Mike Golding wind the Artemis Challenge 2010 claiming the £10,000 charitable donation for the RNLI. The six round-the-world IMOCA 60 racers started the fourth consecutive Artemis Challenge at Cowes Week at 1000 BST today [Tuesday, 3rd August]. Joining the renowned round the world skippers were sporting stars Zara Phillips, Amy Williams, GMTV presenter Emma Crosby and former England rugby international Martin Bayfield as well as the Harry Potter ‘Weasley Twins’, James and Oliver Phelps.

Zara Phillips, racing onboard Artemis Ocean Racing, that finished 3rd overall said at the finish: “There was a really good atmosphere on board, we had a good team and we all worked really well together - it was easy for us as the crew know the boat so well. It’s great to finish on the podium but we thought that because it’s the Artemis Challenge and we’re on Artemis Ocean Racing so we thought let the others get in front!”


The boats set out on the 55-mile course round the Isle of Wight in a light south-westerly breeze and made good headway until coming to a standstill at the eastern point of the island before picking up the sea breeze which built steadily through the afternoon. The IMOCA 60s had a great reach from St Catherine’s to The Needles before hoisting their spinnakers for a high-speed dash to the finish line at the Royal Yacht Squadron. Mike Golding narrowly beat Roland Jourdain on Veolia Environnement by 10 minutes to finish in just under six and a half hours. 

The sporting stars were not on board just for a joy ride and the skippers had them working hard. “Zara and I were a good team on the grinder, we thought we were way better than the boys! It was so tiring though and big respect to all the sailors – to think they sail these boats all on their own around the world is absolutely amazing. It was a great team effort but I still feel like I’m floating around!” said Amy Williams.  Martin Bayfield who crewed for Dee Caffari, the only yachtswoman to have sailed solo around the world in both directions, was also put to work on the grinder although Dee let him steer for a while: “Dee was very gentle and very kind, and very polite about my steering!”

The £10,000 charitable donation by Artemis Investment Management will be made to the RNLI.The Artemis Challenge has become a popular fixture at the UK’s biggest yachting regatta offers a great mix of sporting competition and celebrity glamour. Mike Tyndall, Chief Executive, Artemis Investment Management commented: “It couldn’t have been better Artemis Challenge. After a few years where the wind has been a bit light, we had a proper breeze, almost had a restart halfway through the race when the breeze collapsed, then we had good breeze and a great romp home.”

Position / Entries / skippers / charities:
1st Mike Golding Yacht Racing / Mike Golding / RNLI
2nd Veolia Environnement / Roland Jourdain / Plan
3rd Artemis Ocean Racing / helmsman Simon Hiscocks / Kids Company
4th Gaes Centros Auditivos / Dee Caffari / Toe in the Water
5th VE1 / Ryan Breymaier & Boris Herrman / Chemo Outreach Project
6th Toe in the Water / Steve White / RNLI

After a ‘disastrous’ start to the Artemis Challenge yesterday due to an issue with their spinnaker, British yachtswoman Dee Caffari and her crew aboard GAES Centros Auditivos fought hard from the back of the fleet to secure fourth place in the annual IMOCA 60 sprint around the Isle of Wight. As the first woman to have sailed solo non-stop round the world in both directions, Dee is no stranger to fighting against the odds but was delighted to have assistance on this occasion in the shape of her crew which included former England and Lions lock, Martin Bayfield.

 

On reaching the dock, Dee said:

‘Despite our disappointing start we had some brilliant racing out there and fought really hard with all three of the boats ahead of us.’

 

The fleet initially made good progress on the 55 mile course in a light south westerly breeze giving GAES Centros Auditivos an opportunity to re establish themselves in the race. However, the front runners all came to a standstill at Brembridge Ledge on the eastern point of the island due to a lack of wind. As the sea breeze picked up the crew were forced to tack several times to stay out of the strongest tide as they cleared St Catherine’s Point and it was at this stage that Mike Golding Yacht Racing took the lead and the race positions were established.

 

Dee continued:

‘We had a great sail to the Needles and after our hand break turn back into the Solent we hoisted the spinnaker. The strong winds and good boat speed made for some exciting sailing to the finish, all of which helped hook Martin into a new sport. We are sad that we didn’t win a pot of money for Toe in the Water but everyone onboard had a great time out on the water which is what Cowes Week is all about.’

