Los nuevos atraques en el Muelle Deportivo a punto para la llegada de los 84 veleros de la regata Mini Transat

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria will open the second week of October, with the arrival of the 84 sailboats of the transatlantic Minitransat regatta (La Rochelle - Las Palmas de Gran Canaria - Le Marin), a new berth for sports boats next to the dock of the boats of Vela Latina Canaria, in the Muelle Deportivo. This new equipment, 7 dykes with 4 branches each, will allow the mooring of 152 boats.

The installation of these new berths will allow the capital to be out of two large transoceanic regattas in autumn, a season suitable for navigation in this area of the Atlantic, Mini Transat and ARC. The councilors of Tourism and Ciudad de Mar, Pedro Quevedo and José Eduardo Ramírez, with the president of the Port Authority of Las Palmas, Luis Ibarra, and the president of the Federation of Sailing Canaria, Bernardo Salom, met this morning the new pontoons and the last work of its set-up.

The wharf, which means taking advantage of the wharf of the Vela Latina, will serve to moor boats of a maximum of 8 meters in length and a sleeve of about 4.20 meters.

Two transatlantic regattas to debut the new pontoons

The vessels of the Mini Transat, departing from the Port of La Rochelle (France) on Sunday, October 1, will start arriving in the capital of Gran Canaria from the 7th of the same month and will remain moored until their departure, scheduled for Wednesday , November 1st. On the other hand, the first boats of the ARC regatta Atlantic Rally for Cruisers have started to arrive at the sporting dock, whose 250 sailboats will leave on November 19 for Saint Lucia in the Caribbean.

"This is a perfect example of inter-institutional cooperation," said Tourism Councilor Pedro Quevedo. "This alliance does not happen every day," celebrated the mayor because, "from the beginning, the City Council knew that only could not commit to the Minitransat regatta and it was not difficult for us to convince the Cabildo of Gran Canaria and the Port of Las Palmas "picture.

The Mini Transat, a transatlantic solo adventure

Nautical enthusiasts are especially attentive to a test at this time: the popular Mini Transat, one of the most extreme sporting challenges, bringing together pilots who sail solo to cross the Atlantic. The regatta, which began in 1977, will be marketed for the first time in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in early October. 81 of its 84 entries were released in the prologue stage, held on Sunday, September 24, in La Rochelle, French port of the West of France which is the traditional starting point of the regatta.

The boats were able to sail from the afternoon, after the lack of wind forced to delay the departure of the prologue in the morning time initially contemplated. The boats, 6.50 meters in length, underwent this way to their first tests in full test. In the prototype modality Erwan Le Méné (Clôtures Rousseau) was imposed, followed by Charlotte Méry (Femmes de Bretagne) and Arthur Léopold-Léger (Moon). In the series won Ambrogio Beccaria (Ella Grande Ambeco), ahead of Guillaume Combescure (Mini Ori) and Tanguy Bouroullec (CERFRANCE Kerhis).

Participants in the Mini Transat La Boulangère now have a week of preparation before facing the first stage of the race, between La Rochelle and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Security checks, fuel supplies and the tuning of vessels will occupy much of their time in the coming days. The departure is scheduled for next October 1.

From the next eight days their boats will begin arriving in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where they will remain until the beginning of November to leave for Le Marin, in Martinique. They will have completed more than 4,000 nautical miles on arrival.

With the celebration of the Mini Transat, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria consolidates its status as a great nautical destination in the Middle Atlantic, hosting in 2017 four major international events: the aforementioned Mini Transat, the Atlantic Rally for Cruises (ARC, in November, already consolidated in the capital of Gran Canaria), and the already celebrated Rendez-Vous Tall Ships and Discoveries Race Los Alisios.