The Artemis Transat

‘THE’ TRANSAT… Patrick Chapuis who reported on the event from 1964 to 2000 for the French daily sports newspaper L’Equipe, takes a look at the first 11 editions of this classic event.

Created in 1960, this race opened French eyes to what ocean-racing was all about and defined the image of the single-handed sailor.

TABARLY SUPER-STAR
 
Originally known as the OSTAR (Observer Single-handed Transatlantic Race), then the Europe 1 STAR when the French radio station replaced the Observer alongside the Royal Western Yacht Club of Plymouth, in 2008 the thirteenth edition of the English transatlantic yacht race will go by the name of The Artemis Transat under the aegis of Offshore Challenge Events.

The new name – ‘THE’ Artemis Transat – accurately conveys the prestige of this ocean race and its influence on the way modern sailing has evolved, particularly single-handed sailing in France.

On the French side of the Channel, the fascination of the general public for the open sea dates back to Eric Tabarly’s 1964 win on Pen Duick II, the little black bird. As he was in the process of beating Francis Chichester, who won the first edition of the race in 1960, the young naval lieutenant attracted the attention of English journalists, whose articles shook everyone into action stations in the French press. As a result, the hero of the Atlantic Ocean was awarded the Legion of Honour by General de Gaulle in person, even before he had entered Newport Harbour. Since then, solo sailing became uppermost in the French nautical world: Vendée Globe, Route du Rhum and Figaro being the finest examples.

 “One man, one boat, the ocean...”, Blondie Hasler, lieutenant colonel in the Royal Marines, came up with an idea which did away with the complications of handicap and corrected time. His concept was simple but progressed the development of specific techniques, such as the self-steering gear and the auto-pilot. When it came to rankings, the first boat across the line would be the winner. Further, to be the best on this selective path over the North Atlantic – covering some 3000 miles (5500 km) from Plymouth, on the south coast of England and Newport, a stone’s throw away from Boston in the United States – almost anything goes. Oxford-educated Geoffrey Williams made the most of this and triggered off a controversy in being the first competitor to have shore-based routing assistance from a London firm of meteorologists. Guided at a distance as to which was the best course to steer, he was able to avoid some rough weather to become the third winner in 1968.

Eric Tabarly was impressed by trials on Toria, a multihull designed by British architect Derek Kelsall, and asked André Allègre to design Pen Duick IV, a ketch-rigged 20.80m (68 ft) long trimaran. A collision shortly after the start prevented Tabarly from showing whether he had made the right choice. Alain Colas took care of that when he won the race in 1972 on board the very same Pen Duick IV which he had bought from his master. It was the first multihull win and a spectacular sweep of the top three places for the French: first-placed Alain Colas on the trimaran Pen Duick IV, second Jean-Yves Terlain on the monohull Vendredi Treize and third Jean-Marie Vidal on the trimaran Cap 33.


FRANCE- GREAT BRITAIN: 2-2.

After four editions of the race, France and England were lying equal on the scoreboard with two wins each. Chichester on Gipsy Moth II in 1960 and Williams on Sir Thomas Lipton in 1968 for England, Tabarly  on Pen Duick II in 1964 and Colas on Pen Duick IV in 1972 for France. What followed confirmed French supremacy with just one Anglo-Saxon, the 65 year-old veteran American roving journalist, Phil Weld, sneaking his trimaran Moxie into the lead position across the finishing line in 1980.

Much more than the fact that the French skippers had the upper hand in the race, it was the highly eventful and spectacularly adventure-rich way in which their supremacy ruled which drew attention. The English started to become somewhat preoccupied by the audacity of the French. Colas won with an alloy trimaran in 1972, but during that race mid-Atlantic he came across a 39m (128ft) monohull by the name of Vendredi 13, a Dick Carter design sailed by Jean-Yves Terlain. This chance meeting mid-ocean gave rise to a crazy project: a 72m-long (236ft) monohull, the size of a Boeing jet, named Club Méditérranée and designed by Michel Bigoin for 1976, the year in which many extravagant projects saw the light of day. Alain Colas raced this giant, single-handed on board the big monohull usually sailed by a crew of fourteen, against Tabarly on Pen Duick VI. And in the fleet of 197 boats, there was also Jean-Yves Terlain who had done the opposite of Colas in moving from mono to multihull, on the ex-British Oxygen. Re-named Kriter III, she was an impressive catamaran – 21.30 m (70ft)- long, a mast 27m (88.6ft)high, a mainsail area of 90m2 (295.3 sq.ft) and a genoa of 135m2  (443 sq.ft)! Given a real shaking in a storm, Terlain had no choice but to call it a day, as did Yvon Fauconnier on ITT Océanic, the ex-Vendredi 13. That left Tabarly, without auto-pilot, to overcome the succession of five low pressure systems and sail to his second victory in this race ahead of Alain Colas, who had stopped in Newfoundland to repair the halyards on his four masts.


