In the starting field of the Atlantic race from Le Havre in France to Salvador de Bahi in Brazil, the wheat is separated from the chaff after three days. Last night's strong wind cost the "Artemis" crew the rig.
The traditional two-hand regatt across the pond is particularly exciting this year, as not only the sailing professionals in the Open 60s and some ORM60 trimarans but also the somewhat more down-to-earth crews on board the Class 40s brought together a large starting field. A German, Florian Gonser with his skipper David Lefebrve also sails in the latter. In this year's premier class, the Open 60, a very exciting race is emerging. There are 7 boats of the latest generation at the start, including top skippers like Vendee Globe winner Michael Desjoyeux ("Foncia"), Loick Peyron ("GitanEighty") or Mike Golding ("Ecover3"). Interestingly, Marc Guillemot's "Safran", the very first Open 60 by the designer duo Van Peteghem & Lauriot Prévost, is in the lead. The two French are in the lead with almost 20 miles from Desjoyeuxs "Foncia". The news of the day, however, was the broken mast on board the "Artemis" of the duo Jonny Malbon and Graham Tourell. In a strong wind around the seven Beaufort, the rig suddenly buckled just above deck forwards. The two of them have not yet been able to say what exactly happened, but they are doing well and are now driving back to mainland Spain. There is also tough competition among the almost 30 Class 40 yachts, a construction class that has been experiencing a huge boom for several years. Both professionals with a low budget and amateurs have a chance here to keep the costs within limits. Here the Italian Giovanni Soldini leads with his co-skipper Pietro di Ali. Soldini, who won the Around Alone competition at his Open 60 "Fila" a few years ago, is one of the prominent names in the young class. It is encouraging from a German point of view that Florian Gonser is a compatriot at the start on "Gonser Group". However, he and his French skipper David Lefebrve still seem to be learning the hard way: they are currently in last place
Positions Open 601 "Saffron" GUILLEMOT Marc / CAUDRELIER Charles DTL2 "Foncia" DESJOYEAUX Michel / LE BORGNE Emmanuel 19.9 SM3 "GitanEighty" PEYRON Loick / LEVAILLANT J. Baptiste 43.0 SM4 "VM Matériaux" LE CAM Jean / MORVAN Gildas 51.9 SM5 "Ecover III" GOLDING MIKE / DUBOIS Bruno 53.2 S
Class 40 1 "Telecom ItaliSOLDINI Giovanni / D'ALI Pietro DTL2 "ATAO Audio System" VITTET Dominic / CHABAGNY T. 24.2 SM3 "SiegenAubi" LE PESQUEUX Marc / CUBILLOS Felipe 26.1 SM4 "Mistral Loisirs" - EliorBOUCHARD Thierry / KRAUSS O. 26.3 SM5 "Thirard" DOIN Pascal / DEFERT Eric 51.9 SM
