World-class line up for The Artemis Transat

by OC Events media on 26 Apr 2008 Unfortunately, defending IMOCA titleholder Mike Golding will not be fighting to retain his crown due to keel problems, but this year's fleet includes the 2004 overall winner, making his big comeback on the monohull scene.

Michel Desjoyeaux, skippering a latest generation IMOCA 60, is undoubtedly the king of solo sailors, being the only man to have won the three most prestigious single-handed events. The Vendée Globe, the Route du Rhum and The Transat: those three races have seen 'The Professor' triumph, and that remains up to today an unequalled feat.

Coming back to Plymouth wearing a double crown is multihull legend Loïck Peyron, whose name is very closely associated with The Artemis Transat. Having won the 1992 and the 1996 editions of the race, Loïck equaled Eric Tabarly's record (winner in 1964 and 1976) and recently proved, capturing first place in last winter's solo Transat Ecover B2B from Brazil to Brittany that his amazing seamanship and strategic skills were sharper than ever. Also coming from the world of multihulls is Marc, former holder of the North Atlantic record (crewed), Guillemot on his new generation IMOCA 60.

The second Vendée Globe winner of this lineup is of course Vincent Riou, whose PRB IMOCA 60 has proved successful straight out of the yard, winning an impressive number of events in 2007. Having been forced to retire from the Barcelona World Race due to mast breakage, Vincent will be up against former crewmate Sébastien Josse in The Artemis Transat. Skippering the BT IMOCA 60, Josse has three circumnavigations under his belt and held the outright round-the-world record, the famous Jules Verne Trophy. Coming from the same 'school' - the Figaro Class - as Josse, Riou and Desjoyeaux - are the very talented 'young guns' of the IMOCA class, namely Yann Eliès and Armel Le Cléac'h, who have both held the title of Offshore Single-handed Champion of France, and who are known for their clairvoyance and mental strength in close-combat racing. But the French contingent will have to face a strong British opposition including Jonny Malbon and Dee Caffari, both skippering brand new boats, and Samantha Davies, who has been adopted by the Breton single-handers following very creditable results on the tough Figaro circuit. Sam is at the helm of Roxy, ex-PRB and the only boat to have ever won two editions of the Vendée Globe. Completing the IMOCA lineup, former Mini Class teammates Arnaud Boissières and Yannick Bestaven (winner of the 2001 Mini Transat) clearly are seen as dangerous outsiders, a status they share with Spain's Unai Basurko, who completed a circumnavigation in 2007 aboard his current IMOCA Open 60 Pakea Bizkaïa 2009.

The Class40 lineup, a subtle mix of seasoned professional racers, rising talents and enlightened amateurs, also has its shares of titles of glory. Having entered three Vendée Globes including the inaugural edition, Patrice Carpentier won in the 50-ft division in 2001. This talented racer and journalist has also taken part in the first-ever Whitbread Round the World Race, the Mini Transat, and the 1984 OSTAR! Halvard Mabire, who has also been on the international scene for more than 20 years, has a staggering total of 28 Atlantic crossings under his belt, and his experience will undoubtedly be a major asset. Another Vendée Globe 'veteran', Benoît Parnaudeau has already proved his talent and determination. Italian skipper Giovanni Soldini, winner of the 1998 Around Alone Race, is obviously a favourite in the Class40, having just won the Transat Jacques Vabre by a comfortable margin. The Artemis Transat 2008 will mark his fifth participation in the event! Miranda Merron, well known on the IMOCA and Class40 circuits, arguably represents the best British hope in this category, and is joined on the starting line by fellow Brits Simon Clarke and Alex Bennett, the latter having previously shone on the Mini circuit in France. That lineup would not be complete without the aspiring pros such as Yvan Noblet, Christophe Coatnoan, Louis Duc or Boris Hermann . a new generation for whom the Class40 is a logical stepping stone and enlightened amateur Thierry Bouchard.

2000 Open 60 battle
While seven 60ft trimarans engaged in the 2000 Europe 1 New Man STAR, the more remarkable fleet was that of the Open 60s of which a phenomenal 24 were entered. The reason for this incredible growth was because many were using the event as both a shakedown and a qualifier for the Vendée Globe the following November (like this year).

In the end the race produced two surprise winners. First trimaran was Francis Joyon's Eure et Loir. Joyon had been leading the 1996 race until it came to a premature end following the pitch pole of his trimaran. Come 1999, the burly French man had lost his sponsorship from Banque Populaire who had passed the reigns over to Lalou Roucayrol and were building a new boat especially for the 2000 race.

In the Open 60 fleet, picking a pre-race favourite was hard with a line-up including solo sailing heavy weights such as Thomas Coville, Michel Desjoyeaux, Yves Parlier, Mike Golding, Roland Jourdain and Dominique Wavre. Who would win? In the event it was none of them. Sailing a brand new boat in its maiden race, few were betting on a 23-year-old English girl. However, on day nine of the race Ellen MacArthur monitoring the weather like a hawk, spotted a lull ahead and by taking an unfavourable tack north neatly sidestepped it putting 75 miles on her competition that she would hold until the finish. This result was a defining moment in MacArthur's career, the first occasion when the sailing world realised that she was not out there simply to take part, but despite her tender years she had the ability to win.

2004 Record Tumble
The 2004 race was a truly international performance - a total of nine different nationalities (French, British, Italian, Swiss, Australian, New Zeland, Austrian, American and Canadian) represented the 37 competitors that crossed the line at 1300 GMT on Bank Holiday Monday, 31st May. Not surprisingly, the French dominated the podium in the ORMA 60 class - there was only one Italian, Giovanni Soldini, that could have upset that! - but in the home-grown French IMOCA class the top 5 slots were occupied by Britain (1st Mike Golding, 5th Conrad Humphreys), Switzerland (2nd Dominique Wavre), New Zealand (3rd Mike Sanderson) and Australia (4th Nick Moloney). And in the 50-foot classes, it was the American skippers that out-paced many of their European competition. Kip Stone and Joe Harris, first and second respectively, dominated the 50ft monohull class and Rich Wilson, may not have been able to match the pace of 50ft multihull class winner, Eric Bruneel, but saw off the competition of Dominique Demachy (GiFi) and Etienne Hochede (PIR2) to finish second.

The fleet collectively went the furthest north than in other previous editions of the race although staying as close to the shortest Great Circle route as possible. The North Atlantic weather was predictable for this time of year, dishing out depression after depression - Swiss skipper, Dominique Wavre, on Open 60 Temenos reported 58 knots of wind at one point during the race and many of the IMOCA fleet saw consistent 50 knot winds.

- The Artemis Transat 2008.

- 25 skippers will be on the starting line on Sunday, 11th May
- More than 270 Atlantic crossings between them
- 6 different nationalities

With 13 IMOCA Open 60 and 12 Class40 monohulls entered, The Artemis Transat 2008 boasts an impressive lineup.

Key figures

13 IMOCA Open 60s
12 Class40
6 nationalities
More than 270 Atlantic crossings between them
6 Vendée Globe participations
2 Vendée Globe winners
16 Transat* participations
5 Transat* victories between them (overall or class victories)
*OSTAR, Europe 1 Star, Europe 1 New Man Star, The Transat

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