Match Race for lead in The Artemis Transat

by OC Events on 23 May 2008 It's now a match race for towards Boston in The Artemis Transat, with less than 400 miles to go and the two leaders only some 20 miles apart in terms of distance to the finish.

A figure that should be taken with caution, as Armel Le Cléac'h emphasised: taking into account wind shifts and final trajectory subtleties, Loick Peyron in fact approximately has a 60-mile advantage. Lighter winds expected off the south of Nova Scotia tonight may open the game... but the duelists today certainly remained very vague about their plans!

An attack from Brit Air? Loick Peyron didn't seem very convinced when we asked him if he thought Le Cléac'h would make his move. 'I think Armel wants to be sure to finish, he needs to qualify for the Vendée Globe, he's not going to take any risks', answered a half-asleep Peyron. Yet he admitted feeling some pressure, and having raced against him on the Figaro circuit, Gitana Eighty's skipper knows what kind of competitor Armel is. Despite what he had announced yesterday, Le Cléac'h pushed during the night and reduced the gap throughout the storm, maintaining high speeds and keeping his brain gears spinning. The psychological warfare has begun.

'I'm going towards the coast of Nova Scotia, I've decided to play the tactical game 100%', said Brit Air's skipper. Looking at the wind files this morning, one could have suspected that a tack was inevitably on the cards for Armel, but the reality might have been different, so it was worth checking with the skipper... who smiled and declared 'Well, that's the big question for today, but the shift might allow me to continue on this direct route and gain some miles.' Consider this final duel as a match race - Loick Peyron took advantage of a lift last night to place himself well windward of his rival, which is a regatta textbook move, we're now looking at a finale where close-combat racing tactics apply. Lighter winds expected tonight will complicate the game, but the wise Peyron, contemplating a third historical victory in the event (but as one might expect not uttering a word about it) certainly envisaged every possible scenario and will defend his leadership at all costs. 'I'm two days away from finishing in good place - I hope - in Boston, and even though I may have gone a bit far south, I think my position is rather good.' The man sure knows how to make good use of understatements, and is mentally gearing up for a coastal finish. Behind him, Armel Le Cléac'h will put a continuous pressure, and one can expect his typical 'Jackal' surprise attack tactics to come into the picture sooner or later.
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The sun came out, the seas are flat and it's finally calmer... Well, for the leaders at least, who experienced the worst of the storm last night. 45 knots of wind at the most, very rough seas and the bite of cold North Atlantic temperatures have been on the menu, and in those conditions Generali proved very fast. The boat is at ease in strong breeze, and her skipper likes nothing but a good fight - remember that Yann Elies moved into the lead on Day 3 following what we described as a 'windy, wet and wild night'! He is now less than 100 miles from the leader, and on his way to secure a place on the podium. Safran pulled away from the rest of the second pack last night, and the fight is now fierce between Roxy (suffering from daggerboard problems after a collision with a whale, see below), Akena Verandas and Cervin EnR, aboard which Yannick Bestaven said this morning: 'It's blowing 28 to 30 knots from the North, boat speed oscillates between 17 to 19 knots, she's perfectly in her element. Seas are a bit rough, but it's full speed ahead.' The final sprint at the front of the fleet may be at the centre of everyone's attention, yet the battle in the pack is also very close-fought and fascinating to watch unfold. And it's not over... look out for Aviva's comeback!

The time allowance granted to Loick Peyron by the jury for having diverted and rescued Vincent Riou is 2h30, which takes into account the time spent but also the position change induced. Gitana Eighty's skipper does not face any penalty regarding the use of his engine during the manoeuvre. Peyron received the jury's congratulations for his swift operation. Commenting on that decision, Loick said: 'That's a capital I hope I won't have to use, it would spoil everything.'

Sam Davies sails into a whale
'I sailed into a whale - my starboard daggerboard took the shock and now I can only use half my daggerboard. Bit scarey! I was sittong at back of boat fixing my mainsheed padeye and doing about 13 knots. We had 36-37 knots of wind last night but was expecting more so had put three reefs in the main - unfortunately, the big wind didn't come so I was a bit down on speed. I am knackered from reefing then back to full main, plus a tack as well. Attach on Safran is quite hard and she is faster boat than me and its pretty impossible to defend on the three boats behind - if I defend on one another one could get passed. I will just sail my own race...'

IMOCA 60 - Positions - DTF - DTL - at 18:00 hrs 22 May 2008

Gitana Eighty 336.1 0.0
Brit Air 359.1 23.0
Generali 440.6 104.5
Safran 697.1 361.0
Cervin EnR 777.4 441.3
Akena Vérandas 784.3 448.2
Roxy 789.4 453.3
Aviva 828.3 492.2


Class40 fleet news.

The Artemis Transat's leading pack were the first to catch new breeze this morning with frontrunner, Giovanni Soldini and Telecom Italia taking the first bite of 15 knot south-westerly wind in the early hours, 85 miles from the ice gate. Beluga Racer (2nd place), Mistral Loisirs - Pole Sante ELIOR (3rd place) and Appart' City (4th place) caught the breeze soon afterwards. Overnight, however, there were losers in the fleet. At the position blackout last night, Appart' City was just 3 miles behind Thierry Bouchard's Mistral Loisirs - Pole Sante ELIOR and Boris Herrmann's Beluga Racer, although the gap had widened to just under 30 miles this morning, instantly splitting the tight-knit trio by an unusual margin after 12 days of immensely close racing. The reason, possibly, stems from Yvan Noblet's report that his wind instruments had ceased to function, hamstringing performance on Appart' City.

The more southern boats have hurt most in the light breeze. Louis Duc in 10th place on Groupe Royer switched to port tack, heading north-west this morning: 'I'd worked hard all night to keep the boat moving,' he reported to the race office. 'I was on a 260° heading, which was good for the ice gate, but at daylight, the wind died completely.' While Louis Duc wriggled north to find some breeze, one boat in the southern group banked some south at 0600GMT: 'I had to do a little tack south after the position poll came in,' said Miranda Merron in 5th place with 40 Degrees this morning, 'just to keep between Alex and the ice gate.' Merron's position report revealed that Alex Bennett and Fujifilm were 19 miles behind 40 Degrees, slightly to the south and a covering manoeuvre was required in their mid-Atlantic match race. For Merron, the ice gate is a hurdle: 'It's a shame that the gate is almost dead upwind and it'll be good to get to it as there's some quite big weather coming in.' Once passed the gate - a 130 mile long horizontal line south of the Grand Banks - tactical options for the Class40 fleet will broaden, but for now, beating into the building breeze is essential. 'It's currently blowing between 12-13 knots and it's very civilised,' she reported at 1000GMT, 'and it's rising slowly by about 1 knot every half an hour.' This afternoon, Merron's lead had decreased slightly to 12 miles, although she has picked up speed, averaging 8 knots - 1 knot faster than Bennett - as the pair head for the ice gate. 'We've had such an easy time of it, it's probably about time we all had a bit of a spanking.' With the highest winds of the entire race expected over the next 24 hours, Merron is