The Mini class grew out of the first Mini Transat in 1977, a solo race conceived by Briton Bob Salmon in reaction to the excesses of the big traditional races, which opened the Atlantic to small boats of 6.50 m maximum.
As races multiplied, skippers organised themselves in 1984 into the association "Voiles 6,50", which set the measurement rule and ran the circuit. In 1994 race organisation stayed with that association while the sporting management passed to the Classe Mini.
Boats fall into prototypes, free to innovate within the rule, and production boats, which must be built in a run of at least ten identical units. The class has been a testing ground for offshore racing: carbon masts, canting keels, scow bows and foils were tried on Minis before reaching larger boats.
The circuit includes solo and double-handed races in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, notably Les Sables – Les Açores – Les Sables, the Mini Fastnet and the Mini Transat, held in odd-numbered years.
The Mini rule is a box rule rather than a one-design: it sets maximum dimensions and safety requirements and splits the fleet into two categories. Prototypes must fit within a 6.50 m hull length excluding appendages, a 3 m beam, a 2 m draft and a 12 m air draft, with at least 75 cm of freeboard; inside those limits they may be freely modified to go faster, including movable appendages (keel, rudders, foils) and up to 400 kg of water ballast.
Production boats (séries) are built in a run of at least ten strictly identical units by the same builder. Their limits are tighter (1.60 m draft, 11 m air draft), keel and rudders are fixed, water ballast is banned, and the materials of the hull, keel fin and sails are prescribed.
All boats are limited to seven sails plus a compulsory storm jib. Safety rules require a watertight collision bulkhead, at least 1,200 litres of buoyancy split across four locations, pulpits, lifelines and jacklines, a VHF, a distress beacon and an AIS transponder, plus batteries of at least 200 Ah at 12 V. GPS is allowed without routing functions, but electronic charts and outside communication are forbidden while racing.
Boats race solo or double-handed. The rule and class regulations are published and revised every year by the Classe Mini, which checks compliance during measurement sessions.
10 sources · updated 2 Nov 2026
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Source: Sillage, charte graphique : palette des classes (opens in a new tab)
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Source: Classe Mini (opens in a new tab)
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Source: Classe Mini — La Boulangère Mini Transat 2023 (opens in a new tab)
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Source: Classe Mini — Mini Transat La Boulangère 2019 (opens in a new tab)
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Source: Classe Mini — classement de la Mini Transat 2021 (opens in a new tab)
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