Biggest ever international line-up

Mini Pavois, the first French event of the Mini season gets underway in one month's time

60 skippers will be competing in the Mini Pavois 2007 starting on Wednesday, 25 April. This fourth edition of the Mini Pavois will be the first race of the 2007 season for French Classe Mini and is sailed singlehanded on a course from La Rochelle to a buoy off Gijón in northern Spain and then back to Pornichet near La Baule, a distance of 500 miles.

The line-up has never been more international as it is set to be this year. In the Mini Pavois there will be 16 skippers representing nine countries including: three Americans, four English, two Spanish, two Swiss, one Australian, one Portuguese, one Estonian, one Dutch and one German.

Among the international line-up are some familiar names from past Transat 6,50 Charente-Maritime/Bahias (Mini Transat) such as Juan Carlos Sanchis Mari (403 - Spain) on Spasmos, Jacques Valente (520 - Switzerland) on Telekurs Twing and Hervé Favre (303 - Switzerland) who also raced the Figaro for one season in 2004.

Among the new participants are Australian Tom Braidwood (574) who participated in the last Volvo Ocean Race on board Ericcson and has sailed on many maxis such as Neville Crichton's Alfa Romeos; the American Clay Burkhalter (575) that has worked for a long time with Rod Johnstone of J-Boats fame. Clay has sailed over 95,000 miles around the World.

Also new this time is Portuguese sailor Francisco Lobato (607) who has participated in 15 Laser European and World championships and won a European bronze medal. Lobato was part of the Portuguese Olympic and pre-Olympic national youth squad for the Athens Olympic games. Last year, he won the first race and ended second overall in the Les Sables - Les Açores - Les Sables races’ in the series fleet.

37 series boats will be in La Rochelle on Wednesday 25 April 2007. Skippers who competed in the last Transat 6,50 Charente-Maritime / Bahia include Sylvain Pontu (616 – France) who finished 5th on his Pogo 2 in 2005 and returns on the Manuard design Tip Top 2006, Nicolas Bunoust (488 – France), Mathieu Sannié (487 – France) or Arezki Boudaoud (389 – France). Also watch out for Thomas Bonnier (485 - France) 5th overall and Elodie Riou (460 – France) 7th overall in the last Les Sables - Les Açores- Les Sables race.

Entries:

