handle – Nico has surely done a fantastic job in the design of this boat as it’s handling characteristics and speed are superior to any other boat of this size I have sailed.

A stronger gust hit the RG650 ahead of an approaching front. My instant thought was that it would be time to get the code 5 down as soon as the gust was over, and as I pulled the helm back. The boat speed hit a maximum of 15.7 kts, and the chine lifted the boat flat as we surfed down the next wave. Unable to steer around the wave ahead I ploughed straight into it. The extra force of the gust on the kite was too much as the bow dived under the wave ahead and the boat speed dropped to 9kts. Something had to give. Suddenly the bowsprit that holds the spinnaker ahead of the boat compressed, and the only way it could go was up. The middle section of the bowsprit folded, and I knew that I had pushed it too hard.

Devastated knowing that I had pushed too hard and now compromised the remainder of the race, I quickly hoisted the solent up that had been previously prepared, and let the tack fly to drop the kite. In an instant the Code 5 was down below and I trimmed the solent and the mainsail to optimise the new sail selection for the course, set the auto-helm and went forward to clean up the mess and inspect the damage. Not long after the front passed over us, and the wind veered before the predicted time. I was now hard on the wind but still managing to sail a course directly towards Casablanca, it seemed that my tactics had positioned me and the RG650 in a fantastic strategic position to lay the rig. It was now time to figure our a plan to come up with a jury rig for the bowsprit as flying spinnakers would be fundamental if I were to do well for the remainder or the race.

As we neared the rig and the sun set the wind dropped off and I set the auto-helm to steer course towards the rig, trimmed the sails and then went forward armed with a roll of spectra, a boat hook, a paddle, and some spare outrigger aluminium arms. My plan was to jury rig the bowsprit by splinting it with every bit of aluminium that could be found on the boat, and I lashed the paddle, boathook and outrigger arms as tightly as possible to splint the broken prod. The job took a little over an hour, and on completion I tested it with all my weight. Satisfied that it would do the job, I returned to the cockpit to make my final approaches to the rig that was now lighting up the horizon.

While a 1nm exclusion zone exists around rigs in this area of the med, the race instructions had not specified a distance for yachts to sail around the rig and people had different angles of approach and kept different distances off the rig. I kept the rig approximately 1nm to my port side and as the fleet closed in on the rig I counted only five sets of lights ahead of me and knew that I was in a good position in the race. I rounded the rig just behind one of the Argo’s, placing me in second place amongst the series boats, and as we worked our way to windward back towards Barcelona I found that the RG650 again had fantastic speed. The wind had settled down and the boat was powering along nicely just cracked off sailing a true wind angle of approximately 50-60 degrees. I decided to make the most of the relatively constant wind and went below for some sleep as I knew the wind would not be consistent for long.

I managed a couple of hours sleep in 30minute bursts throughout the morning, and as the sun began to rise we had almost covered the 60nm back to Barcelona. After sunrise the wind began to veer again but was still blowing a good 15kts. I was attempted to hoist the code five, but I was wary that the jury rigged bowsprit may not hold the kite at these angles so decided to hold off as long as possible for the hoist and kept a watchful eye on the other yachts to see who would make the first move of hoisting the spinnaker. It did not take long before in the distance behind me I saw some yachts with the spinnakers up, and I knew that I had to go for it. I hoisted the kite, but it did not take long before the jury rigged pole compressed for a second time. I was a bit devastated that my first solution to the problem did not work, and after hauling the kite back in and re-hoisting the solent I sat down and tried to figure out a new solution. I switched back on the autopilot, but it appeared that it was not working in its normal manner. I played around with the settings of the NKE system a bit, but I am still relatively inexperienced in the NKE instruments, and even with the altered settings it would still not hold the desired course continuously as residual swell from the previous nights storm would occasionally move the boat in such a way to knock us off course beyond the autopilots control. I had to make a decision, to remain watching the autopilot as it continued to steer us towards the next waypoint, or to go forward and carry out secondary repairs to jury rig the bowsprit. The other Mini’s below me were blitzing me with their speed as they were sailing with spinnakers and I was without. I decided the priority was to affect repairs, so went forward armed with more spectra and some sail ties. I decided the most reliable jury rig would be to snap the pole in half, and re rig the bowsprit so it would be half its normal size, but strong enough to hold a kite or code zero in any conditions. It took me about one hour to remove the old jury rig, and re-create the new one, but finally the mini-prod was ready to be tested. I hoisted the big medium weight spinnaker, pulled out the tack, and the spinnaker filled. A loose luff made it harder to sail than normal, but my boatspeed automatically lifted 1.5kts and I began to hold my position against the rest of the fleet.

