Artemis. Image copyright Lloyd Images.
by Artemis Ocean Racing media
Under grey skies and at times torrential rain, the Artemis Ocean Racing team is quietly going about their business... Ticking off the jobs list that is now relatively small, thanks to the great preparation the team did before arriving in Le Havre last week.
Artemis co-skippers Samantha Davies and Sidney Gavignet are spending their final days ashore studying the weather, re-checking the technical details onboard, taking time for some sport and carrying out media interviews to satisfy the demands of the media gathered here for the start of the pinnacle event of the IMOCA 60 seasons that will see 14 IMOCA monohulls take on this new TJV course, starting on Sunday, 8th November at 14h30 local time.
Today the team revealed their new giant spinnaker that can nearly cover two tennis courts! 485msq in total, 100msq larger than the average kite, Artemis Ocean Racing has the largest spinnaker in the IMOCA fleet to help gain an edge in speed on the downwind sections of the 4,730-mile race to Costa Rica:
“We need this surface area to pull Artemis along downwind as she is a bit heavier than some of the others. It is somewhat daunting, looking at the picture, but in training Sidney and I managed to deal with the hundreds of square metres of cloth, even when it is pretty windy! Looking forward to putting it up in the race!”
Yesterday Sam and Sidney attended the skippers briefing and now the focus of all the 28 skippers is firmly on the evolving weather situation which is looking slightly complex over the next few days. On Sunday the centre of the low pressure system should generate lights winds before a moderate Northerly breeze is expected to settle in the initial stages of the race.
The competition in the IMOCA 60 class will be fierce as all of the top teams are competing in 100% latest generation boats. Artemis Ocean Racing has undergone extensive refit work since May this year to improve her performance against the best speed machines in the fleet, and Sam and Sidney have put in as much training as possible since July to ensure they can eek out every last drop of speed. Nonetheless, it is going to be hard to get the edge on the pre-race favourites including Foncia (Michel Desjoyeaux/Jérémie Beyou) and BT (Sébastien Josse/Jean Francois Cuzon) and many in the top half of the fleet, who know their machines intimately and have spent more than two years refining their performance.
This year’s race has another new destination: Puerto Limon in Costa Rica. There will be two courses, one for the IMOCA 60s and one for the Open 50 multihulls – the monohulls leaving the Dominican Republic to starboard, the multis leaving Barbados to starboard, sailing approximately 300 miles further. If all goes to plan, the fleet leaders should arrive in Costa Rica at the same time. But before they get that far, the Transat Jacques Vabre presents numerous challenges to its duos. Sam and Sidney must stay constantly alert through the busy shipping lanes close to land before contending with the famous Bay of Biscay, which can deal up brutal conditions in early autumn.
In the 2007 edition of the TJV, Artemis Ocean Racing 1 was dismasted in rough seas just off Cape Finisterre. Team members Jonny Malbon and Graham Tourell were unhurt, but everyone will be hoping that this year’s fleet has a safe passage into the Atlantic. As they head south, the skippers next have to choose the right moment to head across the North Atlantic towards Central America. Should they take the most direct route, or dive further south to hook into the trade winds for a rapid express ride west? Getting this decision right is key, and the sailors will have to work together to plan their weather routing and tactics, all the while pushing their boat to full speed.
Artemis Ocean Racing
Transat Jacques Vabre
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