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MALBON MISSES OUT ON TRANSAT

By Martin Neville - Friday, May 16, 2008
Sport/Sailing
COWES skipper Jonny Malbon headed down to Plymouth on Sunday for the start of The Artemis Transat with mixed emotions.
While he said it was great to watch the spectacle of the start, it was gut-wrenching not to be a part of it following his team’s decision to withdraw from the race. He said they had been working tirelessly to get the state of the art IMOCA Open 60 ready, but lack of time to complete the final stages of preparation and sea trials with the boat meant it was not possible for them to qualify and compete safely in the race.
“We have all been working flat out for the last few months, seven days a week, 12-14 hours a day, so it was devastating for the whole team to realise we just did not have time to finish off the commissioning, sea trials and the myriad of other little jobs that would have meant that Artemis Ocean Racing II could have safely qualified and then raced in The Artemis Transat,” said Malbon, 33.
He and the Artemis Ocean Racing team will now focus their attention and energy on the Vendee Globe in November.
The current schedule is that Jonny and the team will finish the boat and start rigorous testing to get ready for offshore sailing and ultimately the 3,000 mile solo qualification passage that he must complete before the end of June.