While I had been jury rigging the bowsprit the yachts around me had sailed on course and I had lost them in poor visibility, there were a few yachts that had caught up to me and were now laying between me and Barcelona. I would have to work hard to maintain my speed the best I could with the jury rig pole. Lucky for me conditions became once again extremely variable, and there would be a lot of sail changes and changing conditions that I could utilise tactically to try to keep up with the boats around me and hopefully catch the boats ahead.

Throughout the day we sailed towards Los Palamos our speed was good, and I could hear the odd boat chatting on the radio so I knew that I was not that far off the pace. I was only two miles from the top mark as the first of the yachts round. I estimated that I was only about 20minutes behind the leading yachts which was very pleasing indeed.I started my stopwatch to time to time the difference, Not long after that the wind died and became extremely variable. One and a half hours later, In very light winds I rounded the top mark behind them amongst three other mini’s and still in the top half of the fleet. The wind was now light and a storm was brewing to the South. While other yachts set course towards Barcelona I sailed toward the storm hoping for more wind.

The final leg towards Barcelona was extremely frustrating as the wind was coming from every direction and ranging from 0 to 20kts. No sooner had I changed sails for the new conditions but the wind would change again and I would have to re-trim and set up for another change. The next eight hours were hard work, with a sail change approximately every half an hour. Some wind shifts would favour being on the shore side of the course, others would favour being out to sea, so it was not only a hard leg physically, but also mentally as the tactics were continuously changing. I managed to make ground and overtake the yachts around me and as we neared the finish in Barcelona I was leading our group of five yachts. Two hours from the finish and a new wind set in from the South east. Unfortunately for me this would mean the other yacht would gain advantage as they could fly their spinnakers more efficiently than me. I decided to stick with the recently hoisted code zero which luff length better suited the lumpy conditions.

Slowly the other yacht were catching up. Normally these conditions would have been perfect for the RG650 and had I not broken the bowsprit on the previous night I knew that not only would the boats behind not be catching up, but I would more likely be catching up the yachts in front. I found it extremely frustrating, as I was now paying the ultimate sacrifice for pushing the boat too hard at the start of the race. Thankfully I managed to hold my speed, and only one other mini was able to catch me before the finish.

The final result would have had me in third place in the series boats (had the RG been already classified as series) and mid fleet amongst the prototypes. This is a very good result considering my disadvantage of not having a full length bowsprit and the time it took me to affect repairs. The RG650 had once again proven itself as having fantastic speed in all conditions and wind angles even despite its broken bowsprit, and I believe in this regatta the RG’s performance and sexy looks turned more than a few heads.

Arriving in Barcelona I began the task of packing the boat up for winter, the best thing about a Mini is that you can clean, maintain and pack up a boat in under a day single handed which is a lot easier than the arduous task of packing up the larger yachts I am more used to sailing. As the sun went down I completed my final tasks on the RG as I would be flying to the UK the next morning. In two days time I make my return to Australia after being away for over 18 months, and this would be the end of my summer romance with the RG650. I had made a good entry into the MIni Class with better than expected results in this international hightly competitive fleet, and I can not wait to get back in March 2013 to do my final qualifiers and prepare for the 2013 Trans Atlantic Mini Transat Race.

Rich rested after the finish and packing up the mini – note bowsprit snapped in two

Jury Rig on the bowsprit – the end result was the bowsprit was half the size, so all the spinnakers lost luff tension, but at least it was better than nothing and strong enough to fly spinnakers and the Code 0 from the top of the mast – All the other mini sailors in the fleet payed respect saying it ws a “good sailors job”.

Everything out of the RG650 drying after the Barceloa race while I clean, maintain and pack up the RG650 ESP816 for the winter before my return to Australia. I hope to continue my “romance ” with the RG650 next season, once fully trained me and the RG650 should be an unbeatable team!

Final preps are complete ahead of the start tomorrow of the single handed Mini 650 Barcelona race in the RG650.