 

 

©Lloyd Images

 

The Artemis Challenge at Cowes Week was won by Mike Golding aboard Mike Golding Yacht Racing, a close second went to Roland Jourdain on Veolia Environnement with Artemis Ocean Racing skippered by Simon Hiscocks completing the podium. Fourth was Dee Caffari onboard GAES Centros Auditivos with VE1 and Toe in the Water taking fifth and sixth place respectively.

 

Later this year, Dee will be taking part in the Barcelona World Race onboard GAES Centros Auditivos with her Spanish co-skipper, Anna Corbella. They will be the only all-female crew taking part in the race that leaves Barcelona on 31st December 2010.

There was plenty of dramatic action on day two of the Extreme Sailing Series at Cowes Week today. With 18-20 knots of breeze, gusting over 20 at times, the nine teams were racing right on the edge, demanding 100% concentration and a constant rush of adrenalin for both the sailors and the spectators from the near capsizes, near misses and some not so near misses…
 
In race 11 (the fourth inshore race of today), approaching the windward mark Yann Guichard’s Groupe Edmond de Rothschild hit Franck Cammas’ Groupama 40 wiping out both rudders, leaving Groupama with no steerage whatsoever. Groupama 40 were heading straight for the shore at speed and for safety the crew leapt into the water to avoid the impact of hitting the sea wall – deciding they would prefer getting wet than being thrown forward on the boat and potentially injuring themselves. Groupama 40 has sustained both rudder and daggerboard damage and it will be a long night for the shore team to get them back racing tomorrow. Groupe Edmond de Rothschild has lodged a protest which the jury will hear and award redress if relevant.

 

 
Paul Campbell-James, the youngest skipper on the circuit at just 28, ensured The Wave, Muscat finished inside the top four in today’s races including the morning offshore race and the five inshore races this afternoon held off Egypt Point. Two wins this afternoon, two seconds and two third places put them top of the Extreme Sailing Series leaderboard on 85 points: “We got good starts which is a big part of today and we were pushing really hard downwind when we needed to. Sometimes we were so close to capsizing but you have to push it hard at times and back off at others.”

Yesterday, British skipper Mike Golding said he didn’t mind if they didn’t score any ‘bullets’ today, stating finishing inside the top four was more important. But his helm Leigh McMillan and the crew had other ideas – posting a win in the offshore race in the morning, then two further bullets in the penultimate and ultimate race of the day to finish in second place with 80 points. This kept the home crowd, who packed into the Extreme Bar and along the shoreline, happy as they cheered Golding’s crew all the way.

All the skippers talk about the importance of consistency but yesterday’s leader Loick Peyron on Oman Sail Masirah found his top form elusive today, only posting a third place in the second race this afternoon which leaves Peyron’s team in third place overall with 74 points – 7 points ahead of Guichard’s team in 4th.

Double Olympic Gold Medalist Roman Hagara had another day of mixed fortunes – one race win and a second place in the penultimate race, keeps them in contention in the middle of the leaderboard in 6th place, five points behind Mitch Booth’s The Ocean Racing Club who did well in this morning’s offshore finishing in second. Another frustrating day for Roland Jourdain’s Veolia Environnement who had rudder problems before the start of the first race then had to drop the mainsail between races to sort out another problem. The team unpracticed in the art of Extreme 40 racing, put a reef in early and raced cautiously throughout the afternoon, although the 1989 Formula 40 World Champion demonstrated why he clinched that title with a couple of great starts.

 

The opening day of the UK round of the Extreme Sailing Series at Cowes Week opened at full throttle delivering some stunning race action to the crowds lining Cowes shoreline at Egypt Point as the nine Extreme 40s took centre stage for five short course races this afternoon.
Newcomers Veolia Environnement had their first extreme drama in the very first race when, just metres after the start in the afternoon, they collided with a mooring bouy ripping the helm out of skipper Roland Jourdain’s hand and breaking the starboard rudder. It put them out of action for the day but Veolia Environnement is anticipated to be back on the start line for tomorrow.

It was Loick Peyron and his crew that put in the most consistent performance of the afternoon starting with a fifth, then three second places and a bullet in the last race to put Oman Sail Masirah at the top of the leaderboard at the end of Day 1 with 46 points: “We work together to keep consistent because that’s what count here. Our objective is to make the top 4 in each race.”