	No	Skipper	Nat	Boat	Class	Type
1	98	Caroline REBUFFAT	FRA	MADOUCE	Proto	Berret 93
2	250	Emeric DE VIGAN	FRA	GALEOLE	Series	Rolland-Pogo 99
3	269	Nicolas BOSIO	FRA	SEMELLE DE VENT	Series	Rolland-Pogo 99
4	318	Fabienne ROBIN	FRA	PETITE LOUVE	Series	Rolland-Pogo 01
5	339	Pierrick LAINE	FRA	ELIMA	Proto	Magnan 02
6	384	Grégory MAGNE	FRA	20 MINUTES	Series	Rolland-Pogo 02
7	389	Arezki BOUDAOUD	FRA	TOTEM	Series	Magnan-Super Calin 02
8	403	Juan-Carlos SANCHIS MARI	ESP	SPASMOS	Proto	Bakewell-White 03
9	422	Erwan ABALAIN	FRA	DIJS.NET-1	Series	Magnen-Ginto 02
10	520	Jacques VALENTE	SUI	TELEKURS TWING	Series	Magnen-Ginto 04
11	537	Tristan POULIQUEN	FRA	BICKWICK	Proto	Pouliquen-Dejenty 05
12	574	Tom BRAIDWOOD	AUS	WOMBAT	Proto	Rogers 05
13	601	Thomas VALENTIN	FRA	SAMBA	Proto	Seitz 06
14	607	Francisco LOBATO	POR	BPI	Series	Finot-Pogo 05
15	616	Sylvain PONTU	FRA	VIDA PURA	Series	Manuard-Tip Top 06
16	621	Erwan LE ROUX	FRA	DEPHEMERID-TROIS	Proto	Finot-Conq 07
17	628	Quentin MONEGIER	FRA	TABON	Proto	Rolland 07
18	667	Isabelle JOSCHKE	FRA	EVA LUNA	Proto	Finot-Conq 07
19	679	Samuel MANUARD	FRA	A DEFINIR	Proto	Manuard 07
20	165	Fabrice LUCAT	FRA	HAKUNA MATATA	Proto	Rolland 96
21	229	Jean-Baptiste DARAMY	FRA	DANSE AVEC LES LOUPS	Proto	Villenave 98
22	303	Hervé FAVRE	SUI	TEAM WORK MANAGEMENT	Proto	Magnen-Nivelt 00
23	322	Pierre BRASSEUR	FRA	PEINTURES RIPOLIN	Series	Rolland-Pogo 01
24	328	Matthieu GUILLON VERNE	FRA	LINO	Series	Magnen-Super Calin 00
25	457	Sébastien BORDIEC	FRA	GARCIMORE	P/S	Nivelt-Mistral 03
26	460	Elodie RIOU	FRA	KPMG	Series	Finot-Pogo 03
27	470	Jaanus TAMME	EST	LENDUR	Series	Finot-Pogo 03
28	472	Vincent BARNAUD	FRA	MASOCO BAY	Series	Finot-Pogo 03
29	480	Véronique LOISEL	FRA	DE L'ESPACE POUR LA MER	Series	Finot-Pogo 04
30	482	Bénédicte GRAULLE	FRA	LAURENT	Series	Finot-Pogo 04
31	483	Sigrid LONJEAU	FRA	YEMAYA	Series	Finot-Pogo 04
32	485	Thomas BONNIER	FRA	ARCHITECTURE(S) ELEMENTAIRE(S)	Series	Finot-Pogo 04
33	488	Nicolas BUNOUST	FRA	ZEBULON	Series	Finot-Pogo 04
34	498	David LE CARROU	FRA	VILLE DU TREPORT	Series	Magnen-Ginto 04
35	502	Erwan DUBOIS	FRA	GUYADER L'ESPRIT DE LA MER	Series	Rolland-Dingo 04
36	517	Sébastien MARSSET	FRA	MAREE HAUTE	Series	Rolland-Dingo 04
37	552	Sébastien ROGUES	FRA	LE GNOU²	Series	Finot-Pogo 05
38	575	Clayton BURKHALTER	USA	ACADIA	Proto	Johnstone 05
39	590	Andrew MAGRATH	GBR	SEASCRIPT OF HAMBLE	Series	Finot-Pogo 05
40	602	Nicholas AFFLECK	GBR	NAUTIPOGO	Series	Finot-Pogo 06
41	606	Donatien CARME	FRA	GROUPE UN	Proto	Delion 06
42	614	Franck COLIN	FRA	QUIETUDE PROMOTION / SUPER U DE MAGNE	Proto	Berret-Racoupeau 06
43	629	Louis MAUFFRET	FRA	SOLIDAIRES	Proto	Rolland 06
44	441	Christophe BERARD	FRA	CHET	Series	Lombard-Zero 02
45	567	Jérôme KOCH	GER	METEOR	Proto	Manuard 06
46	670	Andy ABEL	USA	PHOENIX	Series	Lombard-Zero 07
47	444	David RAWLINSON	GBR	SPOT	Proto	Lang 91
48	347	Yann RIOU	FRA	CAMELEON	Proto	Rolland 01