Rigging checked and double checked, hull dived on, and food bought. Many thanks to palma health and slurp crunch for their super foods and nutritional advice (I added a few items to the list… Guess what ones).

Final briefing is tonight (in Spanish) when we will find out the course and know our fate. Fingers crossed its the down wind option.

2012 10 19 14 02 18

All safety checks are done prior to the Mini Barcelona, and the boats keep coming! Lining the docks are now over 25 Mini 650 yachts with their skippers doing the final preparations required ahead of Saturdays start off Barcelona. Richard Hewson and the RG650 passed their final safety checks yesterday, where officials inspect the boats to ensure the appropriate safety equipment is carried onboard including navigational equipment, danbouys, life rings, epirbs, radio transmitting beacons, survival water and kits, immersion suits and a number of other aids important to navigation and / or survival should things not go according to plan.

The course has not yet been decided as the forecasts show variable predictions, but it will most likely be the 300nm course around Mallorca and back to Barcelona passing a number of waypoints. The race briefing is tomorrow night where skippers will get the final decisions on the course and any additional information about the race. The briefing will be in Spanish and French, so Richard will need his google translate at a quick draw ready to go!

Richard has recently updated his Mini Transat Sponsorship Proposal, and has released it ahead of the Barcelona Race. The Corresponding powerpoint presentation for this sponsorship proposal can be viewed on hewsonracing.com under the Sponsorship and Mini 650 tabs, or view the powerpoint movie on YouTube or Facebook. Please take a look and pass it on to anybody who may be interested in backing a winner and making the dream become reality, or contact Richard Hewson at hewsonracing@gmail.com for further details. Check it out:

Preparation continues before the start of the Barcelona Mini 650 race. Richard Hewson and the RG650 will have their pre race safety inspection tomorrow before heading out on the water for some final training and equipment callibration.

After a fantastic surfing trip with the family on Spains north coast I arrived in Valencia on the 10th of October to sail the new RG650 to barcelona ready for the 2012 Barcelona Mini 650 race. I was hoping to remain on the North coast until the 12th, however looking at the weather files on previous days it warned of strong winds after the 12th, so we jumped in our fiat 500 and raced towards Valencia.

We arrived in Valencia at 1000 the next morning and I immediately began preps for the delivery. My sister Gina was going to join me for the 150nm passage from Valencia to Barcelona, and it was predicted that we would have light to moderate reaching winds. As it turns out, weather forecasts are not always accurate (surprise surprise) and what we experienced could only be described as a washing machine type chop mixed with winds ranging from 0 to 27kts.

The passage started as predicted, and we had some fantastic winds and a beautiful sunset on the first night. The next day we were stuck in various wind hole for a large percentage of the day, with winds going around the clock multiple times. Night time finally came, and the wind picked up a bit, from the South west and so the kite went up, half an hour later the kite was down and we were stuck in another wind hole, and so the process repeated itself for the next 24 hours. Kite up, kite down, jib up, jib down, slap slap slap go the sails, wind builds, kite up and so on.

In the early hours of this morning I awoke to Gina sneaking the kite up, the wind had filled in as a light 10 kts, and from 110 TWA. Since we had been drifting for the previous 12 hours, I decided to join her on deck. Half an hour later large clouds began to build behind us, and before too long we had 20 then 22kts. The RG650 was screaming along, averaging 11kts as we raced down wind, surfing the waves and having a blast, then it started gusting, and the fun was over, and the big kite was replaced with a code 5 for a bit of easier handling. Still we were cranking along at 10-12kts as we surfed down the Mediterranean chop.

Up and down went the wind for the rest of the passage, as did the spinnakers. We finally arrived in Barcelona just after mid day after drifting around only 10nm from the marina for a good part of the morning.

For the next few days I will be getting the RG650 into fighting mode and ready for the start of the Barcelona race. There is not much to do, so hopefully a bit of training will be in order once the weather decides to stabilise a bit.

Enjoy the pictures!

After a fantastic surfing trip with the family on Spains north coast I arrived in Valencia on the 10th of October to sail the new RG650 to barcelona ready for the 2012 Barcelona Mini 650 race. I was hoping to remain on the North coast until the 12th, however looking at the weather files on previous days it warned of strong winds after the 12th, so we jumped in our fiat 500 and raced towards Valencia.