Ecover’s combined local knowledge of the Solent waters put Golding’s team in the running, finishing day 1 in second place on the leaderboard - the best result ever in his second year of campaigning in the Extreme Sailing Series: “The main thing about today is that we loved the win to begin with but the key thing for us was that we were consistent in pretty much every race and really that’s the key to it. If we can be consistent tomorrow and don’t mind if we go the whole day without a bullet so long as we’re consistently doing well in the regatta.

After the offshore morning race from the Royal Yacht Squadron to the mainland at Calshot, won by Mike Golding’s Ecover Sailing Team, the afternoon inshore racing started in earnest. After a gloomy start, the sun kicked in and lit up the race course as a solid 12-18 knots of wind built and the spectators that sat out all afternoon were rewarded for their dedication as the nine Extreme 40s scorched around the very short racecourses, often with their bows down and rudders out drawing gasps and cheers from the public. The short courses and their proximity to the shore combined with the wind ensured the pace was frenetic, forcing plenty of mistakes, keeping the umpires on their toes and the Extreme crews having to think fast on their feet.

Double Olympic Gold Medallist Roman Hagara and his Red Bull Extreme Sailing team came out of the starting blocks on a mission but the conditions proved challenging in more ways than one, as Hagara summed up: “We crashed into a rock in the first race [long offshore], won the second race and will try and forget the rest of the day! One pre-start, one penalty and some mistakes…. We know that we can do it in a better way.”

“It was right on the limit today – the whole racecourse was very, very short and the differences between the front boat and the back boat were minuscule. It’s so easy to lose places and if you make one mistake you can drop three or four places, but you can win it back if you keep your game together. The fact that everything was happening at such a frenetic pace you can’t really think at that pace as there is so much happening, it’s hard to take it all in. It’s lovely here at Cowes – great venue, great shorefront and we can see and hear the people on the shore cheering and yelling, and that’s a great feeling which is unusual in sailing.”

Hot favourites Yann Guichard’s crew on Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, found the conditions testing and finished in third place on the leaderboard with 38 points. It make take Guichard’s men a while to get used to the vagaries of The Solent but no one is under-estimating their comeback.

For full results, go to http://www.extremesailingseries.com/results/cowes/

Schedule for Sunday 1 August:

Planned from 12h00 – Moth Demonstrations & Racing
First Extreme 40 start at 3pm off Egypt Point
Daily public prizegiving 5.30pm
Jakey Chan & Wills of Steel 7-11pm Free entry

 

 

 Yann Guichard’s men proved to be unstoppable at the first round of the 2010 Extreme Sailing Series in Sète, France, claiming overall victory and firmly throwing down the gauntlet to the other seven teams for the remainder of the season: “We sailed really well today! On the last race, we had quite a bad start but we managed to find a little gap to go through… As I say often, the most important thing is to stay out of trouble and make less mistakes than the others. I would like to say a huge thank you to my crew because without them, we cannot do anything,” said Guichard. “I managed to put the boat in some pretty scary situations but thanks to them that doesn’t cause any trouble, so a big thank you to them.”

The forecasted Mistral conditions finally kicked in truly entertaining the crowds packed along the Môle, the beaches and the headland - an estimated 16,500 spectators watching the first event. The Extreme 40 crews were pushed to the limit in the strong gusts, teetering on the edge of disaster numerous times.

Second place on the overall podium went to Loick Peyron on Oman Sail Masirah who finished no lower than fourth in any of today’s five races propelling them ahead of Paul Campbell-James’ The Wave, Muscat: “Maybe my experience helped a little in taking second from The Wave, Muscat,” said Peyron, “But it is not just me, it is a team effort and without these guys it would be nothing. ‘CJ’ did a tremendous job and I am very happy, this is exactly what we were looking for to see both teams on the podium - it is a perfect finish. Second was the right place for us - Groupe Edmond de Rothschild were really consistent all event and deserve to win. We are pretty happy with the result, it wasn’t easy but every day was better, sometimes it was very bad but that gives us space to improve for next time.”

