JERSEY’S Phil Sharp’s 2005 Mini Transat race training season started on Sunday with the Odyssée d’Ulysse Mediterranean race.

The route takes the mariners in the footsteps of Ulysses, as described in Homer’s Odyssey, this year setting off from Villefranche on the C๚te d’Azur and out into the Med, around Sardinia and back, a distance of around 650 miles, with the fleet expected back in port some time between this Friday and Sunday.

Sharp is representing Britain and Jersey in this famous race, and although there were only 21 entrants at the start, there can be no denying the talent in the race fleet, which includes Vendée Globe sailors and previous Mini Transat winners.

Sharp is expecting to be worked hard the whole way round if he is to gain a good result.

‘The boat is capable of winning and with Tobias Hochreutener, who is my crew and who is very experienced on the circuit, I hope to be right up there at the front of the fleet,’ he said.

‘It looks as though the whole race will be downwind, which should be pretty exhilarating and should give me a chance to use my new spinnaker, which is 20 per cent bigger than the old one.’ The compulsory use of transponder beacons means that the boats can be tracked accurately online, and Sharp’s progress on GBR 419 can be followed on the race website www.odysseedulysse.com.