And theyre off! The Artemis Transat starts
by OC Events 11 May 2008 20:54 BST
11 May 2008
Open 60 Start
Given today by Mike Golding, winner of the 2004 edition, aboard the Royal Navy ship HMS Argyll, the start of The Artemis Transat was followed by 1,000 spectator boats. Heading off towards Eddystone - first race gate of the course - at 9 knots of boats speed, the skippers fought a close battle as soon as the gun went off... Loick Peyron (Gitana Eighty) was the first skipper at the Eddystone Omega race gate, and will be presented with an Omega Seamaster timepiece. But for now, there is an ocean to cross, and the first night at sea might prove tricky.
It was a fantastic start - the kind one would expect to find in a textbook! The gentle breeze certainly did not prevent the 13 skippers to put up a fight on the line, and in pure Figaro one-design fashion, bows were aligned and sails perfectly trimmed at the right moment.
Sébastien Josse's BT took the best start, but French rivals Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia), Yann Elies (Generali), Vincent Riou (PRB), Armel Le Cléac'h (Brit Air) and Marc Guillemot (Safran) were only half a boat length behind. Handling powerful 60-footers on their own within hearing distance of each other, the sailors displayed great timing and fantastic maoeuvring skills, despite the lack of space at the crowded western end of the line.
Loick Peyron (Gitana Eighty), at first locked behind the first row, managed his way to windward and caught some fresh air before benefiting from a slight shift to the west allowing him to take over the lead from BT, and to eventually cross the the Eddystone Omega race gate in first position! Armel Le Cléac'h aboard Brit Air tacked very early and found himself in third place at Eddystone, just 23 seconds behind Marc Guillemot's Safran, proving very fast in the light conditions.
The very choppy sea state generated by the fleet of spectator boats penalised the boats at the back, such as Aviva (Dee Caffari), Akena Verandas (Arnaud Boissieres) and Roxy (Samantha Davies), who seemed to have suffered head sails problems right after the start. Until Land's End, the fleet may have to cope with light patches, and as Yann Elies predicted two days ago, the first night will be a sleepless one - in fluky conditions, every single puff is crucial and the Open 60s require a lot of fine tuning to make the most of the weak breeze.
Looking ahead
The weather situation is somewhat unusual on the North Atlantic at this time of year, and is due to a low pressure system over Spain, gradually filling up, while an "anticyclonic belt" stretches from Madeira to Scotland. Two lows are positioned in the middle of the Atlantic. Sailing downwind for the first days at sea, the 13-boat fleet will have to cope with capricious winds, alternating steady breezes and areas of light airs. A big part of the Atlantic crossing in itself (from Land's End to Newfoundland) should be sailed under spinnaker in moderate winds, and the boats could reach Newfoundland as early as next Monday!
But for the last 900 miles, things will be a bit different, with a series of disturbances forming over New York and their associated fronts generating sudden shifts. Skippers can also expect strong rain, variations of temperature, local gusts (sometimes exceeding 30 knots) and temporary light patches. All this, of course, in the middle of a zone where fishing boats traffic is important, where growlers and thick fog can be encountered! According to the routing gurus, a close-fought finale can be expected in Boston...
Eddystone Omega race gate ranking:
1- Gitana Eighty at 15:16:17
2- Safran at 15:19:23
3- Brit Air at 15:19:46
4- BT at 15:21:01
5- Foncia at 15:21:44
6- Generali at 15:26:58
7- PRB at 15:28:59
8- Roxy at 15:51:21
9- Cervin EnR at 15:51:21
10- Aviva at 16:09:58
Class40 Start
Duck and dive on the startline
At 10:30 BST today, the Class40 fleet left Sutton Harbour, Plymouth, lead by Thierry Bouchard's Mistral Loisirs - Pole Santé ELIOR. Following a Parade of Sail along the western shore of Plymouth Sound watched by an estimated 1,000 spectator craft, the 11 yachts competing in The Artemis Transat waited for the 14:00 BST start gun in the area south of the breakwater, milling around the one mile long startline, mixing with the 13 IMOCA Open 60s. As each Class40 yacht raised a yellow pennant, Jacques Fournier, the class president, boarded each Class40 yacht, leaping on board from a RIB with great agility to check the vital, yellow plastic seal immobilising the propeller shaft: an operation that was completed 15 minutes before the gun.