Third at the end of the first day of racing, then fourth on the second and third days, Groupama 40 slid down one more place on this last day of racing, following the cancellation of the final race. It’s a cruel blow but Franck Cammas and his crew have their minds on their four race victories out of the 20 contested, as well as the progress they need to make to perform better during the next events. 

The day did in fact start off very well for the Groupama Team on the race zone of Sète, with a second, first, fourth and sixth place during the first four races. At that stage in the race, Groupama 40 was still in with a chance of making the top three as she was just five points shy of The Wave Muscat and had a sizeable lead over Ecover.

Next up, race management announced a further two races in a steadily increasing wind, but Groupama 40 messed up the start of the 20th race. She then managed to get back into the action, before being forced to make a last chance manoeuvre to respect the rules of priority with another boat on the final upwind leg. After having to come to a complete standstill, Franck and his crew dug deep to catch up with the backrunners, before being blocked again as they tried to round the mark. They ultimately crossed the finish line in last position, whilst their direct rival Ecover, won the race. As such Groupama 40 lost all the advantage gained over her very good opening races.

After putting in a reef for what was set to be the final race, which counts for double points, Franck Cammas and his crew prepared to give it their all to get past Ecover and hang onto her fourth place in the overall ranking.

However, that’s where their luck ran out as the race committee decided not to take any chances in a wind which could have peaked at as much as 30 knots late in the day. As a result their previous result came back to haunt them as their last place now counted for double, enabling Ecover to get ahead of Groupama 40 in the overall ranking, without even having to race.

Back alongside, Franck Cammas and his crew were clearly disappointed by the outcome: “It’s a shame because we hadn’t sailed badly and we were making steady progress over each of the twenty races contested” but they were nonetheless realistic: “The top two, Groupe Edmond de Rothshild and Oman Masirah are a notch better than us. If we want to be in a position to beat them during the next races, we’re going to have to get off to some better starts and be more consistent. That’s the strength they have right now” explained the skipper of Groupama 40.

Keenly followed by the vast number of spectators thronging around the Saint Louis jetty, especially on Sunday, this first event in the Extreme Sailing Series in Sète has been a great success with some very fine winners, who didn’t let the top spot slip away from them throughout the four days of racing.

His team is now dismantling Groupama 40, so as he can join up with her again in Lorient and then Cowes, where the next event will be held at the start of August. Meanwhile Franck Cammas will get back to the rest of his Team in Lorient to assist them with the relaunch of the maxi trimaran Groupama 3, the recent winner of the Jules Verne Trophy, aboard which he will compete in the next edition of the Route du Rhum - La Banque Postale. 

 

At the penultimate day of racing at the first round of the 2010 Extreme Sailing Series in Sète, France, three teams are taking control at the top of the leaderboard. A jib sheet problem for Groupe Edmond de Rothschild and a penalty dealt Guichard’s men a last place in the final race, but they had done enough to keep their lead and there seem to be very few cracks in their armour. “We started off really well, then had a couple of less than good starts and in those conditions it becomes hard to catch up. Overall we’ve done good things but at times we did not shine, yet we still retain our first place and tomorrow we’ll try and stay on the podium!” said Guichard. Oman Sail Masirah’s convincing victory in the final race keeps Loick Peyron in third behind Paul Campbell-James’ team on The Wave, Muscat in second. Only 4 points separate each of the top three teams going into the final day tomorrow.

Plenty of close combat resulted in a number of penalties and collisions. The winds shifts proved costly for many, at the same time the stronger gusts gave the crowds what they love - massive acceleration and flying hulls.

Another great battle is developing mid-leaderboard with Franck Cammas in 4th place on 66 points, Red Bull Extreme Sailing 5th on 60 points, then The Ocean Racing Club and Ecover, 6th and 7th, on 59 points apiece. Ecover helmsman, Leigh McMillan, did a fantastic job in the early races, getting Ecover right in the mix at the front but the team’s fortunes did not continue: “Probably a little bit disappointed because we started the day really well, we got three seconds and were winning at one point, and then the breeze got up, we started to struggle a bit and our strategies off the start just really weren’t paying off,” said McMillan. “We weren’t picking the right shifts off the line and we got thoroughly punished. We had a few close port and starboards which was a difference between us getting round in the second or third or last because we had to do some slow double tacks at windward mark so that set us back massively as well. On these boats the margins are so small and it is all so close that a matter of metres can make the difference between the first and last sometimes.” Nick Moloney’s crew on Team GAC Pindar had their best result of this regatta with a second place in the fourth race today but remain bottom of the leaderboard on 39 points.