We arrived in Valencia at 1000 the next morning and I immediately began preps for the delivery. My sister Gina was going to join me for the 150nm passage from Valencia to Barcelona, and it was predicted that we would have light to moderate reaching winds. As it turns out, weather forecasts are not always accurate (surprise surprise) and what we experienced could only be described as a washing machine type chop mixed with winds ranging from 0 to 27kts.

The passage started as predicted, and we had some fantastic winds and a beautiful sunset on the first night. The next day we were stuck in various wind hole for a large percentage of the day, with winds going around the clock multiple times. Night time finally came, and the wind picked up a bit, from the South west and so the kite went up, half an hour later the kite was down and we were stuck in another wind hole, and so the process repeated itself for the next 24 hours. Kite up, kite down, jib up, jib down, slap slap slap go the sails, wind builds, kite up and so on.

In the early hours of this morning I awoke to Gina sneaking the kite up, the wind had filled in as a light 10 kts, and from 110 TWA. Since we had been drifting for the previous 12 hours, I decided to join her on deck. Half an hour later large clouds began to build behind us, and before too long we had 20 then 22kts. The RG650 was screaming along, averaging 11kts as we raced down wind, surfing the waves and having a blast, then it started gusting, and the fun was over, and the big kite was replaced with a code 5 for a bit of easier handling. Still we were cranking along at 10-12kts as we surfed down the Mediterranean chop.

Up and down went the wind for the rest of the passage, as did the spinnakers. We finally arrived in Barcelona just after mid day after drifting around only 10nm from the marina for a good part of the morning.

For the next few days I will be getting the RG650 into fighting mode and ready for the start of the Barcelona race. There is not much to do, so hopefully a bit of training will be in order once the weather decides to stabilise a bit.

Enjoy the pictures!

In the early evening of 02 October 2012 I completed my first Mini 650 (Mini Transat) single handed race in Valencia Spain. The fleet would experiencing a range of conditions racing around the Island of Ibiza in Spain in winds from 0 to 18kts. The Mini Air 2012 Valencia Round the Islands Race was quite a mentally and physically challenging race, and sleep deprivation was a major player in the performance of yachts and skippers. This race was best described as a three day one man disco with no sleep and a lot of excitement.

This would be my first Mini Transat 650 race, and I was lucky enough to be sailing the new RG650 which has been built as a series class boat. There are two divisions of Mini Transat 650 boats. There are the prototypes which are built entirely of carbon fibre, with larger sails, canting keels, and canards, and there are the series boats which are built of fibreglass and aluminium. To classify as a series boat, they must be in full production, and so a minimum of 10 boats need to have been built before it can be classed as a series boat. The RG650 I am sailing is designed as a series boat, and my boat is number 2 out of the mould. But, because the RG650 is so new, boats are still in production and they are currently building hull number 5, so a further 5 boats need to be built for it to be classed as a series boat. Hence, for the Air 2012, though I would be pacing myself against the other series boats during the race, I was officially entered in the prototype class, even though I am sailing a series boat.

The Air 2012 was planned to start on the 28th of October, however incredible storms swept over Spain, causing incredible damage to local roads and buildings. Due to the hight winds and large swells the race was postponed until the morning of the 30th. At 0900 on the 30th we had a skippers briefing and got the green light to depart the dock. Final preparations were made as a couple of RHIBS pulled the MIni 650s off the dock. Light winds meant that all the boats were slow to make the start line so the race was further postponed until 1140. I have wanted to sail a Mini Transat since I saw my first mini in 2004, so finally, after days of waiting (or years of waiting in my case) the fleet lined up at the start line. The gun went and the RG650 I was racing picked up speed quickly as I crossed the line in a good position next to the committee boat.

By the time we reached the top mark 1nm to windward I was in 3rd place overall and the brand new ARGO’s were close behind, and ecstatic with the performance of the RG650. I noticed some more wind to the right hand side of the course, and started to carefully edge close to it, making sure I did not loose too much speed against my closest competitors the two Argo yachts. As I made it to the wind ahead of most of the fleet I was able to set my light weight kite and head to the second mast of the course that lay off an isolated danger mark 8nm down the coast. In the light airs, the prototype boats were a lot faster, but even with the greater speed of the all carbon boats, I managed to round the second mark at the top end of the fleet as we made course for the island of Ibiza.

