MAP After Action Report

An exciting start to a close race

On 2 June, at 1500 the Trophée Marie-Agnès Péron (MAP) race started from Douarnenez. This 220 nm solo race is dedicated to the memory of Marie-Agnès Péron, a competitor lost at sea during a strong gale in the Bay of Biscay in the 1991 Mini-Transat.

With light winds forecasted, the race committee shortened the course to 195 nm the morning of the race. This course took the fleet west out of the Douarnenez Bay, south east towards Lorient, around Île de Groix, back north west, around Île de Sein, and finishing at Douarnenez.

Going into my second race this season I felt more prepared than ever before. I was well rested and completed the preparations with time to spare. Even though it always feels like a rush in the last 24 hours leading up to an ocean race, everything was really set a few days in advance.

With an initial route planning estimation of a day and a half, this race was going to be a sprint. My goal for the MAP was to use this opportunity to speed test against my competitors and different types of Minis across various conditions. One of the challenges I face not living in France full time is I do not have the same opportunities to practice with a pole (sail training center), which are located throughout many ports in France. Since the fleet would likely be in close proximity to each other, this would be an excellent occasion to further fine tune Terminal Leave.

Leading up to the start, it was light wind but enough to start the race. With a westerly breeze the race committee set a line square to the wind, which was the same direction to the mouth of the bay. It was shaping up to be a picture perfect start for the fleet.

Fifteen minutes before the start, a 10-12 kt sea breeze filled in from the same direction. With 76 boats on the starting line, I was looking for a clear lane and picked the committee boat (right) third end of the line.

At a minute to go, I was about five boat lengths below the starting line and just under the committee boat. Due to my distance from the starting line, I felt a little late, so I went full speed close hauled to establish my lane. However, 45 seconds before the start the wind shifted left…to the point where the boats who were on the starting line were pointing at the pin mark(left side of the line). From my place just below the line, I was aiming left of the pin on a close-hauled course and wasn’t even going to make the starting line. Compounded by bad air now from a shifted fleet, this was not where I wanted to be for the start.

*Terminal Leave is the farthest left boat in this picture*
*Watch a replay of the start here:* https://youtu.be/cEyzhLkFJKY

My only option now was to tack as soon as possible. I was prevented from tacking to port for another two minutes as other boats were still on starboard to tack, blocking any possible lane. This felt like an eternity, but once a hole finally opened up, I took it.

At the start of this 18 nm first leg, the fleet split into two main groups between the right and left side of the course. The wind direction and velocity fluctuated for the next thirty minutes as the sea breeze tried to establish itself in the bay. One second the boat would be powered up in 12 kts of wind, and in an instant you would hit a hole of no wind with a velocity header. This caused the boats on both sides of the course to show some extreme angles on the course depending on which phase they were in at the time.

As we continued to head west out of the bay, I was on port tack and picked the right side of the course. After a few minutes my lane closed as another boat tacked and started to give me bad air because they couldn’t hold their lane. This caused me to tack out towards the middle of the two groups of boats. While I was not thrilled about this move, it allowed me to cover both sides of the fleet with clear air. I eventually tacked back to remain center right on the beat.

After two and half hours into the race I was sitting in 25th place. The wind slowly shifted right throughout the afternoon causing the fleet to once again compress.

As we approached the Raz de Sein, I hoisted my code 0 while on reach off the wind. The raz, which is the narrow body of water between Pointe du Raz and Île de Sein, can be a treacherous area with violent current and choppy waves from the large tides (sometimes over 6 kts of current!).

As the wind continued to rotate, I hoisted my A2 spinnaker (the largest one) and jibed. Around 1845 that evening, I rounded the La Plate mark, indicating the Pointe du Raz, and headed out into the Bay of Biscay while remaining in 25th place. We had favorable current, which is why the race started in the late afternoon, allowing for good timing as the fleet sailed through this area.

By 2330 I had rounded the coastal town of Penmarch. Still with the spinnaker flying in about 6-8 kts of wind, it was lightening up leading into the evening. As I approached this point, I should have jibed sooner but I extended to the layline only for the wind to shift, causing me to sail an extra mile. This small error quickly bumped me back to 39th place, yet still less than 5 nm from the lead boat.

At around 0300 on 3 June, I rounded the Archipel des Glénan to port. With the code 0 hoisted, the wind was slowly shifting left throughout this period. The boats around me all slowed as we sailed deep with our current sail configuration. Some boats had code 0s while others had spinnakers hoisted. As we rounded the mark, the boats took off on a close reach aiming for the next waypoint 20 nm away. This was the perfect angle for my current sail configuration and I passed at least one boat that was flying a spinnaker but unable to hold the angle.

At this point, it has been a dark night with little to no moonlight. I could see many boats all around me on the horizon with their navigation lights. I wanted to sleep, but couldn’t put my head down. The racing was too close with boats constantly changing position on the leaderboard. With the race leaders only eight miles ahead of me, I was one good wind shift away from jumping up to the front of the pack. Only a few boat lengths away from my competition, this also increased the risk for a night time collision, even during a quick nap. So I pressed on through the night.

*Close racing as we approached Île de Groix. Spent most of the night and next day trading positions with 833 (pictured above)*

As first light approached, the wind lightened and shifted right. Now we were sailing upwind and close hauled. As I neared Île de Groix, the fleet compressed again as a result of little wind around the island. After 75 nm of racing, I was less than 5 miles behind the lead boat!

Within an hour and a half that distance would double as I was now stuck in that same zone of little to no wind. Still sailing close hauled, it was difficult to make forward progress. By the back side of the island, we finally could bear off and raise code 0s, and then our spinnakers.

*Sail change from the furled Code 0, briefly to the jib, then the spinnaker as we rounded the island*

Around 0830 that morning, I rounded Île de Groix and the farthest south eastern mark of the course. I jibed around this cardinal marker and headed west on a reach with the spinnaker. Sitting in 35th place, now 11 nm behind the lead boat. Just 112 nm to go to the finish!

Make sure to keep an eye out for part 2 of this blog post where I break down the rest of the race and talk about some lessons learned.

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*Terminal Leave sailing through the Raz de Sein*

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MAP After Action Report - Part II

Trophée Marie-Agnès Péron (MAP) Race Starts Today!