Perhaps the surprise act for many of the European regulars is Britain’s Paul Campbell-James, skipper of The Wave, Muscat. His 49er and match racing expertise, and youngest skipper in the fleet, makes him a formidable opponent and he is putting pressure on Groupe Edmond de Rothschild and Oman Sail Masirah at every opportunity he can get, whittling down Yann Guichard’s 8-point lead of yesterday to just 4 points at the end of play today. His aggressive style can lead to repercussions as we saw in race 3 today - after being denied a penalty call Campbell-James tried to get passed Loick Peyron, jostling for position on the short downwind leg resulting in ramming Masirah from behind!

You can watch all the video action from day 3 HERE

Looking surprisingly relaxed given the slow light winds which had slowed them through their final miles, Mike Golding and Javier Sanso fin ished the Transat Jacques Vabre on a perfect Caribbean morning, arriving into Costa Rica’s historic Puerto Limon - where in 1502 Christopher Columbus landed - to secure a hard won third place in race which winner Marc Guillemot had described as the toughest of his career.

Sailing upwind through the gentle, long swell in just a gentle breeze Golding and Sanso eased the IMOCA Open 60 Mike Golding Yacht Racing through the finish line in the early morning to be greeted by a large, colourful and noisy crowd. Mike Golding Yacht Racing finished at 8:59 in the morning, Costa Rica time, 14:59h GMT. Their time for the course from Le Havre is 17 days, 1 hour, 29 minutes and 38 seconds, finishing 1 day, 6 hours, 7 minutes and 28 seconds after the first placed IMOCA Open 60 monohull Safran.
The duo played their stealth card for the final stage of the race, a spoiler just in case there was any unexpected, major slow down in the final hours of the race, but in the end it was not needed as they never stopped moving through the last hours, trimming hard until the finish gun confirmed their success.

For Golding’s sixth Transat Jacques Vabre, it is the fourth time he has been in the top three, sailing three different IMOCA Open 60’s. But this was one of the toughest races, he explained on the dock. As well as two big storms which battered them through the second part of the first week, the duo struggled with a debilitating sequence of small problems which affected their ability to stay with the electric pace set by the leading pair, Safran and G roupe Bel.

But, given that their partnership was only forged a couple of weeks before the start, both were openly happy with their third placed finish.
 

” It is a good result for Javier and I. We were literally thrown together in the last weeks for the preparation before the race. So for both of us it is a good result. We had no training time. The boat has not sailed this summer, the shore time did a great job in the preparation in the time scale, but we just had not put the time in on the water. So you lok at Groupe Bel and Safran and you see two good boats, which are rightful first and second. They are well sailed, great teams and good boats. But we know in another world we could have done better but third for us is a good result,” commented Golding.

He added: ” In the scheme of things it was a pretty tough race, obviously we were going to be challenged from the outset. We looked at the southerly option and we came to the conclusion it was not a go-er in terms of competitiveness. The reality is it was downgraded but the reality was it was pretty horrible, but after that it was pretty fast and furious. We had some technical problems which hindered us a little bit more, but overall very pleased to be here, pleased to be third.”
They proved their tenacity, durability and experience when they weathered the second big storm, during which they had to constantly tend to the boat’s course due to limitations with their autopilot. They emerged from the storm in good shape and lay second for three days, but having lost both sets of wind indicators of f the top of their mast, they were compromised from there on in.

But, having lost his mast while leading the Vendée Globe which has then lead to a long re-fit for his IMOCA Open 60 which included updating the head of the keel, Golding has not sailed many miles with the re-fitted boat this summer.

 

For Sanso’s perspective he was delighted with the result especially after the storm shortly after the start and the electrical issues in the closing stages: “It was a pretty tough race and we are happy with the result. Certainly when I look back and remember being in Le Havre and looking around at the standard of the fleet, and all the rock-stars of the IMOCA Open 60 world, I am very pleased to be in here with this result. Yes, it is a little frustrating that we had our problems which held us back, our electrics, battery and engine problems, but in the end it is a good result to be proud of. It was tough in the big storm. I don’t mind telling you we were down bel ow for a time just ready for whatever was going to happen, lifejackets on, harnesses on, but the thing is it was so bad outside I don’t know what we would have done.”