HIGH DRAMA

This spectacular edition marked an important turning point in the history of the English race. The heights of drama were reached when the French Navy set out in search of Tabarly, signalled as approaching Newport by wrong information, which destabilised Colas. But the English started to worry about the seemingly never-ending escalation in the power of the boats which the French had set in motion (Club Méditerranée was a true 250-ton sail-powered passenger liner...) and decided to put the dampers on boat size. Backed up by Jacques Goddet, boss of the French daily sports newspaper, L’Equipe, Michel Etevenon seized the opportunity and launched the Route du Rhum in 1978, a race with no limit on hull length, the type of event referred to as ‘open’ yacht racing.

Cut off in their prime by a reduction in hull length to 17m (56ft), before the 18.28m (60 ft) formula was adopted, it was certainly no coincidence that in 1980 the French, thus deprived of their legendary machines, no longer shone as they had done previously. Behind the American Phil Weld, who put in an intelligent performance on a Dick Newick designed made-to-measure trimaran, Marc Pajot stood in for Tabarly who had injured himself skiing and finished fifth, but as an unofficial competitor on Paul Ricard. The first Frenchman over the line that year was Daniel Gilard, eighth-placed on Brittany Ferries, a sponsor who had long showed interest in transatlantic races supplying grandstands at the start for owners and guests.

1984 was a very special year, the one in which Philippe Poupon took line honours but not first place which was awarded to Yvon Fauconnier in the official rankings, as he was granted a bonus for having rescued Philippe Jeantot.  Once again, the newsworthy item detracted attention from the race itself, but did have the effect of enhancing the attraction of the event in the eyes of a non-sailing general public.


FAUCONNIER RESCUES JEANTOT

Returning triumphant from his two circumnavigations, Philippe Jeantot, still backed by  the French bank Crédit Agricole, also devoted himself to multihulls. Lying in a good position in terms of rankings, he capsized on 7th June in the 1984 edition of the race.  All shipping in the area was put on alert. One of the race leaders diverted to assist - Yvon Fauconnier turned tail and welcomed Philippe Jeantot on board Umupro-Jardin.

But the trained deep-sea diver did not want to abandon his boat. He appealed to his former colleagues at Comex, a company specialising in undersea work and asked them for diving suits, tanks of compressed air and 1000L lift bags. Rescue and righting operations were successful, and obtained such great coverage in the media, that the race itself faded into the background.

Yet the fleet leaders continued to make excellent progress. On 19th June Philippe Poupon was first across the line on Fleury-Michon. As he was in the full throes of explaining his race tactics at a press conference, Yvon Fauconnier crossed the line in second place, 10 hours and 30 minutes after ‘Philou’ [Philippe Poupon]. As the race committee had granted him the sixteen hours he had spent rescuing Jeantot, Yvon Fauconnier was announced as official winner with a time of 16 days, 6 hours and 25 minutes. Poupon was therefore classified second, ahead of Marc Pajot on Elf Aquitaine and Tabarly.

It was a logical result. In assisting Jeantot, Yvon Fauconnier had sacrificed any chance he had of winning and, in accordance with race rules, it was only normal that he should be awarded first place. But Yvon was abandoned by his sponsor shortly afterwards and never found his true place among the hierarchy of great skippers, which he truly deserved. Twenty years later, his daughter Karine who had a brilliant season on Sergio Tacchini last year, now dreams of winning “ The Transat which my father was never really fully able to appreciate having won...”


POUPON’S REVENGE

For Philippe Poupon, who reigned supreme after having won the Rhum in 1986, 1988 was the year in which he sought his revenge. He attacked from the word go, sailing Fleury Michon IX to perfection, ahead of Olivier Moussy and Loïck Peyron and in 10 days, 9 hours and 15 minutes, set a new record spending one month less on the Atlantic than the first winner of this race, Francis Chichester.

The Transat was still organised by the Royal Western Yacht Club and changed name when Europe 1 joined the ranks in 1992, 1996 and 2000. Seventy-nine boats entered in 1992. For a rough idea of how the fleet was divided, in 1996 among the leading solo racers were 22 French yachtsmen, 14 of which were on multihulls, and 17 Brits of which 14 were on monohulls. The French, with the support of sponsors seduced by multihulls, had become true world experts in this type of yacht racing. Mike Birch, first winner of the Route de Rhum in 1978, twice gave a fine demonstration of his talent. Eric Tabarly also won twice but with twelve years separating his wins. ‘P’tit Loch’ [Loïck Peyron] twice won aboard the same trimaran Fujicolor II in what were truly memorable victories.


