Before the darkness descends

“It’s a high pressure ridge and conditions are not ‘top of the top’, you know. There’s no wind.” One consolation for Soldini is that the sun has finally appeared on Day 6 of The Artemis Transat: “At least we have some blue skies,” the Italian confirms. As far as tactics through this zone of light airs, Soldini is philosophical: “Now I’ve chosen the northern part of the course, that’s it for me. If the southern boats do better, it doesn’t matter,” he said laughing, “I can’t do anymore.” His next geographical target is the 130 mile wide ice gate 150 miles to the south of The Grand Banks and approximately 900 miles south-west of Telecom Italia: “I’m just going to do the best I can until the next waypoint.”

The Class40 fleet has divided into three distinct groups, fanning out over 180 miles north-south across a relatively shallow (450 metres) section of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. In the north, Soldini leads a French pack containing Thierry Bouchard on Mistral Loisirs – Pole Sante ELIOR (5th place), Yvan Noblet and Appart’ City (6th place) and Christophe Coatnoan on Groupe Partouche (8th place). The racing within the top four has been tight throughout the race and only 26 miles separating the pack as the 36 hour blackout approaches. For Bouchard, just 27 miles behind Soldini, this situation is becoming a habit: “In front of me, there’s always Telecom Italia,” he commented this morning. “It would be interesting to have a close look and see if this boat isn’t a Ferrari painted white! It was great to see him at the start of the race….but that’s probably the last we’ll see of him.

Miranda Merron on 40 Degrees in 3rd place, was first in the middle group to report entering the high pressure: “Oily calm in the ridge, spending a lot of time keeping the boat moving. Currently 4 knots, has been as low as 2,” she informed the race office in an early email. “Think it's Beluga I can see. Must go!" 40 Degrees is part of an Anglo-Franco-Germanic sub-fleet of Boris Herrmann’s Beluga Racer (2nd place), Simon Clarke with Clarke Offshore Racing (11th place), Alex Bennett’s Fujifilm (4th place) and Halvard Mabire on Custo Pol (7th place). Mabire described conditions in the no-wind zone: “This calm patch is not so bad. There is a little magic to making the boat glide along with only a breath of wind. Obviously, to benefit from the beauty of the moment, there is a basic rule - not easy to apply - and it is important not to imagine that the others have wind and you are the only one without it! To do so is the best means of transforming one good moment into a nightmare.” Bouchard then shared some of his light-airs tips: “Physically it’s very demanding, because one spends all the time on the helm and not moving too much weight about in the boat. The whole process is like trying to do everything with the steps of wolf [faire ça à pas de loup], minimising movement, not risking shaking the boat and stalling.”

The southern group is an entirely French affair with the duo Louis Duc on Groupe Royer (9th place) and Benoit Parnaudeau with Prevoir Vie (10th place). For Duc, the youngest sailor in the race at 25 years-old, choosing the southerly option was a wise move: “I decided to go south to cross the high pressure ridge at the narrowest point,” he explained via satellite phone earlier. Groupe Royer maintained good boat speeds throughout the day, polling a higher average than many in the fleet. Like Bouchard in the middle group, Benoit Parnaudeau has been practicing his light-airs skills: “I’ve discovered there’s a huge difference between handsteering and letting the pilot drive the boat in these conditions,” he reported earlier. “I’m easily 1 knot faster than the pilot.”

Class40 skipper reactions to the blackout
The 36 hour position blackout descends after the 1800GMT poll this evening (Friday) and will be lifted at the first, 0600GMT poll on Sunday morning. During this time, the skippers will have no idea of the longitude or latitude of the other yachts and only two people in The Artemis Transat race office will have this forbidden data. Effectively, the skippers will be sailing with a tactical blindfold. Reactions within the fleet to this innovation range from pleasure to sheer terror. The highly experienced solo sailor and current race leader, Giovanni Soldini, claims little will change on board Telecom Italia: “No change, really,” he commented this morning. “It is always nice to see if the tactical choices you have made are working, but I will make my own course and I will make my own race. The same as always.” Benoit Parnaudeau believes it will be ‘business as usual’ on Prevoir Vie: “ I don’t think the blackout changes things too much. In any case, the door remains open for all sorts of tactical options.” However, he does admit it might be strange. “It will be odd not to be able to keep an eye on all my little Class40 friends out there.” The most dramatic reaction came from the 27 year-old champion dinghy sailor, Boris Herrmann, on Beluga Racer: I’m really, really stressed about it,” he admitted in a conference call this morning. “I really can’t compete at the top of my game without the position information.”