The Artemis Transat 2008 - It's still wide open in the North Atlantic

The Artemis Transat 2008
www.theartemistransat.com Übersicht

19 May 2008
Day 9: Straight (?) to the ice gate

- Ice gate "in sight" for the leaders, but another light airs hurdle on the way
- Why to tack, how to tack, when to tack? Read about the manoeuvre
http://theartemistransat.com/60/article.asp?sid=15371
everyone is talking about
- Unai Basurko pulls out of the race
- PRB could cross the ice gate (in its western section) around 2:00 GMT Tuesday
- North Atlantic Ice - Be sure to watch the new video feature http://theartemistransat.com/60/video.asp
- First boats to cross the Newfoudland Musto race gate tomorrow - Who will claim the Musto Trophy?
- Heavy weather (around 40 knots) expected for Wednesday

All of the latest positions, breaking news and video features updated daily at www.theartemistransat.com
www.ocvision.co.uk/cms/story/
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In Detail
When will they finally get some rest, when will the boats will finally enjoy stable conditions, allowing the autopilots to perform the task they've been designed for? Bumping at mid-morning into yet another light patch - foreseen by our expert Jean-Luc Nélias four days ago - the leaders have to be on deck, trying to prevent the dreaded speedometer values downfall. Less than 0,5 knots of speed for PRB, race leader, at the 10:00 GMT position update - Vincent Riou sees Loick Peyron gradually gaining miles while Brit Air, even faster, closes the gap as well.

"It's warm, it will be the warmest ice gate I've ever seen", said Loick Peyron this morning, commenting on the very peculiar weather situation Gitana Eighty had to cope with. As Jean-Luc Nélias points out in his daily analysis, the effect of the Gulf Stream certainly partly explains these conditions temperature-wise... but Loick didn't have time this morning to stay on the phone and discuss the matter over - it was getting lighter and lighter, boat speed was dramatically dropping and something had to be done in order to maximise the gain on Vincent Riou, already stuck in the light winds zone Gitana Eighty was entering when we called. Looking back, it was completely foolish to hope we'd be able to reach the leader during our daily mid-morning calls session. If making a boat go fast is a job that requires accuracy, preventing t from stopping when the winds dies is an even more demanding task. Aboard Brit Air, Armel Le Cléac'h managed to reduce the gap, before being trapped too - but receiving the 10:00 positions update, Armel certainly made everything he could to avoid the sticky trapped the leading duet fell into.

Further north, Yann Elies aboard Generali was expected to tack upon receiving the aforementioned update, clearly showing the demise of the leading trio - were we going to witness a Yann attack on the western front, was the white and red Finot-designed monohull going to take advantage of the situation to gain in longitude, reindexing parallel to 40º North, slightly delaying his dive towards the south? The 12:00 position update showed the wind on the zone was not exactly as forecasted, since Generali did tack but managed to keep sailing to the SW.heading straight towards the front of the fleet, Marc Guillemot aboard Safran (5th) is getting better everyday, and now only feels the pain from his ribcage after having performed physically demanding manoeuvres such as tacks (be sure not to miss Kito de Pavant's feature concerning that particular matter). While the "Vintage Finot division" (as Yannick Bestaven aboard Cervin EnR calls Roxy, Akena Verandas and his own ex-Aquitaine Innovations) is putting on a great fight, Marco is gradually escaping, getting his physical potential back. Sam Davies (Roxy) and Yannick Bestaven (Cervin EnR), positioned north, are seen as coveted targets by Arnaud Boissieres (Akena Verandas) who thinks his position further south is favourable. Seeming tired (see below), Dee Caffari aboard Aviva could come back into the game when the boats in front will slow down in lighter airs... but crossing the ice gate conditions tactics for the moment, and the obstacles will be the same for everyone.

Musto Newfoundland Trophy
The first boat is expected to cross the Musto race gate off Newfoundland tomorrow and will win the beautiful Musto Trophy. Loick Peyron (Gitana Eighty) has so far picked up all the race gate prizes including an Omega watch at Eddystone and his height in G.H. Mumm champagne at the Lizard - can he get ahead of Vincent Riou to claim the Musto Trophy as well?

Dee Caffari tells it like it is
"I'm going to tell you how it really is. Yesterday felt like day two of the endless tacks, and I have a sneaky suspicion that it will be like this until the end. I've seriously lost count of the number of tacks I have done, the number of reefs in and out I have done and then the number of sail changes period. My arms ache, I can definitely say that there are no bingo wings on me at the moment, but the speed at which I turn the handles of the pedestal has definitely slowed. I even tacked twice yesterday where through fatigue I made silly mistakes to leave me 'stuck in irons' as we say in the trade, which is basically stuck in the middle neither on one tack or the other. That was tricky to get out of and much more hard work than you want at that time."

Ready to tack? The complete guide to an exhausting manoeuvre - by Kito de Pavant
It's probably the most basic manoeuvres of them all, the first one every kid learns when he takes up sailing lessons. Yet this move, which each entrant in The Artemis Transat has performed a million times on all types of boats, reindexs a very tricky one to carry out swiftly aboard an IMOCA Open 60. Let's set the scenery - the front has passed, the shift to the right has occurred, let's seize the opportunity and shorten the route, reducing the angle. The boat sails on port tack in 25 knots of wind with two reefs in the index and the staysail, the seas are chaotic. The whole story here http://theartemistransat.com/60/article.asp?sid=15371

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