AFTER TABARLY, LOICK PEYRON’S SECOND HIT

In 1992, in fine style and based upon sound experience and sheer determination to push his steed as hard as possible without going too far, Loïck Peyron won in eleven days, one hour and 35 minutes. Paul Vatine came second in 12 days 7 hours and 48 minutes, finishing more than one day later, followed by Francis Joyon, third, who was soon to be much talked about.

The 1996 Transat was the tenth in the series and Loïck Peyron once again showed that he was capable of steering a brilliant course with both finesse and prudence. Ahead of Loïck, Laurent Bourgnon turned turtle and had to withdraw. Francis Joyon opted for a very northerly route, which turned out to be an excellent choice, but as he was propelled towards victory, he too capsized off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. At this point in time, those following him lay almost 24 hours behind - Paul Vatine also on a northerly course but 292 miles behind and Loïck Peyron a little more than 334 miles. The tension was maintained right through to the finish as the two yachtsmen played cat and mouse, depending on who made best use of currents and local conditions. In the end, Peyron pulled into the lead, just a puff ahead of Vatine to win in 10 days 10 hours and 5 minutes, leaving Poupon’s record intact. Vatine came in just two hours later.

For me, the 2000 race is the most unforgettable of all. The day before the start, I spent a fair bit of time on board Eure et Loir, (ex-Banque Populaire) which Francis Joyon had prepared on his own, reinforcing the mast with whatever he could get his hands on. That evening, in Queen Anne’s Battery Marina, the rain was beating down on the deck, it was freezing cold, but Francis Joyon did not seem to care a hoot about the temperature. He was in fine fettle, happy to be setting out on his 1994-vintage craft, against the latest trimarans. He was also eager to put his theory to the test. According to Francis, “modern multihulls are too influenced by the Grands Prix, and are perhaps not best suited to ocean racing”.  If he had given up any thoughts of racing round the cans on windward/leeward courses, it was to devote his energy to ocean racing.  He set about proving his theory. Pushing both his boat and body to the limits, he reached Newport in a state of extreme fatigue, setting a new race record at 9 days 23 hours and 21 minutes. At an average speed of 11.52 knots, he made it into harbour ahead of Marc Guillemot (Biscuits La Trinitaine), Franck Cammas (Groupama) and Alain Gautier (Foncia) who no sooner had he got off his boat went over to welcome Francis: “Ah Francis, what a sod! You really gave us a hell of a run for our money…”

Which just about sums up Joyon’s commitment, flat out all the time! “A donf...”, is a motto he shares with Ellen MacArthur (Kingfisher), who came in first in the monohull class ahead of Roland Jourdain (Sill) and was on that occasion nicknamed ‘Little Big Woman’.

Patrick CHAPUIS


2004
High speeds, high stakes, broken records and broken boats.
By Oliver DEWAR

2004 was a transition year for the race, whose organisation was taken over by OC Events and whose named became “The Transat”. Open to 60 and 50 footers – monohulls and multihulls - (the Royal Western Yacht Club remaining responsible for the staging of the Ostar, devoted to smaller classes), the event was to finish in Boston rather than Newport, and attracted the greatest names in offshore racing. Within 48 hours of the start gun, Thomas Coville (Sodebo) and Michel Desjoyeaux (Geant) were match racing their ORMA 60 trimarans through thick fog, setting the race pace into the North Atlantic. Two days later, Desjoyeaux led the ORMA fleet into the eye of an Atlantic depression and timed his tack south to perfection. Meanwhile, heading the IMOCA division, hotly-tipped British yachtsman, Mike Golding, was preparing for a tough race on Open 60 Ecover after sustaining total electronic failure to his canting keel mechanism.

Having led the IMOCA fleet in the early stages, Jean-Pierre Dick was the event’s first casualty, rolling Virbac through 360 degrees and dismasting mid-Atlantic in 50 knot winds and monstrous seas. Then - within the space of a few hours – Vincent Riou’s Open 60 PRB lost her rig 500 miles from Newfoundland and Bernard Stamm was forced to abandon Cheminées Poujoulat–Armor Lux following total keel loss and the yacht’s inversion.

After eight days of exceptionally demanding and challenging racing, Michel Desjoyeaux crossed the finish line in Boston just three hours ahead of Thomas Coville with third place Franck Cammas (Groupama) chasing the pair home and completing an ORMA 60 podium that smashed the existing course record. An exceptionally tough, Open 60 leadership battle continued to the finish with Golding and Ecover taking first place after 12 days and Swiss skipper, Dominique Wavre (Temenos), crossing the line three hours later, trailed closely by New Zealand’s Mike Sanderson, hampered by a shattered daggerboard on Pindar Alphagraphics.


The Artemis Transat has now reached its thirteenth edition in the 48 years of its existence. On 11st May the starting shot will be fired from Plymouth with all the great names of yacht racing lined up on the start, together with a host of excellent amateurs in the 40-foot class all wishing to test their mettle on the legendary North Atlantic route.