The Artemis Transat - Day 2

Open 60:

Light winds requiring constant attention on deck, thick fog and heavy traffic making for a stressful ride on top of the nervous tension generated by the tricky tactical situation... Welcome to the sleep-deprived world of The Artemis Transat! As the front of the fleet has now crossed the longitude of the Fastnet rock, the skippers - led by Sébastien Josse's BT - are facing a new challenge, expecting a shift, and as Jean-Luc Nélias (strategy consultant for the race) puts it, "The race looks complex with many possible changes of leader."

If Armel Le Cléac'h's Brit Air made a very good move last night, taking over the leadership from a tactically inspired Loick Peyron aboard Gitana Eighty (first at Eddystone and at the Lizard), the fleet was this morning spread across 30 miles on a North - South axis, and the breeze slowly turned in favour of the southernmost boats. Vincent Riou's PRB moved into the lead, but only to be overtaken shortly afterwards by Sébastien Josse's BT displaying slightly better speed. "There is more wind on the left", Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia) told us this morning, "that's why the northern pack is much slower than us". Hence the little gybe Michel decided to perform right after speaking with us, in order to slide below BT and become the southernmost competitor, taking second place and threatening the leader. Speeds rose throughout the fleet this afternoon, and at 14:00 GMT Yann Elies aboard Generali (4th) was the fastest boat on the water, and had moved 2 places up the leaderboard since this morning.

As Sam Davies explained during today's videoconference, "I've had some Figaro-style sleep (i.e. a few minutes now and then), it's full on" - and the reference to the famous grueling one-design solo circuit is very appropriate, since the forerunners of this Artemis Transat have all shone in that class. Moreover, the first 24 hours at sea have been harshly fought, just like a Figaro leg. Which implies that, in close-combat mode, frequent leaderboard changes are the order of the day, especially when the weather situation evolves noticeably. The breeze is bound to kick in in a few hours, and Armel Le Cléac'h estimated his morning that 20 knots would be on tonight's menu. This afternoon, 51 miles in terms of distance to finish separates the leader BT from Aviva in 10th position, while Spirit of Weymouth - northernmost competitor - lies 108 miles behind Sébastien Josse. With the first 5 boats within 15 miles of each other and the promise of more breeze to come, the second night at sea certainly won't bring a lot of rest.

Expert eye - Jean-Luc Nélias's tactical analysis

The North-South separation of 30 or so miles between the leading boats is not insignificant, and the wind strengths will no longer be the same for everyone. Longer term the skippers must look ahead as far as 6 days already, and to what will be happening around the ice gate south of Newfoundland, to prepare the trajectory from here to there - even at a week away. Looking at the available weather information, the race looks complex with many possible changes of race leader. Read the complete article here

Champagne for Loick Peyron!

Gitana Eighty's skipper, first at Eddystone, held his rank and was the fastest skipper between the first race landmark and the G.H. Mumm Lizard point gate. No doubt his Gitana teammates will appreciate the news... provided Loick is willing to share his prize!

Dee Caffari, "Fog is spooky"

"At one stage last night I could not see the top of my mast. Fog is spooky and I watched my radar well as there was still a lot of shipping close by. This morning it is now about a boat length's visibility and already I have had my first test. Once again I have had trouble with my power onboard, my fingers are crossed that this does not plague me all the way across, especially as now is not the time to be without a radar!" Precisely the situation fellow Brit Sam Davies had to cope with (see below)

Sam Davies, "rocketing along"

"Last night we sailed through a thick fog bank for most of the night. That is where I discovered a problem with my radar, which is very disconcerting, given the route for this race. I have narrowed the problem down to a short-circuit which is going to be tricky to fix (if it is fix-able). In the meantime, I have my active-echo and AIS, which both work well for shipping. I will just have to be extremely careful as we head north in case we encounter any un-planned ice. Otherwise, all is very well, with Roxy rocketing along under spinnaker, full main and staysail. I am trying to get some rest, however I have a little passenger on board who keeps waking me up by tweeting in my ear!"

Open 60 Leaderboard: (14:00 GMT update)

1- BT, Distance to finish 2669 nm
2- Foncia Distance to leader 3,7 nm
3- PRB DTL 7,2 nm
4- Generali DTL 9,9 nm
5- Brit Air Eighty DTL 14,2 nm
6- Gitana Eighty DTL 14,7 nm
7- Safran DTL 22,1 nm
8- Roxy DTL 43 nm
9- Akena Verandas DTL 46,4 nm
10- Cervin EnR DTL 55,6 nm
11- Aviva DTL 57,1 nm
12- Pakea Bizkaia 2009 DTL 66 nm
13- Spirit of Weymouth DTL 108 nm

Class40:

A long first night at sea and tricky conditions for Day 2

During the first night at sea for the Class40 fleet, the 11 boats raced in a compressed pack: Boris Herrmann's Beluga Racer leading the field with Benoit Parnaudeau's Prevoir Vie the backmarker with just a handful of miles separating the fleet as the light began to fade on Sunday evening.

