RobiNZ CAD Blog

Mini 2004 Premier Skipper scratch : Chris Sayer - NZL

Message from Chris Sayer. Congratulations on being Number 1!

Hi all, Link below shows a bit of a supprise as I did not do so many of the races. Be nice to be able to do the same next year! Regards Chris.

Link: SeaSailSurf.fr : Chris Sayer remporte le Troph饠SeaSailSurf des Minis 2004.

3rd in the Chronos 6,50

Message from Chris regarding the Chronos 6,50:

Hi,
Well the Chrono 6,50 is a different race for sure. The start finish line is open for 7 to 14 hours on each of the 3 days. You sail single handed around Groix Island (about 25Nm) starting when you wish. One has to do 4 tours and at least 1 tour each day. Only the 3 fastest tours count. There can be as many skippers per boat as you wish.
David Raison, a friend from the 1999 and 2003 mini transats also did 2 tours on NZL403, the first time I have seen the boat sailing without me and the first time on the boat for David! The first 2 days there was very little wind and on the both days we did not start at good times, in fact getting the wooden spoon on the second day due to leaving to early for the second tour, a 2 hour loss!
Today there was a good breeze and we broke the 3 year old record of 3hrs 30 min by just over 2min only to be beaten half an hour later by 52 seconds. Over all we ended up 3rd, 3min behind Inkzone and 7min behind Vector Plus. Both boats in front had carbon rigs and new sails, a must for me next year.
There are 2 more races here this year but I think I am most likely to miss them as I should focus on finding sponsorship and work, but we will see. Once again it was a great and very well organised race and I look forward to coming back next year.
Regards Chris.

NZL 403 wins "The Open Demi-Cle"

A fantastic effort from Chris Sayer and Pierre-Yves Moreau, in NZL 403, to win all three legs of The Open Demi-Cle Race.
General Ranking Of The Race (pos 1-3: click for full results):
Rgs Ident. Concurrents Grp/Cl HH:MM:SS Club / Pays
1 NZL 403 (SAYER CHRIS, MOREAU PIERRE YVES) 6.5/PROTO 6j.11:22:23 RNZYS
2 198 KAREN LIQUID (HARDY ADRIEN, LEBOUCHER PIERRE) 6.5/PROTO 6j.20:06:04 A P C C NANTES
3 433 PARIDIS (DOUGUET CORENTIN, HENSEVAL ERIC) 6.5/PROTO 6j.20:22:06 WINCHES CLUB

This is Chris' account of the races:

The race start was just outside Lorient on a perfect day. 10 to 12 knots of wind. We did not get a great start and were on the wrong side of the first wind shift but sailed very well during the first night to be in 2nd place by the morning. It was upwind all the way to La Raz de Sein but from La Raz to the Four (inside Ouessant) was 2 sail reaching. We at this stage we had 265 (Vecteur Plus) just in front and 419 (Legallais.co.uk) and 433 (Paridis) close behind. After the Four we were running with the big Southern Spars spi all morning and slowly we passed 265 only to fall over. We were quickly back in the lead, this time with the number 2 High Modulus spi and going faster. It was a great ride up the coast often hitting speeds of 15 to 18knots. Then it was back to 2 sail reaching for the leg into St Quay Portrieux. We finished 1st with 433 close behind. The windy down wind sailing was costly with Vecteur Plus and Fujifilm breaking their new carbon masts.

The second leg was very light to start with... (cont.)

and the Code 0 was used all the way out of the bay. We had a good start and were in the top few boats from the beginning. It was the big spi for the early part of the night before the new breeze kicked in and we were again beating, often with 198 close by. We just layed past Lizard Point and from there stayed very close to the coast all the way to Lands End to stay out of the tide. 433 led around Lands End but we got our number 3 Spi up first and rolled them. We both did 3 sail changes in a few miles as we rounded the headland and were both soon running with the big spis up. 433 were sailing deeper and not much slower than us and as both PYM and I wanted to stay between them and the finish we decided to pull the pole right aft and to our surprise in the lumpy sea state found that we then had much better VMG. It was a good run all the way to Cardif, only changing to the number 2spi for a while in the Bristal Channel due to stronger wind and 3 plus knots of tide against us. Very nice to finish over an hour ahead of 433, but still with 500Nm to go we were only half way.

