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 | Safran and Marc Guillemot start up with the leaders
Posted by Admin
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 They’re off! It was in very light conditions that the start of the transatlantic race, The Artemis Transat, took place on Sunday 11th May at 2 p.m. (BST) in Plymouth (3 p.m. CET). From the outset, Marc Guillemot and its Safran were up with the leaders. The 2800 mile adventure to Boston has begun…
Marc Guillemot did warn us: «As soon as we get ready to line up for the start, all the stress leading up the race and all our worries disappear. We’re in it to race and when the gun is fired…we really go for it. We give it our all and try to get the maximum out of the boat. It’s as simple as that.»
At exactly two o’clock (local time) or three (CET) on Sunday 11th May 2008, that is exactly what happened on board the thirteen IMOCA monohulls and the eleven Class’40 that are taking part, as they crossed the start line separated in two by a Royal Naval vessel, HMS Argyll.
A clean start with no penalties in light conditions with a 5 to 8 knot sou’westerly wind under skies veiled simply by a heat haze and on a flat calm sea, which was only made choppy, because of the presence of hundreds of spectator boats that turned up to watch the event. According to Sylvain Mondon of Météo France, who studied the weather with Marc Guillemot right up to the final moments before the start, the wind should strengthen to become a fifteen-knot northerly, once they get out of Plymouth Sound and pass the Eddystone Lighthouse, the first mark located 11 miles from the start line. Safran 3rd to cross the line When the starting gun was fired, Marc Guillemot managed to place its Safran in the most windward position of the fleet.
Under mainsail and small gennaker, the large monohull sailed by the yachtsman from La Trinité got off to the third best start, behind Sébastien Josse’s BT and Loïck Peyron’s Gitana Eighty, but ahead of Armel Le Cléach’s Brit Air, in fourth place. They were followed by Yann Eliès’s Generali, and then Michel Desjoyeaux’s Foncia, sixth, and Vincent Riou’s PRB, seventh.
In spite of the inevitable low speeds (6 knots) due to these light conditions for the initial upwind sail over the first ten miles of the race, it was a wonderful sight seeing these large monohulls so closely grouped together. Thirty minutes into the race, Safran was still in third place, behind Sébastien Josse (BT) and Michel Desjoyeaux (Foncia), but the gaps, down to a few tenths of a mile in terms of distance to the finish in Boston, some 5300 kilometres ahead, were of course, highly insignificant.
However, Safran is now on its way and Marc Guillemot is up with the action. The race is on. After the first Omega Gate at the Eddystone, the single-handed yachtsmen will head for The Lizard, before making their way out into the Atlantic. They’re off for a fortnight of adventure and transatlantic racing!
At 15h16 (BST) (an hour later for CET), the leading competitors had managed to step up the pace to ten knots and were passing the Omega Gate at the Eddystone Rocks. Marc Guillemot’s Safran was very well placed, as it checked in in second place, less than three minutes behind Loïck Peyron’s Gitana Eighty, which was leading the fleet.
Time at the Omega Gate at the Eddystone (in local time):
1. Gitana Eighty, Loïck Peyron at 15h16’17’’
2. Safran, Marc Guillemot at 15h19’23’’
3. Brit’Air, Armel Le Cléach’ at 15h19’46’’
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