Day 2 for Sam Goodchild and Nick Cherry in La Transat AG2R La Mondiale

Last night Sam Goodchild and Nick Cherry got to grips with an angry 40+knot storm North of Cape of Finistére as Artemis gained three places to move into 5th overall in the rankings, asserting themselves amongst the leading pack in the early stages of the Transat AG2R La Mondiale. Today, Monday 23rd April at the 1100 ranking, Artemis continues to hold 5th having just been announced as the team covering the most distance, sailing165.6 nm over the last 24 hours. Not surprisingly, they are keeping company with the race favourites and experienced Figaro duo racers on Macif, Banque Populaire, Cercle Vert and Nacarat.

On Sunday afternoon on the second day of the double-handed transatlantic race, conditions deteriorated with wind speeds rising to a peak of 46 knots as the fleet continued south-west across Biscay. Overnight, Goodchild and Cherry battled the strong winds and confused sea waiting for the front to pass, This morning Nick Cherry reported: “Well last night pretty much lived up to expectations. We spent most of the afternoon planning ahead for the front and by nightfall the wind was building as expected. In the end it was kind of enjoyable once we had got our first tack in and reefed the main, the wind peaked at 46 knots for about an hour just after midnight and at that point it was all we could do to stay on the boat with walls of water washing over the boat out of nowhere in the dark. The only damage sustained was some of the glow fast stripes pealing off the main as it flogged. Otherwise all is good aboard Artemis.”

Asked if they were physically well, Nick replied: “We just realised that we haven’t finished one whole day bag of food yet. This is partly down to no one feeling like cooking down below and partly due to my mum sending us off with a good supply of chocolate brownies which have all gone now! Two things to be glad for today are waterproof kit which is getting through testing and the dolphins that are almost always with us. All for now, the kettle is whistling.”

As the wind eased this afternoon the duo are settling into the routine that will dictate their lives for the next 20 days - racing hard against strong opposition, taking it in turns to eat and sleep, whilst keeping the boat racing at optimum speeds. Traditionally the next part of the course, racing south off the Portuguese coast, should be ‘champagne sailing’ under spinnaker, though this year the weather is not as it should be, and the fleet will once again be racing upwind on Wednesday in 20+ kts of wind. It is unlikely the duo will see the dreamed of spinnaker conditions until they are well past Madeira, almost one week into the race. Long-range predictions has the leaders reaching the Las Palmas virtual turning mark in the early hours of Sunday 29th April.

As part of their Transat AG2R La Mondiale race campaign, Goodchild and Cherry will be supporting British disaster relief charity, Shelterbox. Originating in Cornwall, UK. Shelterbox provide immediate post disaster relief aid, in the form of tent, stove, cooking equipment and other life essentials, all neatly packaged in a multi use plastic box. Race organiser Pen Duick are running a competition and through Sam and Nick’s race, Shelterbox could be in line to win a €10,000 donation. Enough to provide over 14 complete shelter boxes for disaster hit families such as those currently suffering from the severe flooding in Fiji. Vote online for Sam, Nick and Shelterbox.

For daily updates on the race and Artemis 23’s progress visit www.artemisoffshoreacademy.com

Get all the latest news and track the race at the official La Transat AG2R La Mondiale website.