With a southerly breeze of 5-7 knots, all the teams prepared for a very light, windward start. By four minutes to 1400 BST, the team shore crews were picked off the yachts and the skippers were finally alone for the 2,800 mile voyage across the North Atlantic. Groupe Partouche, the Class40 of Christophe Coatnoan and Boris Herrmann's Beluga Racer closed on the line early with Herrmann baling out and heading around the back of the Class40 fleet to re-attack. At one minute before the start, HMS Argyll, the official start boat anchored in the middle of the startline, sounded her ship's siren and the two fleets, IMOCA Open 60s to the north-west of the warship and the Class40s to the south-east, closed and bunched. Groupe Partouche, Yvan Noblet's Appart' City and Alex Bennett's Fujifilm pounced on the line on starboard tack forming the front rank, sailing along the startline away from HMS Argyll towards the pin end. At 30 seconds to the gun, Appart' City was highest, just feet behind the startline as Halvard Mabire's Custo Pol shut the door near the pin. As the start cannon fired, only those on the top deck of the warship could separate the closely packed Class40 yachts and Appart' City crossed the line first with Groupe Partouche only inches behind.
Within minutes, the fleet split with a group of four boats, Groupe Partouche, Custo Pol, Louis Duc's Groupe Royer and Simon Clarke's Clarke Offshore Racing dropping to leeward with the remaining seven yachts remaining high with Beluga Racer the windward boat in 6th place and Giovanni Soldini's Telecom Italia the windward pack's backmarker. Just eight minutes into The Artemis Transat, the wind shifted west, but only Simon Clarke chose to capitalise on the lift and left the leeward group, climbing to join the windward yachts. Eleven minutes after the start, the breeze freshened, rippling the surface of the water as the Class40 yachts, all under full mainsail and Solent, began to exit Plymouth Sound and soon a long swell developed as the fleet left sheltered waters.
On the water, the fleet leader appeared to be Halvard Mabire on Custo Pol, 10 boat lengths ahead of Miranda Merron and 40 Degrees, followed by Groupe Partouche with Thierry Bouchard's Mistral Loisirs - Pole Santé ELIOR tied in fourth place with Baluga Group and champion dinghy sailor Boris Herrmann continuing to bank as much height to leeward. The 15:00 GMT position poll told a different story with the windward boats tracking closer to the next waypoint, Eddystone Lighthouse, and topping the leaderboard with Mistral Loisirs - Pole Santé ELIOR leading from Beluga Racer and third place 40 Degrees hunted by Custo Poll.
Keeping it tight at Eddystone Lighthouse
The Class40 yachts have now passed the famous landmark of Eddystone Lighthouse. The time and order of rounding this mark are listed below:
1. Mistral Loisirs - Pole Santé ELIOR (Thierry Bouchard) 1633 BST
2. Beluga Racer (Boris Herrmann) 1644 BST
3. Groupe Partouche (Christophe Coatnoan) 1646 BST
4. Custo Pol (Halvard Mabire) 1650 BST
5. 40 Degrees (Miranda Merron) 1653 BST
6. Fujifilm (Alex Bennett) 1659 and 24 seconds BST
7. Telecom Italia (Giovanni Soldini) 1659 and 43 seconds BST
8. Clarke Offshore Racing (Simon Clarke) 1659 and 50 seconds BST
9. Groupe Royer (Louis Duc) 1701 BST
10. Prevoir Vie (Benoit Pernaudeau) 1718 BST
11. Appart' City (Yvan Noblet) 1719 BST
Weather forecast by MeteoStrategy
Monday 12 May- 12:00 GMT
ESE 7 to 12 knots decreasing and shifting slowly North 2 to 7 knots
Wind is picking up N 10/15kt in the evening. For the following night, the wind is expected to decrease once more and to shift ENE 7 to 12 knots tomorrow morning. Monday, wind will be from sector East to North-East around 10kts
Outlook for next 24 hours:
Moderate easterly conditions
Quotes from the boats:
Sam Davies, Roxy:
British female solo sailor Sam Davies, today crossed the start line of
The Artemis Transat just off Plymouth, UK, aboard 60 foot racing yacht
Roxy. The fleet of 13 Open 60 got away in really lights winds, heading
west towards the stronger winds forecast in the Atlantic en route to
Boston, USA. It was a spectacular site on the southwest coast of
Britain, with hundreds of spectator boats on the water watching the
start of the oldest solo sailing race, established in 1960.
After the early retirements of the British sailors Mike Golding
(Ecover), Brian Thompson (Pindar) and Jonny Malbon (Artemis), Sam Davies
is one of the only three British sailors competing in the race. Girl
power dominates, with Sam and fellow female competitor Dee Caffari both
proudly flying their Union Jacks. The girls will be sailing within a
French-dominated Open 60 fleet which includes some of the biggest
sailing legends from the other side of the channel.
