One in, one out

Another 11th hour British competitor for the Open 60 division of the Artemis Transat

The big news today certainly is the official entry of Steve White aboard Spirit of Weymouth in the IMOCA Class taking the number of IMOCA skippers to 13.

Having completed his qualifying passage, the young Brit takes his place amongst a very impressive line-up of all the greatest names in singlehanded sailing with only four days remaining until the start on Sunday, 11 May at 1400 BST. On the other hand, Patrice Carpentier will finally not be at the start in Plymouth on Sunday in the Class40 category which leaves the Class40 with 11 skippers on the start line.

"90% of the fleet is ready at 95%", says Emmanuel Guedon, responsible for the safety checks. It has been another busy day under glorious sunshine here in Plymouth, where the boats are safely docked in Sutton Harbour. A stark contrast to what the skippers will face on the other side of the Atlantic where they will encounter extreme cold, fog and the threat of ice (see Michel Desjoyeaux's comments below and more on that subject tomorrow), There is definitely a very summery atmosphere in The Barbican, where the crowd enjoys 25degC temperatures and the various acts of the Blues and Jazz Festival.
This first week of May has certainly benefitted from unusually warm conditions, encouraging a huge number of visitors to come and discover the high-tech racing machines moored in Sutton Harbour. The Class40 boats are raising the public's interest as well, proving how open and accessible ocean racing has remained since the beginnings - the adventurous and pioneering spirit is clearly still alive, embodied by this class of boats which mixes seasoned professionals and enlightened amateurs, some taking on their first solo crossing.

And even if a few drops of rain can be expected tomorrow and on Friday, these exceptional conditions are here to stay, and it looks like the start of the race on Sunday will be spectacular: more than 25degC, and a gentle easterly breeze to exit Plymouth Sound under gennaker! It will then be vital to escape the English Channel's local effects as soon as possible, and to catch the expected northerlies - what lies ahead of that first phase is still somewhat hard to foresee, but it looks like this 13th edition of the 'original' of all transats will require a lot of concentration in its early stages.

The Professor's opinion.

Having won the Vendée Globe in 2000-1, the Route du Rhum two years later and The Transat in 2004, Michel Desjoyeaux boasts an unrivaled singlehander's track record. Today in Plymouth, the 'Professor' shared his views:

"The Artemis Transat is tougher than the Route du Rhum! It's an important event in terms of sporting results, and a difficult one since the course takes us against the prevailing winds - it's cold, and the risk of drifting ice is important. The waters around the Labrador current are only 2 to 5 degrees, almost the same conditions as in the Southern Ocean.

"This edition's line-up is again an impressive one, and we won't have any time to waste while crossing the Atlantic! I'll have to watch out for Sébastien Josse, whose boat is very close to Gitana Eighty in her concept, but of course people like Loick Peyron, Marc Guillemot, Yann Elies, Vincent Riou and Armel Le Cléac'h are very serious rivals. Samatha Davies has also optimised her boat with more ballast capacity, new daggerboards, new winches. and that boat, my ex-PRB, was already quite at ease upwind."

Musto Trophy

Musto, clothing partner to The Artemis Transat, has put up a handsome trophy to be awarded to the skipper of the first IMOCA Open 60 yacht to cross the Newfoundland race gate after crossing the treacherous Atlantic. Nigel Musto comments: "This singlehanded event is, perhaps, the toughest of the classic races which pit one man against an ocean. It demands the very best clothing systems to maintain the sailors' performance and morale in a vicious cocktail of weather conditions. We are proud that Musto HPX is, for most, the breathable technology of choice. The competitor who carries off the Musto Newfoundland Trophy will deserve recognition for an outstanding achievement." The first boat to reach 53°04.4' West, the longitude of Cape Race, will win the new trophy after 1900 sea miles of difficult ocean sailing from The Lizard.