49	641	Rémy CARDONA	FRA	R&O	Series	Manuard-Tip Top 06
50	464	Romain LE GALL	FRA	KARANTEZ 6	Series	Finot-Pogo 03
51	504	Alexis HUPIN	FRA	MANU POKI	Series	Finot-Pogo 04
52	624	Yves LE BLEVEC	FRA	ACTUAL	Proto	Lombard 06
53	579	Benoit SINEAU	FRA	CACHACA	Series	Manuard-Tip Top 05
54	332	Alex MEVAY	USA	GENASUN	Series	Rolland-Pogo 00
55	588	Alvaro LOPEZ-DORIGA	ESP	ARTE Y NATURALEZ	Series	Finot-Pogo 05
56	551	Raoul COSPEN	FRA	BAHIA EXPRESS	Proto	Manuard 04
57	291	Sébastien STEPHANT	FRA	DEPHEMERIDES	Proto	Finot-Conq 91
58	487	Matthieu SANNIE	FRA	ORANGE MINI	Series	Finot-Pogo 04
59	633	Lucas SCHRÖDER	NED	T-MOBILE ONE	Series	Finot-Pogo 06
60	438	Oliver BOND	GBR	BASE CAMP	Series	Finot-Pogo 03
		Waiting list
61	454	François SALABERT	FRA	AREAS ASSURANCES	Proto	Dejeanty 05
62	543	Pierre-Yves LAUTROU	FRA	TEO TAKET	Series	Finot-Pogo 05
63	455	Antoine DEBLED	FRA	ADD MODULES	Series	Finot-Pogo 03
64	589	Koën VAN ESCH	NED	DUTCH DRIVE	Series	Finot-Pogo 05
65	672	Alexandre SCRIZZI	FRA	PHOENIX	Series	Finot-Pogo 06
66	340	Marie-Christine de BRUGIERE	FRA	LADY JIM	Series	Rolland-Pogo 01
67	236	Sandrine BERTHO	FRA	HAMTARO	Series	Rolland-Pogo 98
68	618	Peter LAUREYSSENS	BEL	ECOVER	Proto	Lombard 06
69	439	Caroline VIEILLE	FRA	TAMAGOSHI	Proto	Bakewell-White 03
70	260	Olivier CUSIN	FRA	NEGAWATT	Proto	Lombard 99
71	479	Loïc LE DOYEN	FRA	POP UP	Series	Magnen-Ginto 04
72	424	Ronan DESHAYES	FRA	PCO TECHNOLOGIES	Proto	de Lamotte 02
73	232	Sime STIPANICEV	CRO	MARINA TRIBUNJ	Proto	Lucas-Raison 99
74	417	François DUGUET	FRA	CREDIT AGRICOLE SKIPPER CHALLENGE	Proto	Lombard 02
75	247	Thomas RUYANT	FRA	REGION NORD PAS DE CALAIS / FABER France	Proto	Rogers 99
76	569	Bertrand DELESNE	FRA	NAPADELIS	P/S	Nivelt-Mistral 04
77	198	Adrien HARDY	FRA	BROSSARD	Proto	Magnen 97
78	576	Thibault REINHART	FRA	LES BLOUSES ROSES	Series	Rolland-Dingo 05
79	599	Yves RAVOT	FRA	ROSSINANTE	Series	Finot-Pogo 05
80	427	Sébastien GLADU	FRA	BIRVIDIK	Proto	Rolland 03
81	612	Jean-François QUELEN	FRA	GALANZ	Series	Finot-Pogo 06
82	539	Stéphane LE DIRAISON	FRA	CULTISOL	Series	Finot-Pogo 05
83	664	Izabel PIMENTEL	BRA	PETIT BATEAU	Proto	Manuard 06
84	117	Guillaume BONNIOT	FRA	ASI METRIC	Proto	Rolland 93
85	194	Ari HUUSELA	FIN	DORADE	Proto	Strahlman 97
86	617	Fabien DESPRES	FRA	SOITEC	Proto	de Beaufort 06
87	625	Nicolas CHARMET	FRA	LA LIGUE CONTRE LE CANCER	Proto	Canivenc 06
88	447	Matthew THOMAS	RSA	RUNNING WITH SCISSORS	Proto	Dudley Dix 03
89	265	Aloys CLAQUIN	FRA	VECTEUR PLUS	Proto	Magnen-Nivelt 99
		Withdrawals
	507	Adrien MONSEMPES	FRA	VENDEE BETON
	373	José Manuel AIRADO	ESP	YELLOW SUBARINE	Series
	557	Daniel MORTON	FRA	MINUTE	Series
	184	Thomas COUBES	FRA	PETIT CITRON VERT	Proto
	421	Pierre MATTHIEU	FRA	PICOLO	Series
	1	Yves DUPASQUIER	FRA	TI PUNCH	Proto
	368	Simon LEMAITRE	FRA	WWW.EPICAR.COM	Series
	518	Hervé PIVETEAU	FRA	JULES	Series
	593	Eric MEZIERES	FRA	JAJA	Series