After a week spent in Plymouth with her team, Portsmouth-born Sam Davies
was this morning excitedly looking forward to the race start. Final
preparation, checks, interviews, physical training, weather analysis and
food shopping were all part of the job list. “There is no doubt that the
Roxy Sailing Team has had an amazing time here in Plymouth. It’s very
exciting to start a major race from your home country, and having had
such a nice weather was just the icing on the cake. We’ve had a great
week but I have to admit that the last few days of preparation before a
race are always the hardest” commented Sam before leaving the pontoon.
“We had nothing major to do onboard Roxy but it is the numerous bits and
pieces that cause the days to fly by before you realise! The pressure
builds up and then the only thing you can think of is to get going! I
feel extremely happy and proud to be on the start line onboard Roxy
today, in a legendary race with an impressive fleet”.
The 33 year old solo sailor, who graduated with a master’s degree in
Mechanical Engineering from Cambridge University, will be focussed on
beating Mike Golding’s twelve days, 15 hours and twelve minute
transatlantic record time. In order to break the record, Sam must cross
the finish line just off Boston, USA, before Thursday 24th May, after
2800 miles racing across the Atlantic.
For Sam, The Artemis Transat is a chance to optimise her boat further,
ahead of competing in the pinnacle event of the year, the Vendee Globe.
The solo, non-stop circumnavigation begins on the 11th November and Sam
intends to use The Artemis Transat to test herself ahead of this
mentally and physically gruelling adventure. “The beginning of this
Artemis Transat is going to be tough on the nerves and tough physically
as the light conditions will require a lot of manouvers and hand
steering but the race iis a great test for all of us. First because it
is known to be a tough one, but also because we will all get the
opportunity to see where we stand and get a taste of what we will be
doing at the end of the year. Since I came back from Brazil in December
I have been counting the days before I could race again so I am as happy
as Larry”.
Miranda Merron: A strong start
Sunday 11th May 2008, At 1400 today Miranda Merron crossed the start line of
The Artemis Transat in 6th place, but within minutes was in 2nd place
looking confident and strong. She now starts the immense task of crossing
the Atlantic, alone. It is one thing talking about racing across the
Atlantic, on your own, on a 40 foot yacht, but an entirely different thing
actually doing it. This will be Miranda’s second solo transatlantic
crossing.
Particularly after last year’s difficulties, it was an emotional send off
for both Miranda and those supporting her. Miranda was as stoic and happy
as ever, but there were few other dry eyes to be seen on the pontoon. The
Bugle Pub in Hamble’s takings must have been down this weekend, as the
majority of its customers were out on the water waving Miranda off! There
will be an updated Atlantic chart on the wall of The Bugle for all
supporters to follow Miranda’s race. Miranda certainly left Plymouth knowing
that her 70 sponsors would be with her telepathically all the way.
Before leaving Miranda admitted to feeling daunted by the task and the
competition. “It is not going to be easy, but it is one of those races that
you have to do. My career wouldn’t be complete without doing this fabulous,
historical race. It is amazing to be following in the footsteps of sailors
like Blondie Haslar and Francis Chichester! I have to admit, I’m mildly
apprehensive, but I feel so lucky to be doing it. We’re fortunate to have a
downwind start, but it is going to mean a lot of extra sail changes, it will
be very physical. It is quite rare to get sleep in the first 24 hours, but
we’ll soon settle into a routine. There are a lot of unknown quantities in
this fleet so it’s impossible to predict the outcome, but sailors like
Giovanni Soldini and Parnaudeau are more predictable – they are predictably
very good!”
Miranda left just £700 down on her aim of raising £10,000 to enter the race,
so do please keep the donations coming. If you are a local business and
would like to sponsor a degree of longitude of Miranda’s race, please
contact Sophy Williams on +44 (0)7966 444992 or
"The advantage is that it will be fast, and not too wet at least in the first days of the race. We'll probably be under spinnaker until the longitude of the Azores. The drawback is that we'll have to helm a lot, because in that type of conditions the skipper is more efficient than the autopilot. After a shift on Monday, the weather situation becomes a bit more tricky. Two to three days after the start, we'll have to deal with a rather complicated zone of light airs, which might force us to go a bit further South than what the direct route would suggest.'"
Kito de Pavant:, an attentive observer
"Being here in Plymouth allows me to take a look at my future rivals, and it's quite plain to see that a lot of boats are very ready - yet some of the guys I would have liked to see are unfortunately absent. It will be interesting to see the performances of my opponents for the Vendée Globe, even though it's a pity the four English boats (Ecover, Hugo Boss, Pindar & Artemis) won't be racing The Artemis Transat. It will be a nice fight, but starting in light airs, the race might at the beginning be favourable for the Farr and VPLP-Verdier boats."