Not such a good forecast for the 3rd leg, upwind all the way with very little wind to finish in. Again we got off to a good start and were 2nd boat out of the bay. Once in the Bristal Channel it was just a matter of using the tide while it lasted and then rock hoping while it was against us. Have learnt the lesson as to why one must have detailed charts for racing in these areas nice to know what’s what in the dark!

Daylight found us heading slowly offshore on port tack not even close to laying Lands End. We were in 3rd spot with 433 and 427 slowly passing us, yes weed on the keel; time to go swimming again. We tacked early to stay close to the coast and once the tide changed against us we dived right into the bays often going inside of rocks sometimes with a knot of back edde with us.

After Lands End it was just a matter of slogging to France. Not such nice sailing we were down to 2 reefs in the main and a reefed jib for a while. We had the tide with us going through the Channel du Four but got to the Raz to late and stopped. Not willing to wait for a couple of hours we decided to pass inside of La Plate as it was impossible to get around the outside due to about 4knots of tide and very little wind. Certainly got the heart rate up sailing between rocks in the dark with braking waves everywhere in very light winds while sailing at 4 to 5knots but at times only doing 0.5knots over the ground. Still this gave us almost an hours jump on the next boat.

Due to the fact there was very little wind the course got shortened so we were no longer rounding L'Ile dYeu it was straight back to Lorient. We had enough wind to keep going past Pointe de Penmarch and to within 1.5Nm of La Jument the last mark of the course. There we sat for about 4hours untill finally a puff of wind got us around and once wind the Code 0 up and cracked sheets we were doing about 4knots for the finish. But with just 10Nm to go the wind died again and it was a long 8 or so hours before we crossed the line.

A very nice race, once again with some very close racing. Nice to win all 3 legs. Pierre-Yves Moreau was fantastic to sail with and I hope to sail with him rather than agaist him again one day. The organisation of the race was superb and Locmiquelic, Saint Quay Portrieux and Cardiff great places to stopover.

So no more races for NZL403 this year. It is back to work for me and most importantly, time to find a naming rights sponsor if I am to do the Mini Transat next year. Have to keep trying!
Set sail for Port La Foret in a couple of hours as that is where work starts tomorrow.

Best Regards,
Chris.

Chris Sayer leading Demi-Cle

Chris won the first 2 legs of the Demi-Cle, and is on the third leg now.
News at http://open650.demi-cle.com/2004/uk/intro.htm

Mini Transat qualifier heads to Cardiff

Mini Transat qualifier heads to Cardiff The Mini Transat qualifier - the Demi-cle for Open 6.50s will visit Cardiff Bay for the first time in the event's history....

News from Chris Sayer, France

Chris returned to France a few days before the mini Fastnet, a two handed race from Douarnenez, around the Scilly Isle, Fastnet Rock and back to France. He had been in NZ for two weeks for the launch of the book "Oceans Alone".

Hi, got back to find the boat safe and sound. All I had to do was tune the rig, clean the bottom and sort gear. Of course there were the pre race checks as well but no problems.
The start of the Fastnet was delayed for an hour due to light winds but they got us going at 15hr in a good 10 to 15knots. We had a very bad start and were in the bottom third of the fleet at the first mark after a 2Nm beat.
By the second mark rounding after a tight spi ride and some 2 sail reaching we had made it to the top third of the fleet. It was then a tight lay out through the Chenal du Four and by the time we were clear of the Les Platresses and on our way to Wolf Rock (off Lands End) we were in the top ten.

