Artemis Ocean Racing skipper Samantha Davies, co-skipper Sidney Gavignet and crew, Graham ‘Gringo’ Tourell and Gareth Rowley, crossed the finish line of the classic Rolex Fastnet race at 0615 BST this morning (Wednesday, 12.8.09) to finish 2nd overall in the IMOCA 60 class. 

The 608-mile race took Artemis Ocean Racing 2 days, 18 hours, 15 minutes and 41 seconds and the crew can take the utmost satisfaction in finishing less than an hour and a half after the winning IMOCA 60, BT. 

“I think tactically we sailed the right route in terms of the wind and sailing round the coast – I don’t think we could have done anything more than we did,” said Sam at the finish. “I’m quite proud of our track on the chart and it’s encouraging but a bit frustrating at the same time not to be able to stay in touch with them in the lighter downwind stuff. It’s been pretty tiring, the sprints always are, and I probably need to go and sleep for 24 hours!

“I thought they [BT] had got away from us more because the tide turned against us at the Lizard so they shut the door very firmly behind them! I knew it was impossible to get back at them.”

Since the start of the Rolex Fastnet race on Sunday, 9th August at 1200 BST, Artemis Ocean Racing has been jousting for the lead. In the light downwind conditions out of the Solent, Artemis Ocean Racing and BT dominated at the front, then overnight Dee Cafarri’s AVIVA became their sparring partner. By 1000 BST on Monday (10.8.09) Artemis Ocean Racing had firmly taken the lead at Lizard Point, by which time they were pounding upwind in 20 knots as the boat enjoyed the robust westerly conditions.

Sam and the crew led all the way across the Irish Sea and were the first IMOCA 60 to round the legendary Fastnet Rock at 0800 BST yesterday morning (Tuesday 11.8.09) but only 10 minutes ahead of the French duo onboard BT. Inevitably, the lighter and narrower BT overhauled Artemis Ocean Racing on this fast broad reaching leg and the crew had relinquished their lead at the 1500 BST positions. They rounded Bishops Rock in the early evening and turned east for the final 100-mile downwind stretch to the finish line off Plymouth with still everything to play for as less than 13 miles separated the two boats. That lead had been reduced to just 6 miles at 0500 BST this morning but BT held them at bay to take the finish line. Nonetheless, Sam and the crew were ecstatic with their result.

This has been an outstanding performance for Sam and Sidney in their first real test since Artemis Ocean Racing underwent an extensive weight-reducing refit and ahead of the two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race in November.  Considering the short number of hours that Sam and Sidney have had to sail together and acquaint themselves with the boat, their result is even more encouraging.

“I think between the two of us we have done a lot of sailing in the last year or so. Having done the Round Britain record on AVIVA that got me back on my toes, and sailing Roxy for over 2 years in Vendée Globe mode, has been a good build-up to stepping onboard Artemis. I wasn’t too worried about joining a new boat and learning how it works. Obviously, we’re learning a lot and there is still plenty to do.  We need to try and improve the performance in the areas where we’re lacking a little bit at the moment.  It’s encouraging though because we know where we need to work and we’ve learnt a lot in the last two and a half days. Now we are going to sail back with the designers and start making a plan on what to do with the boat both on and off the water in the next two months,” explained Sam. “We will take the boat to France at the end of August and that will be our TJV 1,000 mile qualifier - we will sail a big loop on the way down to Concarneau - and then we will be based in France sailing with the squad in Port La Foret.”