The 2008 Artemis Transat standings make sense only when the race is read as a class-scored solo transatlantic event, not as one blended leaderboard. Its course ran from Plymouth, England, to Boston, Massachusetts, with the official start on 11 May 2008. Scored fleets were IMOCA 60 monohulls and Class40 monohulls.
In this Article
- Overview of the 2008 Artemis Transat Results
- Complete Overall Standings
- Standings by Racing Class
- Notable Outcomes from the Race
Overview of the 2008 Artemis Transat Results
Race scope controls interpretation in this archive entry. The Artemis Transat was a solo monohull race across the North Atlantic, starting in Plymouth and finishing in Boston. Elapsed time from the official start to each recorded finish-line crossing determined the result.
That sounds simple, but the sporting meaning sits in the class split. IMOCA 60 yachts and Class40 yachts did not race under a single corrected-time handicap. A combined table can help navigation, yet the result remains class-specific.
Important: Publishing one “overall winner” without class context would misstate the 2008 result. The IMOCA 60 and Class40 fleets were scored separately, and their elapsed times should not be collapsed into a single corrected ranking.
How the standings were determined
The standings basis was elapsed time: the clock started with the official race start on 11 May 2008 and stopped at each skipper’s recorded finish-line crossing in Boston. This is the correct archival anchor because it does not depend on mid-race tracker order, projected routing, or momentary boat speed.
In my own race-result work, I treat tracker rank as a useful narrative tool and finish-line time as the record. A skipper may appear higher or lower mid-race than in the final archive after finish time, retirement status, redress, or penalty entries are applied.
The available archive fields here support class-leader detail rather than every recorded finisher. That limitation matters less for interpreting the headline result than it would for reconstructing the full fleet narrative.
Complete Overall Standings
The combined view below is a finish-order aid for the confirmed leading finishers supplied in the race record extract. It is not a corrected-time overall championship table.
2008 Artemis Transat confirmed leading finishers by elapsed time| Combined finish-order view | Class | Skipper | Elapsed time | Recorded finish context | Final status marker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IMOCA 60 | Loïck Peyron | 12 days 11 hours 45 minutes 35 seconds | First IMOCA 60 finish fell on 23 May 2008 when measured from the 11 May 2008 start | Finished |
| 2 | Class40 | Giovanni Soldini | 16 days 22 hours 11 minutes 55 seconds | First Class40 finish fell on 28 May 2008 when measured from the 11 May 2008 start | Finished |
Notes on corrections, penalties, and final markers
Race archives should attach any penalty, redress, retirement, or non-finish marker to the skipper’s own result line. That placement prevents a common error: readers remember the prose summary and miss the status change that actually determines the final table.
For the two confirmed leading result lines above, the elapsed times are the operative figures. If a fuller official sheet includes other skippers with penalties, redress, retirements, or non-finishes, those markers belong beside the relevant names, not in a loose note at the end of the article.
Field Note: For transatlantic race archives, I prefer finish-order tables that keep status markers in the row itself. Offshore races often produce clean-looking leaderboards during the passage, then become more complex once the race committee records final finish status.
This matters for the 2008 Artemis Transat because the North Atlantic does not reward tidy narratives. A boat can sail an excellent passage and still finish with a status note that changes how the result should be read.
Standings by Racing Class
The class breakdown is the sporting result. The faster IMOCA 60 fleet appears first here because its leading finisher reached Boston before the first Class40 finisher. That order follows chronology, not superiority across a handicap system.
IMOCA 60 results
Loïck Peyron led the IMOCA 60 result with an elapsed time of 12 days 11 hours 45 minutes 35 seconds. His first-place finish in the class placed the first IMOCA 60 arrival on 23 May 2008, measured from the 11 May start.
2008 Artemis Transat IMOCA 60 class result extract| Class position | Skipper | Boat identifier | Elapsed time | Final status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loïck Peyron | Not specified in this archive extract | 12 days 11 hours 45 minutes 35 seconds | Finished |
The IMOCA 60 result aligns with the expected performance profile of the class. A 60-foot offshore monohull has more length, more sail-carrying potential, and a different structural envelope than a Class40. The elapsed time should therefore be read inside the class design context, not as a direct measure against the 40-foot fleet.
Class40 results
Giovanni Soldini led the Class40 category with an elapsed time of 16 days 22 hours 11 minutes 55 seconds. The first Class40 finish fell on 28 May 2008 when measured from the 11 May 2008 start.
2008 Artemis Transat Class40 class result extract| Class position | Skipper | Boat identifier | Elapsed time | Final status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Giovanni Soldini | Not specified in this archive extract | 16 days 22 hours 11 minutes 55 seconds | Finished |
The gap between the two class-winning elapsed times was 4 days 10 hours 26 minutes 20 seconds. That spread is useful, but it should remain descriptive. It reflects two different rule boxes and two different performance envelopes crossing the same ocean course.
Bottom Line: The 2008 standings should be read as two class results: Loïck Peyron first in IMOCA 60 and Giovanni Soldini first in Class40. The combined finish-order view helps navigation, but the sporting result stays class-specific.
Notable Outcomes from the Race
The headline outcome was Peyron’s third victory in this solo transatlantic race lineage. That achievement belongs in the archive because it connects the 2008 result to the longer history of the event, not merely to one May crossing from Plymouth to Boston.
The class timing also told a clean performance story. The IMOCA 60 winner completed the course before the first Class40 finisher, matching the expected gap between the larger 60-foot offshore monohulls and the 40-foot class. No correction formula is needed to explain that sequence.
Record context and class achievement
Peyron’s winning elapsed time, 12 days 11 hours 45 minutes 35 seconds, marked the leading IMOCA 60 performance in the supplied standings record. Soldini’s 16 days 22 hours 11 minutes 55 seconds gave the Class40 fleet its leading reference point for the same course and start.
The comparison is most useful when kept narrow: class winner to class winner, elapsed time to elapsed time. Once the discussion drifts into “overall” language, the result loses precision.
Impact on later race presentation
The 2008 edition also matters archivally because later editions of the same race lineage returned under revised branding and with changed fleet presentation. That does not alter the 2008 standings, but it does explain why clean class labels matter when older results are republished.
Archive readers often arrive through a skipper name, a class search, or a broad event history page. A precise result page must serve all three without flattening the race into a single table that the scoring system did not use.
The safest reading is the most disciplined one: Plymouth to Boston, start on 11 May 2008, elapsed time to the finish line, separate IMOCA 60 and Class40 scoring. From that frame, the standings become clear and the interpretation stays faithful to the race.