 Too late to play cat and mouse….. it seems like Safran – the super light, quick IMOCA Open 60 boat the sponsors like to call the ‘jet fighter’ – will have devoured Groupe Bel by the time that the Transat Jacques Vabre leader appears from under the cover of ‘Stealth Mode’ to cross the finish line off Puerto Rica this evening to take a well deserved, hard earned victory.

 
        Both of the leading pair, Safran and Groupe Bel, pressed the stealth button in unison together to complete their final miles away from the public tracking system, but at eight this morning Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier-Bénac were already champions elect, with a 90 miles lead and less than 200 miles of the gruelling 4730 miles course from Le Havre to the finish off Puerto Limon, Costa Rica.

       While Bel was last seen tracking slightly north in search of some last minute bonus miles as the trade winds fold,  Safran was steadily rolling down towards the finish line, on the verge of a significant triumph. Second in the last edition of the race in 2007 and an heroic third on the last Vendée Globe when Guillemot brought the wounded Safran the final 1000 miles with no keel, Safran has lead this race since Thursday 12th, before battling through the storm of Friday 13th.

       Guillemot was predicting a slightly ‘sluggish’ finish in light winds, but could not see any obvious reason why their long time rivals Kito de Pavant and Francois Gabart on Groupe Bel should close that significant gap.

“We still have a few more gybes to go and the final 50 miles look like being rather sluggish, but the lead we currently have allows us to remain composed. The lead over Groupe Bel could be cut, but we’re certainly not going to give anything away now.”  Guillemot told his team today, happy with the routing they have taken since leaving the English Channel 14 days ago,
 “We know that we have left a smooth trail in our wake. As not everything can be done by the two of us together, on the weather it was Charles, who did most of the work picking up and analysing the data. Then, we took decisions together. We always agreed about them.”

And they have always pushed extremely hard:
  “With one or two exceptions, we always sailed with the maximum amount of sail. That requires a lot of energy. It really drained our reserves to carry out these manoeuvres and there were many of them. If we do manage to win, it will certainly feel good, as we really gave it our all throughout this race.”

      Built-in reliability has been one of the keys to the two leaders successes this race After being hobbled by gear problems, not least a damaged main sail mast track in the Vendee Globe, Guillemot reports that their only damage is to their big spinnaker and slight mainsail damage.
The battle for line honours, between Crepes Whaou! – the Multi50 – and Safran is in the balance. While Franck-Yves Escoffier was relishing the chance to beat the monohulls home, the three times winner of the Route du Rhum and twice winner of his class in this race, is keen to break the finish tape first.
      Mike Golding’s power problems have continued and the British skipper and his Spanish co-skipper Javier Sanso have been unable to start their engine for the last 48 hours and so are running with next to no electrical power. Mike Golding Yacht Racing had acceded a few miles to fourth placed Foncia but still has over just under 200 miles in hand over the double Vendée Globe winner with 412 miles to go to the finish. Foncia has been consistently quicker, while Golding’s avowed intent recently was simply to get across the finish with his boat and the podium finish intact.

      Spanish fortunes are both climbing and declining. Alex Pella and Pepe Ribes on W-Hotels are positively buoyant with their speed on the Farr design, making miles all the time on Veolia Envirinnement and Aviva. Adding more sail area, to the main and their spinnakers, is paying a regular dividend as is their hard driving style. Meantime 1876 was just emerging back into the trade winds again but has dropped to ninth
Quotes

Franck-Yves Escoffier (FRA) Crepes Whaou:
“Yes we are still hoping to get in before the IMOCA’s, even if our chances are reduced a little, we are little quicker on a straight course, but at night we tend to take the foot off the accelerator. But we are always truthful that our aim, that is for sure. When it happens, whoever is first – us or the IMOCA’s – there will not be very much in it. We think we will arrive during the night (Costa Rica time) But a little mouse told us there will not be much wind when we are arriving so nothing is for sure. We have fed flying fish with Whaou Crepes, they seem to like them because they keep coming back to the boat.
When we get there I will be congratulating the Crepes Whaou designers, saying to Vincent, to Erwan, Kévin and the others, that we have been on a boat which is great. It is good and looks good, which is good because I wanted a boat which was faster and more powerful, and I think that goal has been met.”

