Mallorcan Hugo Ramón sets sail to the Caribbean in the second phase of the Mini Transat

The Mallorcan set sail on Saturday, October 25th, in solitary from La Palma with a destination to Guadalupe, where he expects to arrive in 18 days.

The Mallorca oceanic sailor Hugo Ramón, from Real Club Náutico de Palma (RCNP), set sail this Saturday, October 25th, at 4 p.m. from Santa Cruz de La Palma to face the second and decisive phase of the Mini Transat, one of the most demanding regatas of the world, that unites the Canary island with Guadalupe, in the Caribbean. The journey, in solitary, with no exterior assistance or electronic charts, aboard the ships of barely 6’50 metres length, has around 2.500 nautical miles.

The first phase, between Les Sables d’Olonne (France) and La Palma, had to be suspended after the threat of the hurricane Gabrielle, that made the fleet deviate towards safe ports in the Portuguese coast.This way, the qualifying of this edition will be decided exclusively in the Atlantic east-west journey.

Ramón faces the challenge aboard the ‘Cristalmina-Majorica’, a Mini of the shipyard Vector, after four years of intense preparation in which he assures having put his life “upside down” to this irresistible ocean call. “Finally the day has come”, he declared before the departure. “October 25th was a date that I had marked on the calendar. I leave behind many years of work and effort to try to reach full conscience during 18 days of journey, in solitary, with no assistance or communication”. Another 88 sailors will share the same experience divided in two categories: Series and Prototypes.

The sailor has explained that the initial conditions will be slow. “The first two days there won’t be wind, but afterwards we will have to sailor around 90 degrees outside the direct route to look for the south trade winds, go around an anticyclone and little by little getting closer to Guadalupe”.

Regarding the strategy, Ramón explains that in oceanic sailing sometimes miles are invested to gain time: “We will be very far from the direct route, but that will be the most beneficial path. These are mathematical analysis that we’ve done before departing and that we will adjust with the few tools that the rules of this exciting regatta allows us to carry aboard: the barometer and the clouds and wind observation".

The Mallorca, who already participated in the 2005, 2007 and 2009 editions, in addition to having completed the round-the-world trip in 2012, has confessed that he’s anxious to put himself to the test once more: “In half an hour I will leave the phone and I will be almost 20 days without talking with anyone, something difficult for me. I hope I can achieve all the goals I’ve set for myself”.

Before casting off, Hugo has also expressed his desire of, at his return from the Mini Transat, for the Real Club Náutico de Palma to “see his future clear”. “Nothing would make me happier than receiving the news that the club where I’ve been trained, the one that has made achieving my dreams possible and that today is here, -he has said- receives its concession to keep boosting sport and maritime culture when arriving in Guadalupe.” The amplification of the concession phase of the RCNP depends on a judicial sentence that could be known in the following days.