Mini Transat, here we go again! Italy sets its sights on Riva, all hunting for Fink

There are no more excuses, the time for the oceanic plunge is here, the start of the second leg of the Mini Transat on Oct. 29 ushers in the time of reckoning after a first leg dense with controversy. There will be 2700 miles to cover, from Santa Cruz in the Canary Islands to Saint-François in Guadeloupe.

We had left the International Jury of the Mini Transat with a verdict that judged as inadequate the conduct of the Race Direction during the perturbation off Portugal. But the mischief of the first stage had not yet worn off: a subsequent intervention of the Jury further adjusted the times of the rankings, trying to take into account also the particularity of the weather situation that had emerged. No longer 24-hour bonuses to all skippers who had taken refuge in the harbor, but different times based on different situations.

THE HIERARCHIES BETWEEN PROTOTYPES

In the Prototypes, the situation is outlined: victory is being played out among four skippers, packed within 9 hours of each other. Tanguy Bouroullec will have to watch his back against Fabio Muzzolini, Pierre Le Roy and Irina Gracheva. For everyone else, the gap is more than 3 days, with Matteo Sericano restarting from 11th position in the first leg.

THE RANKING AMONG THE SERIES

In the Series, after the“Fink case,” the situation is much more uncertain. The young German now has less than a 2-hour margin over Hugo Dhallenne; in fact, he will not be able to make any calculations and will be forced to attack if he wants to confirm his lead. Italy’s hopes are clinging mainly to Alberto Riva, 11th, detached by 17 hours 38 minutes and 23 seconds. Building Crobatica can realistically make up this time on Fink with an attacking leg, but there will be reckoning to be done with Dhallenne and all the other skippers who are ranked ahead of Riva. The podium is far away but not impossible to reach with a perfect stage. Giovanni Mingucci restarts from 20th position, Giammarco Sardi from 23rd, Luca Del Zozzo from 37th, Massimo Vatteroni from 42nd, and Francesco Renella from 61st.

TRACKING