Having only sailed Mini class yachts a few times, and being my first race I held off deciding on my sail selection and carefully watched the other yachts in the fleet make their decision. I noticed that al the other boats were hoisting their code zero’s and so I prepared mine for a hoist also. Unfortunately as the sail was being hoisted the halyard got caught and, somehow untied itself from the head of the sail, and I lost the halyard up the mast. I could not believe this was happening to me in my first race. This was a massive human error, and I could not afford to make such mistakes in this experienced fleet.

While trying to work out how to climb the mast while sailing solo to retrieve the halyard I lost valuable ground on the other yachts, and before too long I was at the back of the fleet, and still without a code zero halyard. I lowered the jib, and used the jib halyard instead for the hoist, and finally I was able to match speed with the other yachts. The rest of the first night we saw very light winds and choppy conditions with a lot of residual swell left over from the storm. Light upwind choppy conditions are not ideal for the RG650, as it is designed as a powerful reaching and running boat (these are the predominate conditions for a trans Atlantic mini transat), and has a very full bow compared to the other series boat. Though the boat was struggling to keep speed, I played the shifts and worked my way to windward through the night, keeping a careful eye on the lights of the other mini’s in the fleet, that had seemed to divide into two groups, one going right and one going left. I decided the left of the course looked better, though starboard tack was a slower tack because we were punching into more swell.

Gradually I began to loose track of the other lights of boats in the fleet, and by morning I thought I was completely out the back door. To my surprise, as the sun rose on day two of racing, I was surrounded by other mini’s. As the sun lifted above the horizon the wind veered and I hoisted my biggest light weight spinnaker and increased speed against the other yachts dramatically. I managed to make up some valuable places through the morning. As the fleet neared the North east tip of Ibiza the wind dropped off completely and almost the entire fleet bunched together in a massive windless hole. There was only a short delay before the wind backed to the West, and we began to beat our way around the back of Ibiza towards Formentera.

To avoid the chop and try to get a lift off the northern shore of Ibiza, I tacked inshore and made some fantastic miles on the rest of the fleet, working my way up to fourth place overall. We rounded Formentera as the sun was setting, and I managed to tack just ahead of my closest rival on one of the Argo boats. The speed of the RG was better than that of the Argo, and as the sun set I pulled ahead, leaving Ibiza and the other yachts behind. It had been a fantastic day, and with some awesome tunes on my ipod that was kindly donated by Dani, I rocked on sailing the home stretch back to Valencia in a mood that could only be described as ecstatic! The night was pitched black, the wind was increasing to 18kts, the RG650 was plaining away as we surfed on a tight reach.. Life does not get much better than that!

The next morning we began sailing into the bay of Valencia. I had the Argo to the north of me under a loose cover, and only a couple of prototype mini’s ahead of me. Though I did not know where the rest of the fleet was, I knew I was in a good position. The clouds above however did not look as promising, and it appeared there was a hight pressure system sitting right over Valencia, and as I sailed on the wind began to reduced. As the wind dropped back to 4kts, so did my mood. I was tired and had not slept for two days. The adrenalin was no longer pumping through my system. I suddenly realised that I had made a fundamental mistake. I had seen the clouds indicating a high pressure system, and hence no wind, but it had not registered in my tired brain. I should have tacked towards the shore to avoid the windless hole that I was now sitting in, but I was so focused on covering the Argo, the correct tactics had not registered. I sat becalmed and watched the Argo sail off in more wind to the North as the clouds above me dispersed along with all traces of wind. Only the chop and swell from the wind the night before remained, and every time the boat started to get going, it was quickly slammed to a stop by a wave. All I wanted to do was to get some sleep, but the auto helm could not cope with the conditions as it had worked its way loose again, as the old problem that I thought I had fixed re-developed. Every time I considered sleep, a puff of wind would get me going again. If I slept I could loose valuable miles on the other boats, but if I did not sleep my brain would continue to be dysfunctional.

