Irina Gracheva and FedorDruzhinin, who are preparing to take part in the massive single Mini-Transat - 2019 regatta, will start the season by competing in the 250-mile Plastimo Lorient Mini 6.5 race, which starts today, April 12, from Lorient, France.
«Those taking to the start in Lorient today are aiming for a maximum busy sailing season, which will be summed up by the transatlantic race. It is very important to compare their level of preparation with their rivals, to make themselves known right now. The competition is very tough and not everyone is on the short-list and many names are still on the waiting list. For me it is also important to check the technical readiness of the boat on which new sails and new electronics were added during the off-season», - Irina Gracheva says.
As this regatta is intended for crews of two, Gracheva and Druzhinin have found their mates: Vasily Alekseyev from Russia and Alexander Rachevsky from Belarus. Rachevsky will be the first representative of his country in Mini class.
«This race was not in my main plan, but thanks to a lot of help from friends and sponsors, I was able to prepare for an early start to the season and start my full 2019 program! You guys are the best! » ," Irina Gracheva wrote on her team's Facebook page.
Fedor Druzhinin, in turn, shared a small part of the preparation process for the race.
«The most interesting is the second stage of the race, from Glenan Islands to Yu. With my polars, some of the routes look, to say the least, unusual. Between Belle Ile and the coast, wow»," he wrote in a comment on the published map.
A total of 68 teams from 7 countries will take part in the race: 57 boats from France,three from Belgium,two each from Russia, Switzerlandand Germany and one each from Japan and UAE. The route is expectedto take two days for the teams.