At 0430 BST this morning, Beluga Racer and Giovanni Soldini's Telecom Italia were fighting for first place around the The Artemis Transat Champagne Mumm race gate at the Lizard and by dawn, Soldini had taken the lead holding a slim two mile advantage over Thierry Bouchard and Mistral Loisirs - Pole Santé ELIOR as the fleet slipped south of the Scilly Isles with Christophe Coatnoan on Groupe Partouche and the Class40 Prevoir Vie of Benoit Parnaudeau keeping closest to the islands and trailing in 10th and 11th place over 30 miles from the Italian boat. "Big fog - bit better now - earlier this morning it was worse," confirmed Soldini via satellite phone this morning. "Last night was not a sleeping night," he explained. "Boats too close and shipping, impossible to sleep."

Nonetheless, Soldini has won the prize awarded by Champagne Mumm for the best elapsed time between Race Gate 1, The Omega Gate at Eddystone Lighthouse, and Race Gate 2, the Champagne Mumm Gate at Lizard Point. Soldini wins his height in champagne for crossing the gate at 2157GMT last night, sailing Telecom Italia between Gate 1 and 2 in 5 hours 57 minutes and 17 seconds.

Trailing Soldini in second place by two miles this afternoon, Thierry Bouchard, skipper of Mistral Loisirs - Pole Santé ELIOR, looked back at the start of The Artemis Transat: "On board, everything is OK after the stress of the start," says 49 year-old Bouchard, a highly experienced yachtsmen in crewed racing, but a newcomer to solo sailing. "Leaving my family and friends behind was a very moving moment," he admits, "and I'm not really used to single-handed racing." For Bouchard, the light airs racing may be demanding, but the personal benefits are huge: "I'm trying to find my own pace in the windless patches," he explained, "and this has also prevented me from suffering seasickness which usually happens at race starts in strong winds." While the current weather is a bonus, the French skipper knows that this soft ride will soon end: "I'm enjoying these calm conditions, but it won't last for long."

The first night at sea is always a tremendous drain on solo skippers, especially the smaller Class40 teams with limited funds and personnel: the pressure to prepare the boat on time and the emotional departure combine lethally with little sleep due to the close proximity of the fleet and the busy shipping lanes along the English South Coast. Halvard Mabire, 52 year-old skipper of Custo Pol currently in in 3rd place six miles behind the leader, had a restless night: "It was a mixture," he reports, "and I was very preoccupied with all the shipping." Malbire passed extremely close to a large vessel, hearing and seeing nothing until the ship had passed and while it is likely that cargo vessels will constantly monitor their radars, the French skipper doubts that fishermen will be so vigilant in the fog. "We're nowhere near Newfoundland, but it feels as though the place has come to find us!" continues Mabire. "At dawn I was sailing through fog that you could cut with a knife, but everything is OK. The wind is unstable, but at least it's blowing in the right direction." Miranda Merron is trailing Mabire by two miles and described similar conditions on board 40 Degrees shortly after dawn today: "There was variable breeze during the night and it's very foggy this morning with 14 knots of NE breeze." There is, however, no chance to rest in these relatively light conditions. "It's radar on and I'm not hanging around below deck."

In 7th place, Simon Clarke sounded on peak form this morning, despite an exhausting pre-race period and tough first day at sea: "Ok night, was tired even before start and then a gruelling day of light airs," the 42 year-old Briton admits. "But a beautiful night, beautiful sky, fantastic visibility." Clarke's Class40, Clarke Offshore Racing was in a running battle with the two other British yacht's, Fujifilm and 40 Degrees: "We were very, very close - close to Alex Bennett who must have had a sail problem as he was going round in circles! Passed Miranda then she passed me earlier this morning, then the fog came down and visibility reduced to 100 metres." Unlike Halvard Mabire, who took a more southerly track westwards passed the Scilly Isles, Clarke's more northerly route kept Clarke Offshore Racing out of the heavy traffic." Not too much shipping," he confirms, "only picked up 4 or 5 on the radar, but no problems."

Questioned about the report of his erratic sailing, the skipper of Fujifilm, Alex Bennett, cleared up the mystery: "Tricky sailing, went from 3rd to 8th. Sailed into a hole last night, no wind at all, boat got into irons heading into the wind, so I had to drop the spinnaker to turn the boat round." During this manoeuvre, Bennett was forced to watch Yvan Noblet on Appart' City and Simon Clarke overhaul Fujifilm: "The time it took me to do so, two boats sailed past! Bit of a pain, but that's yacht racing!" Racing virtually blind with minimal visibility, Bennett is intent on clawing-back the lost ground: "We're doing around 8 knots with mainsail and spinnaker, wind around Force 4 from the east and lots of fog." Reflecting on the start in Plymouth, Bennett admits that the memory will last for a very long time: "Fantastic start, great to see such a huge spectator fleet - lots of cheering going on! It was like a yacht race in France, which is nice to see for an English race. Bennett is from Devon and the local support has been enormous: "It's only right we say a very big thank you to the people of Plymouth for support. Great to see so many people turn up to see us go and watch the start. A special thanks from onboard Fujifilm to them."

As the Class40 fleet leave Europe astern, the spread between the front four is just six miles. Can Soldini and Telecom Italia extend their lead as the weather builds or will the fleet remain compacted deep into the Atlantic? Will the champion German dinghy sailor, Boris Herrmann on Beluga Racer, threaten the more experienced yachtsmen in the leading trio? Can Thierry Bouchard find his offshore rhythm and overhaul the leader? After 24 hours at sea, the Class40 race is proving to be tight.