Artemis Transat Day 8 - Out of the Darkness

The blackout is over, and BT is out of the race - undone by a broken mainsail car. BT skipper Sébastien Josse said "Of course pulling out at that stage is a big disappointment, but you know these things can happen. We've seen the boat was capable of being ahead of the best of the IMOCA fleet, that means our optimisation process was based on the right choices. I'm going back towards Brittany under sails, and those miles will count for my Vendée qualifier - I'm not wasting my time!"

Vincent Riou aboard PRB now has the lead, and this morning saw everyone scrambling to find out what occured during the 36-hours positions blackout. The most obvious move was YachtPal Loick Peyron's tack at about 22:00 GMT on Friday. "I had planned to tack, but of course I waited for the blackout", said Gitana Eighty's skipper, "I think it was a good move in terms of saving some manoeuvres and efforts in the long run." Now repositioned further south, Peyron is second only 31 miles behind Riou, and has a 37-mile advantage over Armel Le Cléac'h's Brit Air, who moved into third position aver the blackout.

Still a bit stuck in the North and impatiently awaiting stronger winds, 4th placed Yann Elies aboard Generali pointed out an interesting fact this morning: "The thing to remember is that Loick and myself are already qualified for the Vendée Globe, which isn't Armel and Vincent's case. It's still a long way upwind towards Boston after the ice gate, and we will be more comfortable pushing our boats since we don't have the same pressure regarding our presence in this winter's big event - that is an important factor I think. As far as I'm personally concerned, I'm still stuck up there, but there is a chance for me to dive at some point later during the coming night, so we'll see. For the moment, I don't know why light airs stick to me like that." Regarding the blackout, Elies said "the great thing about that positions blackout is that my wife can't call me every two hours to ask me why I'm not making better progress!"

YachtPal Dee Caffari, celebrating only two years since her first solo voyage, had her own bit of excitement during the blackout: "The fleet have had a blackout of positions for 36 hours and during this time in the whole north Atlantic I had a collision course with a cargo ship going to New York. The visibility was variable and we would go from a clear horizon to two-boat lengths view that was spooky. I called the ship to check he had seen me and then explain that I would appreciate him altering course for me. He asked my position and I hesitated because if any other yachts in the fleet were listening they would have my position. I decided that safety and not being made to tack again was better than taking a risk."

Video 1: Artemis Transat Day 7

Video 2: Artemis Transat Day 8 - BT OUT

• Video 1: Artemis Transat Day 7
• Video 2: Artemis Transat Day 8 - BT OUT
• Photo of the Open 60 sailboat PRB: Seb Josse/BT