November 12, 2019
Grache need to walk about 1130 miles
As you probably already know, on Monday morning the disturbing news came from the Mini-Transat race: the organizers of the race reported that two yachtsmen at once – Russian Irina Gracheva (579, serial division) and Frenchman Julien Bertahl (742) – reported the masts were broken on their yachts.
It was assumed that assistance to the athletes will be provided by two escort vessels that go along the route after the regatta.
Judging by reports from the ocean, the mast on the Bertalema yacht is broken in the area of Kraspits, but the athlete intends to continue the race, going with emergency weapons. The same can be said about Irina: she does not ask the organizers for help and is going to independently move to the finish line, using the remains of the mast to set the sails. This morning, the Russian woman was at a distance of about 1130 miles from Martinique, the speed of advancement of her yacht in the distance was about 3.5 knots.
Of course, talking about the struggle for high places in this situation is no longer necessary, but Irina Gracheva’s decision to continue the race in itself causes deep respect. A brave and responsible act!
The second Russian participant, Fedor Druzhinin, on the night of November 12 was 1150 miles from the finish line, going to 18th place in the Proto division.
The leaders of the divisions are still the same: Francois Jambo (865) in Proto and Ambrogio Beccaria (943) in Serie.
Andrey Petrov
331 November 12, 2019 # 9672
Chief Editor