All that first night was light airs up wind with boats all around, great sailing! The morning found us in fog and by midday we were on our own. To avoid the tide we sailed very close to Lands End and were around Wolf Rock before dark, but it took us some time to get clear of Steven Stone due to lack of wind, lumpy seas and the tide.
The next morning we had the Figero support boat for company and we beat to windward for Fastnet. It proved to be a good time to test the waterballast tank which I haven't been using. We were fully powered up, sometimes reefed, in a lumpy seastate. The results seemed to be promising and we kept it full for the rest of the way to Fastnet.
We rounded Fastnet in first place with 151 and 198 close behind. The next 12 hours were some of the best sailing I have ever had. Perfect seastate, wind pressure and angle and we were averaging over 10 knots. But we kept running out of wind and the boats behind would catch up bring the breeze with them. After dark 151 went left and the next time we saw them they were far ahead in the Bay of Douarnenez.
The final day of the race was in light shifty running conditions. Very close racing and after a poor night we sailed quite well but the damage had been done. Very disappointing especially when we had good boat speed on the others.
So third, again! Behind the 2 boats that were ahead of us at the end of the mini, 151 and 260. Not to unhappy, nice to do okay in such a famous race. And it was great sailing with JB. Good insight to the French way of doing things and some very useful tips on sail development, which will be important if we are to go on and challenge for the mini again.
Off to Lorient this weekend for the Demi-Cle that starts on the 11th.
Cheers Chris.

Photo Credit: Gildas HEMON ~ Gallery: Mini Fastnet: Chris & NZL403

Chris Sayer & Southern Spars

“We sponsored Chris’ rig because he is one of the true achievers in New Zealand sailing,” said David Barnaby, Southern Spars’ Designer. “In the 1999 event he was third in a boat he built himself.”
“Last year he lost his new boat in the Tasman after hitting a submerged object. But we were really impressed by his determination to start again from scratch and build another boat and compete successfully.”
Southern Spars : world leaders in carbon spar design and engineering

The Chris Sayer Media Blitz!

You may see Chris Sayer this month as he is back in NZ to promote Rebecca Hayter's book, OCEANS ALONE.

OCEANS ALONE: Chris Sayer's solos adventures on the high seas
By Rebecca Hayter, ISBN 1869504666, RRP $34.99, Release Date 24 May 2004

Interviews confirmed with:
Martin Tasker TV1 News (26 May), NZPA, Sunday Star Times extract (23 May), Boating NZ (extract to run in June issue), NZ Herald feature (29 May - Auckland Boat Show weekend), Radio Sport, Bay of Plenty Times, KatiKati Advertiser, Newstalk ZBs Hamilton, Invercargill, and Hawera, Planet FM and a profile in Auckland's CityMix Magazine.
Reviews will be running in Air NZ Magazine, Craccum, Adventure Magazine, Tourist Times, Boating NZ, RNZYS Mainsheet, Waterline Magazine, Critic, and Xtra Website.

News from Chris Sayer

"I have only just got back to Caen after 3 weeks away on 403 [his Mini Transat Yacht]. The boat got a good testing again due to the weather and stood up to it better than I did. I left Caen for Pornichet the Saturday that they decieded to delay the Transat AG2R for 4 days due to bad weather. So had a long beat down the channel in a gale with no GPS as both the boat one and handheld backup died (for some reason the antennas packed a sad). Do not know how they use to sail around this place in boats that could not go to windward in the old days without all our modcons.

Made it to Pornichet on time (just) for my appointment with the Classe Mini Measurer. 403 pased fine and I only had to get things like new flares to be ready to race. Lots of those never ending little jobs to do on the boat kept me busy though.

The Select 6,50 (300Nm solo from Pornichet to Pornichet) was the first qualifing race this year for next years mini transat. About 55 boats started and 28 did not finish, yes we had a good long beat to windward in about 25 to 35knots. I took the race very easy, to easy and ended up 5th overall and 2nd proto.

The start was good and it was nice to sail in sight of other minis. Had good boat speed and was in the lead most of the time. But I turned off for the next 200Nm so got left behind and missed the tide gates.

Then it was off to Douarnenez to leave 403 for the mini fastnet and yes there was a nice low to ensure a good long beat to windward, but only had 40 knots for a little while. All good fun. Still I am looking forward to the Mini Fastnet, it will be nice to race 2 handed again for a change.
The Mini Fasntet a 700Nm 2 handed race from Douarnenez around Fastnet Rock and back starts on June the 13th. I am doing this with Jean-Baptiste Dejeanty, one of the parteners of Artech and a sailer in the 2003 mini transat.

