The Paris Boat Show (Salon Nautique de Paris) traditionally marks the official opening of entries for the following years’s Mini Transat. It was again the case this year and many mini sailors gathered to submit their entries of the Mini Transat 2007. The first weekend of the show also sees the hosting of the Assemblee Generale (AG) – the meeting of Classe Mini members. I travelled from London to France via Eurostar for the weekend to hand deliver my entry and attend the AG.

For myself, the weekend also provided an opportunity to meet with sail makers and finalise decisions on who I’d like to design next years sail wardrobe. After considerable thought, I’ve decided to go with Remi from the All Purpose loft in La Trinité sur Mer. The All Purpose loft have a both a strong involvement and good track record with Minis.

For someone with limited French as I have, the AG was quite difficult to follow. The most contentious issue without a doubt was the legalising of lithium ion batteries which had occurred before the AG. The Classe seemed to have underestimated the strong feeling of many members that the batteries are too expensive (around 2-3k euros per battery) and would be out of reach of many competitors. A motion was passed to request that the Classe revisit the issue at the next meeting.

With so many mini sailors around, the weekend was also a great opportunity to catch up with many of the new friends that I’ve made whilst racing in France through the summer. Mini sailors are a in general a wonderful bunch and a great class to be involved with.