Marc Guillemot (FRA) Safran:

“All is good on Safran. We decided to go in stealth mode. We thought about it while passing through the West Indies, then thought about it yesterday but finally we went for it today. I understand it can be frustrating for those on shore, but it adds a bit of spice. But it’s a card to be played and it would be stupid not to use it before the end. There was a difference of 90 miles and with 250 miles to go, I don’t think we needed it or it will help in any way, there no great gains to be made. I don’t think we need to worry unduly about big surprises, unless Kito and Francois expect a big surprise. For the moment we have not really looked too closely at the weather forecasts to the finish, we are happy to be just racing in and to trim the sails. We kind of saw this time coming a couple of days ago. And we don’t have to do too much to push the boat. We have not really thought about breaking the finish line. Over this race focus has been 100% on the sporting result, there have been no side adventures, since the start gun the focus has just been on getting to the finish. These boats are very demanding, they require a lot of hard work to make them go. The physical effort has been great and we are tired of all the manoeuvres. If Crepes Whaou! get in first, so be it, it won’t bother me. And it would be good for Franck-Yves and Erwan but what interests us is in getting in before Groupe Bel and the others. They are a different class and did a different course.”

Yves Parlier (FRA) 1876:

“We have finally reached the trade winds and now have a much better speed, but we have been through some areas of terrible calms for the last 24 hours. We have started to have really hot conditions; there is a lot of light but not a cloud in sight. Yesterday it was 35º inside the boat, and now it is 32 with no shade at all. We have water so there is no worry of being dehydrated. However for the connections and the screens the pilots are broken, and so right now I am at the chart table and trying to drive at the same time with the only pilot that is working still. I am lying down at the bottom of the boat, head up looking at then gennaker through one window and when I want to correct the pilot I have to move, but at least I am in the shade! Pachi has just had a short rest as he has spent a lot of time taking the pilots apart and trying to repair them.”
“We are not too surprised that we were overtaken as until just a while ago we were only making two knots. But the road is still long and we hope not to lose any more positions, and even try and win something!”

Pepe Ribes (ESP) W-Hotels:

“Things are going extremely well. It is downwind in the Caribbean Sea, spinnaker, shorts and beautiful sailing here today. We are a bit surprised by our downwind speed, the last five or six days. In the Istanbul Race we were able to keep up with some of the boat here but now we faster than them, so the changes we have made are paying off.
We have a new main, much bigger, 17 sq m, and we have changed to downwind Quantum Sails, and so little by little we are getting better.”
“We are pushing very hard, the others will be doing the same. But it is hard, 12 hours every day on deck, the secret to be fast is not to use the auto-pilot, to steer as much as possible, you have to steer.”
“I think we are OK, a long way to go. We are maybe 50 miles to leeward of Veolia and maybe 120 miles to leeward of Aviva and it is a downwind race. We are sailing fast and in a good position.”
“ We share everything. Normally Alex pulls the grib files when he is off watch, but at the moment I am doing the weather. And we are sharing everything, we share the helm and just keep changing. We have little problems with the batteries and so on, but I hope we will be able to sort it out and have no more problems.”

  

 
  On a race which has a recent history of dealing close, tight finishes, the final miles of the Transat Jacques Vabre can be the most nerve racking. The finish line is all but in sight, the miles counting down with a pleasing whirr, but for Safran’s Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier - who are seeking to convert the lead they have held for nine days - they still have no shortage of pressure, and it is likely to stay heaped upon them until the end.
 
      And with less than 450 miles to go in this ninth edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre, the gap back from Safran to Kito de Pavant and François Gabart on Groupe Bel is just over 70 miles. In 2007 the Safran duo missed out, taking second just 54 minutes behind Michel Desjoyeaux and Manu Le Borgnan on the course from Le Havre to Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. In 2005 the winning margin of Jean-Pierre Dick and Loick Peyron was just 35 minutes over Roland Jourdain and Ellen MacArthur. This new coffee route course to Costa Rica may yet brew up an equally close finish. 

