Fast Francisco

Portuguese
Mini sailor Francisco Lobato came up with an improbable victory in a
rough and nasty Les
Sables-Azores-Les Sables race today. The young Lobato took not only
first place in the series (non-turbo) category, but he also beat all
the higher-powered prototypes in both legs of the race – a race that
saw the retirement of a large part of the fleet.

Equally impressive is the fact that Lobaro lost his main sponsor this
year, and sailed his Pogo 2 in complete corinithian style through numerous
cold fronts, brutal waves and constant gales, relying on last year’s
sails. Lobato took 6 days, 12 hours on the return leg, while the outward
trip took 12 and a half days.

This could be a hell of a chance to sponsor a great prospect for the
upcoming 2009 Mini-Transat at a potential bargain – if you’re
interested and you read Portuguese, have
a look.

Jinx For Jesse

Our good friend Jesse Rowse on Reality
Sailing, one of the few US-owned and campaigned Minis, found that
his solar cells weren’t making enough power in the stormy weather. His
new generator shit the bed, and after hand-steering for two days, Jesse
turned back for La Coruna to regroup. He’s beaten but happy –
this is exactly the kind of lesson Jesse came to Europe to learn in
advance of his own assault on the Transat next year.