The next race I am entered in is the Open Demi-Clý, 980Nm 2 handed from Locmiquýlic (Lorient)- Saint Quay Portrieux - Cardiff, Wales and then back to Locmiquýlic. I hope to be doing this race with PYM who came 2nd in the 1999 mini transat.

After this I am not sure. I would like to do the race to the Azores but really need to fine a naming rights sponsor. As long as I finish the Mini Fastnet or Demi-Clý I will be able to enter the mini transat next year but at this stage there is no way I can offord to. 403 needs a new carbon rig and new sails before the Mini Transat to be competitive so for me it is find a sponsor or sell the boat."

Chris Sayer's Mini Transat Yacht Design

Interesting article on the design of Mini Transat 650 Yachts by Brett Bakewell-White.
New Zealand Division of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects newsletter - Issue 20 • December 2003
(Click to Open PDF format file)

Image Info: Yacht Design & Base Image by Brett Bakewell-White, Sponsor & number layout: Chris Sayer & Robin Capper.

Chris Sayer Update

Message from Chris ~ 28-04-04:
"I am in Pornichet getting ready for the 300Nm solo race that starts on Friday. Had a hell of a trip sailing here from Caen. Had to be here for the measurement date of the boat set by classe mini so ended up beating down the channel in a full gale (at the time they delayed the start of the transat ag2r for 4 days). To add to the fun had to navigate in zero viss the old way as the antennas on my boat GPS and handheld backup died! A very rude awakening to mini sailing.
But got here in time (not going to be late with these guys again) and the boat is all okay. I am entered in this race, the Mini Fastnet (French site)(700Nm), and the Demi-Clé (1000Nm). Both of these races are 2 handed and I would also like to do the single handed race to the Azores and back as well."

More Mini 650 information at;
Official Classe Mini Web Site (English Version)
Unofficial Mini Transat 650 (English)

Oceans Alone - Chris Sayer and the Mini-Transat

I first met Chris in 1996 as we happened to work in the same building. I worked for a furniture company & he was a full time boat builder by day but spent every other spare second finishing his 6.5m (21ft) yacht for a Single-Handed Trans-Atlantic Race.

To me it seemed like a crazy thing to do (to be honest still does) but Chris is more determined than anyone I’ve ever met and with huge effort & little money managed to get the boat finished. He campaigned it locally named Essentially to qualify for the race then with the help of NAVMAN & many other supporters managed to get the boat (by now renamed NAVMAN) to France for the 1999 Mini-Transat. This was eventful with storms, gear damage, a run in with Spanish customs, knockdowns an many other thrills & spills but he completed the race finishing a superb third place. He was the first New Zealander ever to complete the Mini.

Chris returned to New Zealand with the hope of creating an Open 50 campaign for the Around Alone race. After an exhausting search for sponsorship he reluctantly decided to defer that and compete in another Mini-Transat, this time to win. He built a new high tech carbon boat designed by Bakewell-White Yacht Design. Chris completed the “Round North Island Race” and then sailed to Sydney for a trans-Tasman qualifying race. The race turned to disaster when the rig was lost requiring a return to Sydney & then total loss of the boat on the voyage home due to foreign object collision. Believe it or not, all this is just the begining of an epic story…

Chris’s Mini-Transat adventures are chronicled in a new book OCEANS ALONE by Rebecca Hayter. It’s soon to be published and can be pre-ordered at the links below. It will be an inspiring read, its an inspiring story…

Book Details:
OCEANS ALONE - CHRIS SAYER’S ADVENTURES ON THE HIGH SEAS
Rebecca Hayter ISBN 1869504666
Reserve a copy from BOAT BOOKS NZ
Reserve a copy from Dymocks NZ (NOTE: its towards the end of this page)
NAVMAN Photo Credit: Benoit Stichelbaut Photographe