Mini Transat 2025 - Mark O'Connor update
by Ronan O'Connor 9 Oct 2025 12:17 BST
25 October 2025
Mini Transat 2025 Sailing Race update from Mark O'Connor © Mark O'Connor
Last Tuesday, the 30th, Mark set sail again from Cascais after the stopover forced by Hurricane Gabrielle, heading for La Palma in the Canaries to complete the first leg of the course, despite its official cancellation.
After 700 miles of solo sailing from Cascais, Mark finally spotted the volcanic islands rising on the horizon, early Saturday afternoon. Time to hear Mark's take on this unexpected passage, somewhere between voyage and performance.
The story
"Very happy to see La Palma appear from behind the clouds. Even though mountains are imposing seen from the sea, with steep cliffs at the entrance to the port, the island remained hidden by the clouds just until I was a few miles away. The delivery was very calm; I didn't want to push the boat too much nor myself. Already from the first leg, the fleet had a lot of damage. Thankfully it appears that I don't have any structural problems, only the bowsprit, which has already been ordered and is an easy fix!
It was quite weird to arrive in "cruising" mode to the stopover of the Transat. I did miss the competitive element during the delivery. I took a bit of time to reflect on my first leg of the Transat, how I preformed, what I did well and what I needed to improve on. Overall, I am happy with how I did, even if I made some errors that cost me dearly. It was a good reminder that it is in fact a marathon not a sprint and that sailing is a mechanical sport. It is ok to lift the foot of the accelerator and take time to do things slowly/properly.
My strategy was pretty clear from the tracker I think. Go west and tack behind the cold front. The spanner in the works was that the depression that was forecast, unbeknownst to me was turning out to be a lot stronger than I had on my previous forecast. It was turning into Hurricane Gabrelle. I was very relived to be in a safe port when it arrived on the Portuguese coast. Honestly the dose of adrenaline was enough from just having to race the Hurricane to land rather that having to battle it at sea.
The program for the next few days to come will involve a full check over the boat, I have some ropework to be done to repair halyards & tack line that are starting to fray and above all rest & recover for the 2nd (now the only) leg of the Mini Transat!
I am looking forward to getting to explore the island a bit, do some hiking and perhaps some other kitesurfing! Part of this story is the adventure of going to new places on my little boat.
Then I must get back focused for the second leg of the Transat. I am feeling reassured by the first leg, and how I handle myself. Once the conditions settled out, I had the impression that I was able to get into a rhythm and keep the boat going fast. My senses tell me that this will be important for the second leg. Already during the first leg, I started to lose the others positioning on the AIS, so I think for the second leg, there will be a lot of emphasis on making the boat go fast, without a reference of others around."
The long-awaited moment of arrival!
The second leg will start on Saturday, October 25th from the Canaries, with 2,600 nautical miles to cover, around two weeks of solo sailing to reach Saint-François in Guadeloupe.