BT and Artemis Ocean Racing enter the Transat Jacques Vabre

by OC Events on 10 Jul 2009
Offshore Challenges will be managing two IMOCA entries is this year's Transat Jacques Vabre race that starts on 9th November. Both BT and Artemis Ocean Racing, two very different designs, will take on the 4,700-mile race from Le Havre (France) to Puerto Limon (Costa Rica).

BT will be raced by Sébastien Josse and Jean-Francois Cuzon, and yesterday it was announced that Samantha Davies, the top British finisher in the 2008/09 Vendée Globe, will skipper Artemis Ocean Racing II alongside Frenchman Sidney Gavignet.

Artemis Ocean Racing, under the new management of Offshore Challenges, has recruited 4 new sailors into the team alongside Jonny Malbon who continues with his crucial Figaro campaign. Davies has signed with the team for the next 6 months; Gavignet will race in the TJV; Nick Bubb will support Malbon in his Solitaire du Figaro race and then go on to compete with Malbon in the two-up Tour de Bretagne, a 7 day classic two-up race around the Brittany coast; and finally Ollie Bond will race the 2009 Mini Transat this Autumn as Britain's best hope in the Class. Bond has already proven his worth, accumulating podium finishes in the major races of the circuit over the past two years. Bubb has previously run two Mini Transat campaigns that gives him invaluable know-how and and his background will be very helpful for Ollie Bond as well.

Offshore Challenges origins lay in the Mini class Ð both Ellen MacArthur and Mark Turner, owners of OC Group Ð raced in the 1997 edition of the Mini Transat Ð a single-handed race across the Atlantic in tiny 26-foot boats. 'It was the first and last time I actually beat Ellen on the water!' commented OC GroupÕs CEO, Mark Turner. 'After that I decided to hang up my own oilskins and focus on managing EllenÕs career which, as history has shown, was obviously a smart thing to do! The Mini class is the breeding ground for up and coming new talent and the majority of professional French sailors follow a cycle from Mini to Figaro, Class 40 and then on to IMOCA 60s. Applying this theory to the Artemis Ocean Racing team is the first-step in producing more British short-handed sailing talent who can go on and race competitively against the best in the world.'

For Davies, her personal interest in stepping into the Artemis Ocean Racing team is to learn from another top level sailor and to gain knowledge about the new generation of more powerful boats - alongside her own goal of finding a new sponsor to compliment Roxy and build a new IMOCA 60 for the Vendée Globe 2012. With several years of IMOCA 60 Class racing under her belt (she is currently 4th in the IMOCA World Championship rankings), Sam will also be providing invaluable technical feedback to the Artemis team in the evolution of Artemis Ocean Racing II.

The phase 1 'weight-saving' refit of Artemis Ocean Racing II is nearly complete and the boat is expected to be back in the water w/c 20th July.

http://www.artemisoceanracing.com