Oceanracing 2007 - Transat Jaques Vabre 2007

Transat Jaques Vabre 2007
von Le Havre nach Bahia - Start November 2007
www.jacques-vabre.com - Übersicht

19th May 2007
Artemis Ocean Racing qualifies for the Transat Jacques Vabre
Jonny Malbon and Graham Tourell arrive home in Southampton

Artemis Ocean Racing skipper, Jonny Malbon, and his co-skipper Graham Tourell arrived back at Ocean Village in Southampton (UK) in the early hours of Saturday morning after completing their first double-handed transatlantic voyage together. The crossing took just 13 days and 7 hours and the young pair covered 4,372 miles at an average speed of 14 knots. The voyage serves as the British duo's official qualifier for the Transat Jacques Vabre (TJV) race starting from Le Havre, France, in November.

Artemis Ocean Racing, the sailing team sponsored by leading UK investment company Artemis, left Antigua to return home after racing in the prestigious Caribbean Island's Sailing Week. By sailing double-handed back to British shores, the skippers had the opportunity to register their qualification for the TJV, the pinnacle event of the year which will take the pair from France to Brazil.

Jonny Malbon, skipper of Artemis Ocean Racing, commented: "After a tricky start, the sailing was fast and furious as we blasted across the Atlantic. It was also a great opportunity for Gringo and I to sail together, understand the rhythm of the boat and learn how to get the best out of each other. It was the perfect opportunity to illustrate the power and potential of the Artemis Open 60 and she showed her class and speed. We are delighted to have qualified for the Transat Jacques Vabre with plenty of time left to prepare the boat and hone our skills over the summer. I'm sure we will continue to learn more about the boat as the months progress and can optimise her performance even further. The future looks very exciting!"

Malbon, 32, will skipper the Artemis Open 60 throughout the summer, while Tourell will be boat captain as well as co-skipper in the double-handed events. In a highly competitive fleet of Open 60's, the British pair will be looking to build up their sailing experience together over the course of the summer in events such as the Calais Round Britain Race and Fastnet Race, before competing in the blue riband TJV, which will pit them against the best skippers in the worlds and leading boats in the IMOCA class.

Mark Tyndall, CEO of Artemis Investment Management Limited, commented, "It was a fantastic crossing for AOR. Reading the logs that Jonny and Graham sent back from the boat every day, you really started to feel what it must be like to sail on this formula one racing yacht. We are very pleased with their performance together and that they have arrived home safely. The whole team can now focus on the busy summer of events in the build up to the Transat Jacques Vabre, when Jonny and Gringo race in a high class fleet of Open 60s. After such a positive crossing from Antigua, I have no doubt their competitors will be keeping their eye on the team."

For more information please visit www.artemisoceanracing.com .
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Tim Kelly - Pitch PR T: +44 207 494 1616 M: +44 7773 325 533 E: tim.kelly@pitchpr.com
Jonny Malbon
Jonny Malbon, 32, was boat captain for Artemis Ocean Racing in 2006 and stepped up to skipper in early 2007. Throughout 2006 Jonny proved his racing pedigree, skippering Artemis Ocean Racing to break the Round Britain and Ireland race record.
Jonny managed the refit and was boat captain of the race winning Maxi-Cat, Doha 2006, during the non-stop round-the-world race, the Oryx Quest in 2005. Malbon was also boat captain of Ellen MacArthur's Route du Rhum winning Open 60 Kingfisher in 2002, before going on to successfully co-skipper the Open 60 under the Team888 flag.
He has also raced extensively aboard Peter Harrison's superyacht Sojana, and has been part of the highly successful Chernikeef 2 team.

The Boat
Open 60s are one of the fastest boats in sailing - built in carbon fibre using the latest hi-tech structures; they are designed to be as light as possible for speed but strong enough to withstand the worst of conditions.
They are designed from the outset to be sailed by just one person. There are very few comforts aboard, and the helmsman spends most of the time in the 'crash' seats in a cuddy that separates the open cockpit and deck from the Navigation work station. This is the nerve system, packed with electronics and computer equipment to help navigate, check performance, and communicate.
The boat has a number of different sails to suit various conditions - not as many sails as a boat designed to be sailed by a 12 strong crew, but enough to keep the solo skipper working hard all the time matching sail plan to wind and sea conditions. There are three types of sails - a indexsail, headsails on furlers (rolled up around the stays) and a spinnaker - although alone, the spinnaker is only used in very stable conditions (to be caught in a squall with this huge balloon of sail could mean disaster - end of race).
The boats also have to prove their ability to turn themselves the right way up if they become knocked down or turn upside down. This is part of the latest IMOCA safety rules which require the boat to right without the assistance of waves by the skipper taking some action to turn the boat over.
Previously sailed as Pindar AlphaGraphics, the Artemis boat is widely recognised as one of the fastest yachts on the circuit. Designed by Owen Clarke and Rob Humphries, it was originally built as Hexagon, for Graham Dalton's 2002 Around Alone campaign. Since Pindar bought in 2003, it has been finely tuned under the direction of Mike Sanderson and Emma Richards for entry into a number of high profile events, including the Transat Jacques Vabre 2003, the Transat 2004 and the Rolex Fastnet 2005.