      Groupe Bel are an ever present threat, as they have been to Safran since they eased past Mike Golding Yacht Racing a week ago, Saturday night 14th, to install themselves in second place. A relatively stationary little low pressure trough has installed itself over the Gulf of Panama. That has contributed to some spicy squall activity for the two leaders today but so there is the distinct threat that the final miles in to the finish line off Costa Rica’s Puerto Limon will not be easy. This morning, in a blustery 30 knots, Safran’s co-skipper Guillemot sounded slightly slightly harassed and was certainly too busy to speak for more than a few snatched seconds.

Groupe Bel are but one gybe behind, but how much compression there will be in the variable, fluky winds which are predicted for the finish tomorrow (Tues) late afternoon or evening, no one is prepared to guess.
Safran crossed the longitude of Cartagena (Colombia) which was the finish for the Transat Jacques Vabre from 1993 to 1999, with a time of 13 days and 22 hours of sailing.
Underlining the evolution of the class ten years ago, the winner of the IMOCA Open 60 division took 19 days and 17 hours over the same course.
By comparison with the course record to Salvador de Bahia, JP Dick and Loick Peyron’s 13.51 knots in 2005 compares with the course average so far of Safran at 13.26 knots.
Safran had done 375 miles over the 24 hours to 1100hrs today.
 
      While Mike Golding Yacht Racing and Foncia seem assured of third and fourth, the race for sixth to eighth remains the closest group of the IMOCA Open 60. While Pepe Ribes and Alex Pella now hold sixth place on W-Hotels, Dee Caffari and Brian Thompson were breaking away from eighth and the heat of battle to effect a rapid pit stop to collect a replacement generator control panel at a rendezvous off St Lucia. The British duo were just two miles short of Veolia Environnment’s seventh when they diverged north.
 Golding confirmed to this morning’s radio vacs with Puerto Limon, Costa Rica that he feels sure that the leaders will squeeze up in the lighter, variable airs expected, but – he said – it would be unlikely to be enough for he and his Spanish co-skipper Javier Sanso to make any impact on the two leaders who are head by more than half of the remaining race track. Plagued by electrical problems, he is still on target for his fourth Transat Jacques Vabre podium finish in the six times he has raced in this Autumn classic.
 
Quotes:
 
Charles Caudrelier, (FRA) Safran:
“It has calmed a little since last night. It is calmer but no holidays. It is very demanding just now. We have so much to do, there is just one thing after another. I helm in shorts which is quite pleasant but you are soaked most of the time with water coming over the deck. We take turns doing things, I don’t mind from time to time being at the chart table.
It feels like we are getting near the end. You sleep little and make lost of moves..
Stealth mode? I don’t know if that is supposed to be funny, but for you it would not be funny now not to know who was leading now….!!”
 
Dee Caffari, (GBR), Aviva:
“It is all set up and we are now just trying to sail to St Lucia as fast as possible, these are great conditions to be sailing in and so we can’t complain too much and it should not cost us too much time, which is good because our competition is tough.
It was an incredible night to drive in, I kind of struggled. I kind of thought we would have lost a lot, and when we got our position reports it was one of our better nights….
It is full of surprises, but it just goes to show how hard we are all working. It is closer and closer.
We are trying to organize so it will be as swift as possible and not let us lose too much, especially in terms of our focus. We are so just trying to concentrate on boat speed all the time and the generator is just background.”
 
 
Mike Golding, (GBR) Mike Golding Yacht Racing:
“The gybes are quite interesting with a short sea, and quite a lot of wind. We are making good progress. We are still having to do quite a lot of hand steering which is quite tiring. At the one time we are massively overpowered and at the other we are hardly moving at all, so that is the only way to do it with no wind on the pilots.
We run trust watch system with no fixed timings, so we work as long as we feel we are alert and try and give the other person as much respect as possible, sometimes one guy is pretty tired then the other will know that and be feeling up for it and so give the other a bit more time lying down, and then when conditions get tough like just now then we are hand steering a lot then we maybe try and do three hour stints, but we have no precise watch system.
There will be a close up towards the end, as inevitably it will get lighter towards the finish, and that may well make for an exciting finish, certainly for the first two boats, and we might see some significant compression, right now with the conditions but with a large gap ahead of us and a similarly large gap behind us, then we are straight lining and trying not to break anything unecessarily.”