Artemis Transat Day 4 - Blackout Ahead

The purpose of single-design classes in racing are to even the playing field and highlight the skippers' skills. Thus, the leading pack of open 60's in the Artemis Transat is still very tight in terms of distance to the finish, after more than 800 miles spent at sea. The initial North vs. South tactical decision that has spread the leaders along the latitudes, and how that will pay off for the individual boats, is what some say will make this race. 3rd place Sébastien Josse says the dice were thrown 48 hours ago, while his rivals remain skeptical. The skippers are preparing to cross a high pressure ridge, expecting to be sitting still within 24 hours. "It won't be pleasant", warns race leader Michel Desjoyeaux, "but everyone will have to deal with the same situation, so..."

Still making reasonably good progress, the tightly-packed six leading skippers are sailing with the spinnaker up on flat seas, making the most of their boats' speed potential in the tense context of a close-combat race. "I can see Generali to leeward" said Michel Desjoyeaux this morning, "and with that type of conditions, hand steering is crucial because the slightest gain in terms of speed has its importance." Tiring? Yes, but also very motivating, as The Professor pointed out: "The fleet is homogenous, there's a real good fight, thats what we're here for - I didn't come for a cruise, otherwise I would've brought my family along - and I probably would have chosen another route too!"

So... Is there actually a real North - South difference? "That is the big question of the day", replies Armel Le Cléac'h aboard Brit Air, not willing to elaborate any further given the uncertainty of the general situation. For Sébastien Josse aboard BT, "The choices have been made two days ago, the French and American weather models do not agree, I think being further down South will give us an edge." Yet Jean-Luc Nélias's simulations don't exactly point that fact out: "The routing software indicates that for Generali , and BT 70 miles to the south, they would actually arrive only 5 minutes apart at the ice gage – in favour of Generali. But that means nothing when we see the zone of light winds ahead that must be crossed."

Strategically, Foncia's skipper reckons that his and Yann Elies's north position is the right one to cross the ridge, and exit with a good wind angle. Southeasterlies are to be expected behind that barrier, but the more worrying perspective is 24 hours away, as the wind tables suggest - between 2.8 and 3.7 knots of "wind" tomorrow end of afternoon! Interesting for the chasing boats, whose skippers can hope to make up some of the miles they lost, and Arnaud Boissieres aboard Akena Verandas, 160 miles behind the leader, is welcoming that perspective. "They've already created an important gap", says the young Arcachon-based skipper sailing a 1998-launched IMOCA 60, "but given a few efforts to keep my speed up, I should be able to come closer, and it will be the case for Sam (Davies) too. It was nice to sail with her yesterday, but we lost contact now, she's further South." Maybe she does have a clear opinion about the famous North - South issue she'll tell us about tomorrow? In the meantime, positioned right in the middle, YachtPal Loick Peyron of Gitana Eighty is this afternoon the fastest boat (having gained a place between 12:00 and 14:00) and everyone is keeping an eye on the tactically inspired, wise and amazingly intuitive double winner of the event.

The front of the fleet should be sailing upwind in approximately 48 hours, so will have benefited from downwind conditions for at least 4 full days... A rather unusual situation on the North Atlantic. Read our race course comprehensive weather analysis here

36-hour position blackout starting Friday 18:00 GMT

Race direction announced today - with 48 hours notice as stated in the Sailing Instructions - that the 36-hour positions blackout will start Friday at 18:00 GMT. The positions will be available again on Sunday May 18 at 6:00 GMT. Ocean racing is not a matter of sheer speed and the choice of trajectory is crucial, so by imposing a 36 hour blackout, the organisers of The Artemis Transat have certainly added some spice to the race. Obviously, the race organisation will continue to receive each yacht’s position data to monitor the fleet’s safety and communications with the skippers will continue, but the gambles and tactical manoeuvres of individual teams will remain secret until the information blockade is lifted.

"Yann Elies is the skipper that has without doubt taken the most risks, and was the fastest boat as a result", wrote Jean-Luc Nélias this morning. With 370 miles covered between Monday and Tuesday 14:00 GMT, Generali certainly was in her element in 30-knot winds, with her powerful hull shapes. Yet it is interesting to note that the level of performance is very homogenous in the leading pack despite the light conditions encountered since the start, in which one could have expected a slight disadvantage for the Finot/Conq boats, reputedly designed for heavy weather reaching (schematically speaking...). Both Armel Le Cléac'h and Yann Elies, skippering near sisterships, are very happy with the job done at the yard this winter - the weight saving campaign certainly pays off, and it will now be very interesting to see how Brit Air and Generali will behave upwind in moderate breezes.

Leaderboard - 14:00 GMT update:

1- Foncia Distance to finish 2053 nm
2- Generali Distance to leader 8 nm
3- BT DTL 9 nm
4- Gitana Eighty DTL 12 nm
5- PRB DTL 13 nm
6- Brit Air DTL 38 nm
7- Roxy DTL 142 nm
8- Akena Verandas DTL 179 nm
9- Safran DTL 184 nm
10- Spirit of Weymouth DTL 217 nm
11- Cervin EnR DTL 220 nm
12- Aviva DTL 246 nm
13- Pakea Bizkaia 2009 DTL 280 nm

Photos: Yvan Zedda, Loick Peyron

• Video 1: Artemis Transat Day 4
• Video 2: Artemis Transat