“You should do the Mini” “The Mini would be good for you” “Why don’t you do a Mini project” “Come and try the Mini” “My dream is to do the Mini” “It’s the gateway to the world you need”… Gnagnagna
I’ve heard so much about this Mini, I was even getting tired of it. I’ve been almost blocked for 2 years when people talk to me and sell me their concepts “Esprit Mini” “13knts downwind/4upwind” “Waiting list” “One keel” “Clarisse”… I, who only saw foiling gybe, speed, heavy weather and offshore catamaran sailing in my calendar, always answered the same way:
“It’s slow” “Why not you?” “There’s no feeling” “I don’t have the money” “I already have nice projects where I’m on board” “No time” “You can do the same trips in a catamaran faster with less rules”. A real little jerk.
During several regattas in France, I meet more and more ministry people. They keep talking to me about it. Little by little, I start to ask questions. It’s impossible to remain insensitive to their passions for very long. That’s the real breakthrough, they have the same passion for the sea. I was mostly racing between buoys except for the catamaran records and I even found that the offshore racers had a stronger and more modest passion than some could have between buoys. Not as if this passion was innate, but as if they had been with the most beautiful siren of the sea. It starts to make you want to try, their beautiful stories.
Only fools don’t change their minds. Why did I have this reluctance from the Mini?
The feeling that it would not be as good as a catamaran? To have a physique more for sport catamaran ? To be far from Brittany? To be addicted to reaching at 30knts ? The apprehension of the paperwork ? I am just starting to know the catamaran and I have to start from scratch? Probably some nice rhetorical questions.
During the last ETF26 regatta, my very good friend Fabien talks to me about Mini for the 50th time. This time he starts to tell me about a boat for sale. A great opportunity, in La Rochelle, in good condition, good track record, if he could he would buy it, cheaper than the others… He sells me the golden pulley. We get excited with my friends of the #teambourgnon. We make plans on the comet “oh guys we will buy a Mini Proto Scow (round nose) and make a team of sick” “We will conquer the West, to make tremble the Atlantic fault”. My father will say from afar “Real little bastards”.
We end up all the same being seduced by the words of Fabien. We decide to go to visit the boat, to verify that it is really as well as he says it. My father comes to give his expert opinion. We start by saying “we’ll find where to negotiate the price” and end up by saying “damn, we have to go for it”. The comet hit quickly.
Against a backdrop of opportunities, my plans changed completely. In the team, they are all very good technicians, engineers, IMOCA stratifiers… It’s logical for me that it’s one of them who buys the boat. I am far away, I know less and have less experience than them, it seemed pretentious to want to buy it. However, they don’t seem to want to buy the boat for themselves. It’s as if they were more motivated by the idea that the least experienced of the bunch would buy it for us all to use.
I resume my routine at work and continue to discuss with Fabien who guides me on how to do it, I take Tip & Shaft courses to launch his Mini project, I read articles, watch videos. I’m getting stung, not yet by the siren of the sea, more by the little universe of each minist. I’ve watched all their videos. It looks good actually, why didn’t I get into it sooner? I’m trying to do it fast. I’m considering every option (except onlyfans) to buy this boat because I know it’s coveted. At the beginning of December, as I finish my work day, without expecting much. BOOM ! A second comet. This one hits me in the head: I have a solution to buy the boat. Yeeeeehaaaa!
2 days after Christmas, as soon as I unwrapped the presents, I took the road to La Rochelle, the papers were finalized on a highway rest area with a portable printer. I come to introduce myself modestly to Lili as her new owner. I take care that she is not damaged for the transport. “Will you hitch up?” She says yes.
Nice little story? There are plenty more to come 🙂
I will take care to tell you the little story and the origin of the 934 Lilienthal
Now it’s also the story of the search for sponsors! And preparation for the first race in less than 3 months.
