How about this for punching above your weight – and size?

This little flat iron is Isabelle Joschke’s Degremont Synergie, one of the latest supercharged Mini 6.50 yachts and the aerial shot by Jean-Marie Liot perfectly illustrates the humoungous sail area strung from these boats: 120 square metres of canvas downwind on a 21-footer weighing 370kg.

Joschke, 33, is one of the top Mini sailors, not to mention one of the best up-and-coming women solo sailors in France, and is one to watch in the Mini Transat later this month.

Whatever you do, don’t miss the Mini Transat, which runs from La Rochelle to Bahia, Brazil on 16 September. It’s one of the ultimate guts and glory races, absolutely packed with true grit and heroism.

And should you be rooting for the home team, watch out for two young Brits who have worked their socks off to get to the start line (a story in itself): Andrew Wood in Domosofa.com and David Rawlinson in OceanChallenges.com who, at 24, is the youngest competitor in the race.

You can follow the race at www.transat650.org