Mini-Transat
Justine Mettraux : "I knew I was second 5 miles before the arrival"
Friday 6 December 2013 –
All the versions of this article: [English] [français]
Second place a surprise
"This is a bit of a surprise because I had no idea where I was. I knew I was third from the Canary Islands. I knew I was second 5 miles before the arrival. It is not easy to navigate like that, you do not where you are, you do not know where you’re going, but I tried to do it like that. "
Technical problems
"I didn’t have too many problems, a few things but nothing serious. So I told myself that all is well on the boat, if I sail as fast as I can it should not be too bad. Though I was not sure of my track. "
Expectations
"It was different from what I imagined, I thought we would have some contact between boats, but in the end we were all quite alone. If I had not had a problem with my beacon, I would have spent two weeks alone. Otherwise, it was downwind, it is difficult to find a rhythm, it’s monotonous. Although it is less intense than in other races, emotionally it was hard because I did not know where I was. Without information, we do not know if it is right or not, it is always challenging. "
Problems with the emergency beacon
"In fact, the beacon was in the companionway, where I also put my garbage. One day, I was restacking things and I think that, without meaning to, I triggered it. I had music on and I was trying to maneuver, so I did not hear the alarm and it was only when I went into the boat that I heard it beeping. I turned it off and reported to the Race Director that everything was fine, but I had no VHF range and therefore had no other way to announce that there was no need to come to see me. I was not surprised to see the ship that the Race Committee diverted to me because I thought there would be someone who would. he did not come close, he contacted me by radio."
Arrivée de Justine Mettraux - 1ère place des séries by overlapprod
View online : Info presse www.minitransat.fr
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