THE ARTEMIS TRANSAT – Day 6

It's oh so quiet for now for the IMOCA 60 fleet

In Brief
- BT still ahead despite the high-stakes second ridge crossing
- Strong winds to hit the leaders tonight, another light zone is expected before ice gate
- Oily seas, whales and magic sunsets - be sure to check the picture gallery
- Video race updates available http://theartemistransat.com/60/video.asp

In Detail

Voices of the high seas have been very quiet this morning - skippers had warned when contacted by Race HQ shortly before dawn, it had been a tiring night on top of 3 tiring days, and most of them would spend a few hours asleep. Wind conditions were steady enough to allow for some rest - the front boats doing around 8 knots, pilots coping well - and the tactical options were bound to be limited today anyway. This does not mean the whole fleet had taken the day off! Sébastien Josse, still leading aboard BT, managed to maintain his position despite yet another night of park up, and this morning the first trio has pulled away from Yann Elies (Generali), north, and Armel Le Cléac'h (Brit Air), south.



Sunrise onboard Gitana Eighty
© Loïck Peyron / Gitana SA

Aboard PRB, Vincent Riou lying in second place perfectly summed-up the situation this morning when we spoke to him. In typical laconic Breton fashion (on top of which an important level of fatigue has to be considered), he stuck to the facts: "It's a lot of work, the past three days have been tiring and real sleep isn't on the menu quite yet. There isn't a lot of wind, I'm in Sébastien's wake and tactically, that's my only option. Both of us are gradually gaining south."

With Michel Desjoyeaux now heading back home, the leading pack is down to five boats, but the very compact aspect of that flotilla one could observe earlier in the week has been disturbed by two successive ridges.

As Armel Le Cléac'h expalined this morning, Brit Air managed to catch up last night when the top 3 boats slowed down, but ended up losing ground once more... "I was just behind Vincent and Jojo, but I fell into a hole. There is a little more wind now, not much but at least we can rest." Some 70 miles away from BT in terms of distance to the finish, Brit Air might be able to overtake Generali, whose DTL (distance to leader) is roughly the same, but whose north positioning implies less wind in the coming hours.

Up in front, the leading trio is within less than 30 miles, Loick Peyron's Gitana Eighty having been slightly slower the BT and PRB - higher in latitude, the double winner had less pressure to play with. Having led the second group before being "passed" (one mile in terms of DTF...) by Akena Verandas this afternoon, Samantha Davies (Roxy) makes the most of every single puff, but has paid her dues to the ridge yesterday as she told us: "I'm sad because I sailed into the no wind zone so the lead I had on the other boats behind has completely vanished so looks like we're going to have a restart - but it’s better if one boat doesn't get away on its own as the fun is racing against everyone."



No wind for Roxy
© Sam Davies / Roxy

Southwesterlies are expected to kick in tonight, and it's going to be difficult for Sam and the middle of the fleet considering the breeze isn't exactly willing to come and meet them, the system moving north and playing hard to get. With the blackout beginning in a few hours, some psychological relief may intervene since the skippers will not be able to monitor their gains or losses every two hours tomorrow, and as Loick Peyron put it with humor this morning, "I think it's a very good thing, an excellent idea on the part of the organizers. I'd even be in favor of a 15-day blackout to be honest! The last data we will get (note: tonight) will be crucial, because they will be our last link with our little friends. I really like the notion that everything will be possible."

Jean-Luc Nélias's view - "The hardest part"
"Today's work will be to fight their hardest to get out of the glue they've been stuck in, and limit the losses on the boats to their west. For the boats further behind the messy conditions will continue a bit longer - ultimately they will have to cross the area, the calm area will not pass them - so its just hard work and perseverance that will deliver them to the new wind in the west. The low pressure system that brings the SW wind is moving very slowly, and mostly towards the north, so you have to go find these winds, they aren't coming to the boats."

Roland Jourdain's comments on Michel Desjoyeaux's retirement
"It's the first time for him, and I remember my first race abandon, it was an extremely cruel moment. I had to pull out of the Vendée Globe in 2004 due to keel problems, and psychologically it's very hard - it's like your arms have just fallen off. You may want to kick the bulkheads out of frustration, your face goes through every colour of the rainbow's spectrum."

Leaderboard - 14:00 GMT update
1- BT Distance to finish 1728 nm
2- PRB Distance to leader 22 nm
3- Gitana Eighty DTL 35 nm
4- Generali DTL 66 nm
5- Brit Air DTL 67 nm
6- Akena Verandas DTL 187 nm
7- Roxy DTL 188 nm
8- Cervin EnR DTL 221 nm
9- Safran DTL 222 nm
10- Aviva EnR DTL 250 nm
11- Spirit of Weymouth DTL 263 nm
12- Pakea Bizkaia 2009 DTL 267 nm
ABD Foncia

For more information about The Artemis Transat and to follow racing live online, go to Artemis Transat. Follow the race with the 2D Live tracker

- Read the latest blogs from the skippers in the Boat Logs section at Skippers Blogs