The Artemis Transat is the heir of the oldest single-handed transatlantic race, the OSTAR, which shaped modern offshore racing, defining the sport as it stands today. No other race has more historical importance, period!
Hasler, Lieutenant Colonel of the Royal Marines (known as “Blondie”), wrote the letter reproduced here in December 1959, after having matured his original idea for three years and submitted it to the editor of The Observer… who declined the offer to become a sponsor. The concept - unsurprisingly - had already seduced the Slocum Society - an organisation paying tribute to Joshua Slocum, first man to have circumnavigated the globe alone - which had issued a notice of race, but finding an organising body was not simple, and even though working meetings followed one another, progress was very slow.
After one of those meetings, over dinner, some members of the Slocum Society suggested that the race could be divided in two legs, with a stopover in the Azores. Blondie Hasler’s reaction showed how passionate he was about a solo nonstop adventure, and how fiercely he would defend the purity of his concept. In his book titled “Ostar”, published in 1989, Lloyd Foster (former Commodore of the Royal Western Yacht Club) writes: “This {the stopover idea} prompted Blondie to come up with a long, forthright, though at the same time tongue-in-cheek, telegram to the Slocum Society, which started “Bewildered fatuous proposal to route the race via Azores.” He went on to say that if they persisted in this notion he would have to withdraw and organize his own race. By this time he was himself a member of the Society, so felt able to add: “If free dinner has this effect on members suggest such functions prohibited in Society rules.”
Putting together such a pioneering event was not an easy task, and the different parties involved came up with a variety of ideas - notably a transatlantic Cruising Competition, which caused Hasler and Chichester to decide they’d had enough, and by November 1959, the latter declared he had taken over the running of the race.
Letters to the Royal Western Yacht Club, such as the one quoted above, were soon sent out, and Jack Odling-Smee, Rear Commodore, responded positively. Although 50 credible letters of intent were received by the club, only four skippers were on the starting line on 11 June 1960 (Blondie Hasler, Francis Chichester, Val Howells, David Lewis) - French skipper Jean Lacombe set off 3 days later, and all 5 competitors made it safely across the ocean, Chichester winning after 40 days and 12 hours at sea. History was in motion…
A boat to paint…
The second edition (1964) set the scene for the emergence of France’s solo racing tradition. Winner Eric Tabarly, the only Frenchman in the race, became an overnight hero and for his endeavour was presented with his country’s highest honour, the Legion d’Honneur by President de Gaulle. Nevertheless, the skipper never lost sight of his priorities, and declined the first presidential invitation because the ceremony coincided with the day he had intended to repaint his boat!
A few months later, a somewhat begrudging De Gaulle sent another invitation, in the following terms: “I would be delighted to be able to count on your presence… if the tide is favourable of course.” By 1972, multihulls were in the spotlight as Alain Colas, who was to become another icon in France, won the race which that year saw 55 boats line up for the start (there had been 35 in 1968): trimarans would soon rule the North Atlantic, leading to a dramatic reduction of the crossing time over the years.
“Dramatic” is unfortunately an adjective that can be applied to the 1976 edition, prior to which Lizzie McMullen, one of the competitors’ wives lost her life whilst preparing her husband’s boat. Mike McMullen nevertheless took the start, but was lost at sea a few days later… Mike Flanagan was the second skipper to pay the ultimate price during this storm-battered edition which remains famous for its 125 entrants, Tabarly’s second victory, and the controversy generated by Alain Cola’s 236-ft monstrous monohull Club Méditerranée.
The Anglo-French dispute following the “Club Med incident” led to the creation of the completely open Route du Rhum solo transatlantic event, and the French contingent only came back to the OSTAR (now imposing a restriction on boat length and number of entries) in 1984. The 1980 edition had been won by Phil Weld’s trimaran Moxie, a 100% Corinthian entry, and the course record dropped by six days in one go - it was fast approaching the two week barrier. Philippe Poupon did not better Weld’s time in 1984, coming first into Newport after 16 days at sea - but eventually and much to his dismay Yvon Fauconnier was declared the winner after standing-by Philippe Jeantot’s capsized catamaran for 16 hours! Poupon would take his revenge in 1988, and set a new course record of 10 days that would stand until 2000.
Trimaran wizard Loïck Peyron won the 1992 and 1996 events back to back, and the 1990s saw the return of the competitive monohulls - the OST AR, renamed Europe 1 New Man Star, proved a perfect shakedown and qualifier for the single-handed non-stop round the world Vendée Globe.
A staggering fleet of 24 IMOCA 60 monohulls entered the 2000 event, and Ellen MacArthur, then only 23 years old, surprised everyone by beating solo masters like Michel Desjoyeaux, Thomas Coville, Yves Parlier, Mike Golding and Roland Jourdain, to name but a few! In the multihull class, Francis Joyon’s (almost) sponsorless trimaran made the headline by smashing Poupon’s 1988 record. Interestingly, both MacArthur and Joyon would soon afterwards become the first two sailors to ever complete a single-handed nonstop circumnavigation aboard a multihull, both setting reference times that already have their own chapters in the great book of offshore racing.
The making of a legend
Run as an independent race for professional solo sailors under the management of OC Events and named simply THE TRANSAT, the 2004 event’s evolution continued alongside the traditional OST AR (Original Single-Handed transatlantic Race) held the following year and organized by the Royal Western Yacht Club focussing on Corinthian, non-pro sailors. With an entry totaling 40 multihulls and monohulls of 50 and 60 feet including 12 ORMA trimarans and Yves Parlier’s radical and untried catamaran, Mediatis Region Aquitaine, the fleet contained an unprecedented level of offshore racing talent and assured intense competition: qualities that were soon to become evident. Vendée Globe and Route du Rhum winner Michel Desjoyeaux, skippering a trimaran, crossed the finish line first in Boston - by becoming the absolute king of single-handers (having won the three most prestigious events of the discipline), he confirmed The Transat’s “legend-making” status!
2008 saw the arrival of Artemis as title partner, and definitely perpetuated the tradition since Loïck Peyron (skippering a monohull this time) captured his third win on the course, beating the “founding father” Tabarly himself. A feat which catapulted the already iconic Peyron into another stratosphere! The 2008 (13th) edition of the event innovated by welcoming the Class 40 monohulls, offering a healthy balance of Corinthian spirit and proving ground for rising talents.
