What the 2008 Artemis Transat Classification Records
The 2008 Artemis Transat classification is the official ordered record of boats within each division, compiled from the race documents held in this archive for that edition. The division header establishes how to read every row beneath it. IMOCA and Class 40 have separate classifications.
I begin with that header before reading a boat name or placing. It establishes the boundary of the result: which entries belong together, which elapsed times can be compared, and where a finishing position has meaning.
Elapsed time is the duration the sheet records between a boat’s start stamp and finish stamp. Here, time allowance means the printed gap between elapsed times within the same class list. Any correction column needs separate identification using the sheet’s own terminology.
No classification sheets accompany this reading guide, so it provides a method rather than verified result transcriptions. Boat identities, timestamps, totals, gaps and corrections must come directly from the archive’s 2008 documents.
One Ocean Passage, Two Fleet Lineups
The pre-race frame is a single-handed transatlantic race scored in two divisions: IMOCA and Class 40. Both divisions share the ocean passage. Each retains its own result list.
Read the printed entry lines beneath each division header as that class’s fleet lineup. Each boat belongs to the class under which the document places it. Moving from the lineup to the finishing record should preserve that association throughout: an entry under Class 40 remains a Class 40 result when its status and elapsed time become available.
This distinction matters when a document places both divisions close together. Their proximity on a page does not establish a shared scoreboard. Keep each header attached to its rows when taking notes or copying results into a separate table.
Start ports, course distances, calendar dates and entry totals require direct transcription from the 2008 sheets. Leave those details out when the document being read does not supply them.
Read the Start and Finish Stamps Before the Total
Follow the recorded passage through three fields: start stamp, finish stamp, elapsed time.
- Locate the boat’s recorded start timestamp.
- Locate its recorded finish timestamp.
- Read the elapsed-time value the classification prints for that row.
Preserve the full date and time wherever supplied, including any printed time-zone designation. A clock time alone cannot represent the complete interval across a transatlantic passage. Keep the units and precision attached to the elapsed total, too; a shortened transcription can discard information the sheet deliberately retains.
The printed elapsed figure is the result-sheet value to carry into the reading. Avoid replacing it with a calculation assembled from a remembered departure, a secondary account or a differently expressed finish time. Those substitutions break the connection between the row and its supporting fields.
Missing Passage Stamps
If either timestamp is missing, leave the elapsed-time cell unread rather than estimating it. Preserve the missing information in your notes.
Establish What the Class Gap Measures
A gap column needs its heading. A gap to the class leader and a gap to the previous finisher describe different intervals, even though both may appear beside an ordered list of elapsed times.
For a gap to the previous finisher, the comparison concerns adjacent finished entries within the same division. For a gap to the leader, the reference remains the leading entry. Copy that reference into your notes alongside the printed interval. Otherwise, a correct numeral can acquire the wrong meaning.
Check next for a correction or allowance column. Where one appears, follow the printed corrected order and describe the adjustment in the document’s terms. Do not introduce an outside rating formula to recreate the result.
Where no correction column appears, read the classification as an elapsed-time order without assuming a handicap. Throughout this process, the IMOCA and Class 40 headers remain separate scoring boundaries. A gap printed within either list stays within that list.
A gap-to-leader column cannot become a gap-to-previous-finisher column through subtraction or relabelling in the worked reading. Record the interval the sheet actually supplies.
Identify Each Division’s Winning Passage Separately
The leading finished line in each division supplies the starting point for recognising its notable performance. Confirm the status, then copy the identity exactly as printed. That finished passage can be described as the division’s winning passage, with the class name retained beside it.
An IMOCA placing has meaning among IMOCA entries. A Class 40 placing has meaning among Class 40 entries. Keep that distinction even when discussing the two leading passages together: each occupies the head of its own classification.
Without the sheet’s leading finished identity, leave the winner unnamed. A remembered skipper, boat name or passage time cannot fill that documentary gap.
Two Separate Podiums
Keep the two podiums separate; do not create an overall winner that the 2008 classification does not declare.
Keep Retired Boats in the Class Record
Read status before interpreting a time or rank. Retirement remains part of the class record, and the boat should remain visible under its division with the status the sheet prints.
A retired entry receives no elapsed-time rank among finishers. Keeping that row preserves the distinction between taking part in the fleet and recording a finished passage. Deleting it would remove information about the class lineup; assigning it a finishing place would change its meaning.
Retirement Status Only
Do not assign a retired boat a guessed cause, a partial passage time or a place among boats that finished.
The archive boundary is specific: repeat a retirement reason only when the 2008 sheet states it. If the reason field is silent, leave it silent in the account.
Copy One Finished Row and One Retirement
Use the following paired reading when selecting a finished IMOCA row and a retired Class 40 row from the sheets. These are column-role instructions; they supply no substitute identities or figures.
- Write the finished row’s division: copy the IMOCA header before recording the entry.
- Copy its identity: preserve the boat identity exactly as printed.
- Confirm its status: establish that the row records a finish before reading its passage time.
- Transcribe elapsed time: retain the printed units and precision, following the start-and-finish-stamp check above.
- Record class rank: attach the placing to IMOCA only. Preserve any printed correction separately and follow the document’s order.
- Read the allowance: copy the gap to the previous finisher only if the heading supplies that interval. If it supplies a gap to the leader, label it accordingly; leave an absent previous-finisher gap blank.
Now take the retirement through the same opening fields:
- Division: copy the Class 40 header.
- Identity: copy the retired boat’s printed identity.
- Status: reproduce its retirement status, then stop. Leave elapsed rank and gap unfilled, and add no inferred cause.
