The Transcascogne race has just completed in France and it was one hell of a race.  In the first leg the fleet encountered 50 knot winds and very large seas.  Some of the minis ran into some problems with breakages, keel problems and dismastings, but thankfully everyone was able to get into Santander Spain without serious incident. 

Andrew Wood is a Brit who was competeing the race.  Here’s a video of what the conditions were like on board for him.  The sound is aweful, but you really get a sense of what a mini is like in big breeze.