When we had presented the Mini Transat 2023 on these pages, we had named Luca Rosetti as one of the possible outsiders of this edition. Perhaps, however, what the Romagnolo is doing in the Ocean, in these hours off Portugal to attack the last part of this first stage, goes even beyond our wildest expectations. Solid, polished, Rosetti is fighting with merit for the lead at Leg 1 of the Mini Transat 2023, a potential candidate for a major result. The arrival in Santa Cruz in the Canary Islands is still more than 600 miles away, which promises to be complex as the trade wind is latent, but the Italian seems to be able to play his cards.
Luca Rosetti – On the hunt for a dream outcome
Race=Care, Luca Rosetti’s Maxi, is currently in second position 0.1 miles behind leader Bruno Lemunier. A position built up since the Bay of Biscay, when the Romagnolo was always well in phase with wind swings racing in the top 5 almost constantly.
After the passage of Cape Finisterre he put in place the tactical coup which is paying off in these hours: Rosetti passed inside the Finisterre traffic separation zone, as did most of the fleet, but then was the one that stayed furthest inshore ahead of Portugal. It threaded through yesterday’s day a good pressure corridor, while the group further west dangled in inconstant breezes. He took the lead, now second with Lemunier farther west who started again in a flow of similar intensity to the Italian.
Rosetti will likely try to reduce the lateral distance with Lemunier to try to sail into his own wind, as there will be more pressure to the west in the next 12 hours. It promises to be an interesting chess match for this second part of the stage.
Mini Transat – Torresani and Farci
Alessandro Torresani and Francesco Farci are currently in 21st and 30th position, about 65 miles behind the leaders. The passage of Finisterre for them, especially for Torresani, was not the easiest and they were delayed after the crossing of the front.
However, the central group in which they both find themselves, Torresani a little further east than the others, is very compact and with a good second half of the stage there is a real chance of being able to climb positions.
Mauro Giuffrè
