Fleet divides

Will north, south or in between pay for competitors in the Artemis Transat

Tuesday May 13th 2008, Author: James Boyd, Location: United Kingdom
Images courtesy of Expedition Navigation Systems
 
Positions at 0800
 
Pos
Boat Crew
Lat
Long
Spd
Crs
Spd
Crs
Spd
Dist
DTF
DTL
Instant
4hr aver
24hr aver
Open 60s
1
Foncia Michel Desjoyeaux
49 42.70' N
17 59.91' W
14.7
245
18
271
14.2
341.8
2425.3
0
2
Generali Yann Elies
49 18.27' N
17 45.64' W
15
263
18.3
265
14.1
338.7
2428
2.7
3
BT Sebastien Josse
49 03.71' N
17 43.00' W
20
269
17
269
13.8
330.3
2436
10.7
4
PRB Vincent Riou
49 07.48' N
17 34.62' W
16.2
256
15.9
261
13.5
324
2442.1
16.8
5
Gitana Eighty Loïck Peyron
49 17.89' N
17 24.59' W
21.1
272
17.2
264
13.2
317
2450.6
25.4
6
Brit Air Armel le Cleac'h
49 11.08' N
16 55.23' W
16.4
278
15
268
12.5
301.2
2468.1
42.8
7
Roxy Samantha Davies
49 22.42' N
16 03.61' W
16.1
265
14.2
265
12.1
291.1
2503.3
78
8
Akena Vérandas Arnaud Boissiéres
49 29.11' N
15 56.89' W
13
264
13.4
269
12.1
290.7
2508.8
83.5
9
Safran Marc Guillemot
48 37.25' N
15 35.77' W
12.5
215
12.8
214
11.4
274.5
2513.9
88.6
10
Cervin EnR Yannick Bestaven
48 40.70' N
14 51.01' W
13.5
221
12.6
224
10.9
260.9
2543.7
118.4
11
Aviva Dee Caffari
48 56.90' N
14 11.98' W
12.1
218
10.5
223
9.5
228.7
2571.3
146.1
12
Spirit of Weymouth Steve White
50 33.24' N
14 09.96' W
15.2
271
14
280
10.6
254.7
2588.3
163
13
Pakea Bizkaia 2009 Unaï Basurko
48 23.70' N
13 31.60' W
4.4
257
9
245
8.8
212.2
2593.8
168.6
Class40
1
Telecom Italia Giovani Soldini
50 14.33' N
13 57.94' W
9.3
289
12
283
10
240.8
2586.4
0
2
Appart City Yvon Noblet
49 58.15' N
13 36.65' W
9.2
282
10.7
285
9.9
238.1
2597.1
10.7
3
Mistral Loisirs - Pole Santé ELIOR Thierry Bouchard
49 47.28' N
13 22.49' W
9.5
294
8.9
268
9.4
225.3
2604.4
18
4
Groupe Royer Louis Duc
49 20.78' N
13 10.48' W
9.9
235
9
248
9.7
233.7
2608.4
22
5
Custo Pol Halvard Mabire
49 40.21' N
13 07.67' W
11.9
253
9
274
9.2
221.6
2612.9
26.5
6
Fujifilm Alex Bennett
50 13.25' N
12 56.84' W
7.5
290
9.8
298
9
215.3
2624.7
38.4
7
Groupe Partouche Christophe Coatnoan
50 15.30' N
12 55.83' W
11
304
10.4
285
9.9
237.3
2625.7
39.3
8
Clarke Offshore Racing Simon Clarke
49 35.05' N
12 35.85' W
8.7
321
7.9
294
8.7
207.8
2630.1
43.8
9
40 Degrees Miranda Merron
48 36.06' N
12 25.35' W
8.2
229
8.4
236
8.5
202.8
2632.8
46.4
10
Beluga Racer Boris Herman
48 46.03' N
12 22.67' W
9.8
238
8
239
8.2
197.5
2635.5
49.1
11
Prévoir Vie Benoit Parnaudeau
49 32.00' N
11 45.23' W
8.9
242
8.2
252
8.9
213.6
2664.8
78.4
 
Crafty devils. The way the position update work in the Artemis Transat is that there is a black out for roughly 12 hours between 1800 and 0600 the following morning (in addition to this the organisers are thinking about adding one longer black-out period at some point during the race - details have yet to be announced). So the more cunning skippers wait until the clock has struck 6pm GMT and then make their tactical moves.

And so over night the fleet has divided into three. The middle group of IMOCA Open 60s are still charging west, the lead boats appearing to have sailed into pressure, averaging 18 knots over the last four hours in 20 knot northeasterlies. Having made a short hitch south to take up position as the most southerly boat yesterday Michel Desjoyeaux and his Foncia have moved into the lead this morning and have crossed the fleet taking up position to the north of the main pack. To the south Generali, BT and PRB are neck and neck. However...

Early this morning, Safran (skipper Marc Guillemot suffering a possible broken rib) Dee Caffari on Aviva and Yannick Bestaven's Cervin pretty much simultaneously chose to gybe south. Unai Basurko on Pakea already chose to go this way last night, although he is DFL even behind Steve White. This choice of tactic is probably due to the fleet lining up to cross a ridge, currently 200 miles to the west of the leaders where a southerly track through might be quicker than one to the north.

However routing is looking enticing to the north. Foncia's path forward shows her being slow tomorrow until Thursday morning as she passes through the NW-SE orientated ridge. She then breaks into more easterly breeze but the met situation at this point is messy in the extreme with a shallow area of high pressure just to the west of the Azores and weak depressions to the north and south of Newfoundland. This is also likely to mean that the forecast may well change from what we are seeing at present.

In the Class40s there has been a more definite three way split. Giovanni Soldini, Alex Bennett on Fujifilm and Christophe Coatnoan on Groupe Partouche have broken away north, while Miranda Merron on 40 Degrees and Boris Herman on Beluga Racer have headed south. Soldini still leads, but this is partly by virtue of the fact he is closer to the great circle. He is only 10 miles ahead of Yvan Noblet on Appart City who is leading the middle group. The boats to the north are enjoying slightly stronger winds (around 20 knots) from slightly north of due east, while for the boats to the south it is lighter and more ESEerly.

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