The sun rose higher and beat down upon me, with no wind it was a struggle to stay awake. I could see boats behind me catching up and sailing around the large wind hole that I was sitting in. there was only 60nm of the race remaining, but at 2kts of boat speed, I calculated that this would take 30hours….. not a good thought! Finally a light sea breeze began to develop, and up went the light weight spinnaker. I picked my way across the course, sailing from one puff of wind to another, carefully keeping an eye on the other boats that began to surround me to try to maintain a tactical advantage. Each boat seemed to have a different wind direction, and each boat had opted for a different sail selection. Being new to the mini 650 class I found this fascinating, and took note of the best sail combinations to use in these conditions.

Speed increased to 4,6 and then 8 kts as the afternoon went on and the wind increased. My spirits lifted as we began surfing down some small waves, and thought I was incredibly fatigued I was having a ball. Occasionally I would dose off at the helm, and then wake up seconds later to the boat going off course. Only 20nm to go, I had to maintain focus and keep on top of the other boats if I wanted to do well in this race. At 20nm to go I thought I should be able to see Valencia. I checked the chart and confirmed my nav was correct and the instruments were not playing up. 10nm to go and the sun neared the horizon. I still could not see Valencia. I checked the nav again. Almost 60 hours without sleep and things were getting a little confusing. I realised that the finish line that they had verbally briefed us at the start was not the same as the finish waypoint in the sailing instructions. As the sun set and dust fell, the other boats around me disappeared. I could not go below and check the AIS as the boat would not hold course with the kite up in these conditions and I did not want to risk wrapping the kite or loosing speed. I tried to radio the race committee on the nominated VHF channel, but a fisherman was chatting away in spanish and would not leave the radio alone for a second to allow me to break in and call the committee. I tried the committee on a few other channels without success. I decided to follow the nav plan that I had put into the GPS. Every knot of speed was vital to reach the finish in good time. As the sun had set I knew it was only a matter of time before the wind would drop off and we would be left drifting in the ocean.

Finally the wind dropped off completely. I was only miles from my final waypoint, so close to the finish, so close to getting some sleep! The kite collapsed and I was left drifting towards the final waypoint at two knots. As I rounded the final waypoint that according to the sailing instructions should have been the finish, I headed back to the Valencia harbour and the verbally briefed finishing position. There were a few other boats around me, and everybody looked exhausted. Again I tried to contact the race committee on the VHF to confirm the finish and let them know that I was nearby, but the fisherman continued to talk away to himself. Finally at approximately 2100 I crossed the finish line. Exhausted after over 61 hours with no sleep, I dropped the sails and waited for the RHIB to tow me into harbour. The feeling of exhaustion was mixed with an ecstatic thrill and sense of achievement. I had completed my first 300nm qualification race, and my first race in a Mini 650, and I had performed above my initial expectations, bringing home a result of 6th place overall and 3nd place against the other series boats.

Lessons learnt from this race – get more sleep – tactical mistakes cost a lot more than sailing the boat slow for a few hours a day! I have now re-designed the auto help and a new component is being engineered in the shop as we speak, so hopefully that problem will be solved for my next race in Barcelona starting on the 19th of October.

So if you are passionate about sailing, and like the sound of a one man three day music festival with no sleep (and no music once the ipod runs out of battery) and don’t mind getting beaten up occasionally by natures elements then perhaps mini sailing is for you too! The last few days has been some of the most enjoyable racing I have ever experienced. Mini racing is not just about the boats, its about the people, the achievement, the excitement, the thrills, the spills, and basically being crazy enough to consider racing across the Atlantic in a 21 foot boat! My first qualification race is not complete, and now I only have 600nm of racing to go, and a 1000nm qualification passage and with a bit of help from INSERT SPONSORS NAME HERE I will be racing in the 2013 Mini Transat Race! I am now an official Addict of Class Mini!

Details of how you can sponsor Richard Hewson in the 2013 Mini Transat Race or the Global Ocean Race can be obtained by following the sponsorship link at the top of the page. Please feel free to contact Richard by emailng him at hewsonracing@gmail.com if you would like any further details or would like Richard to organise a presentation for you and/or your company.

The RG 650 No 816 back at the dock at the end of the Mini Air Around the Islands Race 2012 – note auto helm part removed to be re-designed! Also not the difference between the RG650 which is designed as a series boat, and the yellow fully carbon prototype boat next to it.

Half the fleet lined up at the dock in Valencia after the finish of the Mini Air 2012. The RG 650 that I was racing is number 816.