Our Mate Alex Thomson’s Races
-
I am firmly back in the south after my excursion to the north and my meeting with cyclone Claudia which turned out to be a little disappointing. Anyhow my worry was getting back to the south and now I am here so mission accomplished. I have had a few mishaps on the way, nothing that is a major problem but they have made life difficult and uncomfortable.
It is bitterly cold down here now and I have several layers on even when in my sleeping bag I have a heater onboard but it burns diesel so whilst I am in power saving mode and conserving fuel, using the heater is a no go therefore it is like some sort of torture having all the capabilities of making heat but not being able to use it.
It is not to bad with lots of layers on until I have to work hard and then I am dripping wet with sweat, like the sails it’s hard to find the middle ground!
The road ahead is quite clear and I should be well past New Zealand by Xmas day. Then it’s to Cape Horn and I hope and pray it is a quick, warm and painless crossing. Having been dismasted halfway across the Pacific before I know how dangerous and isolated this stretch of water is. The trick is to survive down here and get to Cape Horn in one piece, you never win the race in the Southern Ocean but it’s all too easy to lose it down here!
-
With Bernard Stamm (Cheminées Poujoulat) seeking shelter on the west side of the Auckland Islands to fix his hydrogenerators, Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) is on his own in the Pacific suddenly pulling away fast in 25-27 knot northwesterlies and closing on the leaders who only have 14 knot westerslies.
Thomson is 818 miles behind, with Stamm 913 miles back and bound suffer major losses now.
The leader Francois Gabart (MACIF) is 22.5 miles ahead of Armel Le Cléac’h (Banque Populaire) but they are both struggling in 14 knots weterlies and have gybed almost together while waiting for the low pressure system to arrive overnight (their day).
Jean-Pierre Dick (Virbac-Paprec 3) in third is catching too. He has been the quickest in the fleet on Saturday and was averaging 20.2 knots in the last four hours. He has won back 120 miles from Le Clèac’h in the last 24 hours and is 476.7 miles behind the leader.
Jean Le Cam (SynerCiel) in sixth began his escape from Mike Golding (Gamesa), Dominique Wavre (Mirabaud) and Javier Sansó (Acciona 100% EcoPowered). He is 233 miles ahead of Golding now, but the real gains are yet to be made and will be counted over the next 24 hours as Le Cam catches the North wind and the others hit a high pressure ridge south of Tasmania.
-
On day 47 Alex is having a fast ride through the Pacific towards Cape Horn:
"It has been another fast night for me with 24-29 knots of wind from the WNW with an awkward seaway. I was slowed temporarily when I had to do a minor repair to one of the sails but overall it has been a good night. Conditions don’t allow for any work on the hydros but i haven’t had much time anyway. To be honest it does not look like there will be many lighter wind days all the way to Cape Horn but cant really complain at that!
Plan is to get up to this ice gate precisely when the wind shifts to the west and gybe over and make some ground to the southeast before gybing again and heading for the next gate which is a little further south than this one. First gybe will probably be around 2200 tonight
-
Alex Thomson Racing
A tough night for Alex as he makes ground on the leading pair:“It was really tough last night, gusting up to 40 knots and big seas. 40 knots down here feels like 50 knots in the high latitudes you have to continually ease the sheets in the gust making it impossible to get any decent rest. Despite the tough night I’m pleased to be making ground on the leading pair, I think I’ve gained around 150 miles on them in the past 24 hours, but with the forecast for the next day and a half I’m really going to be survival mode. Down in these Southerly latitudes anything above 30 knots puts you into survival mode, so when it gets up to 40 knots you really are living on the edge and objectives are to keep the boat in one piece.
At the moment it looks as though it’s going to be a bit like this until we reach Cape Horn, which should be around the evening of the 3rd January, which while being tough on me also makes it difficult to find a good time to do any more work on my Hydro repairs.”
-
Consistent winds and calmer seas bring higher spirits and the opportunity for some maintenance for Alex:
"I'm feeling a lot happier this morning, the wind is more consistent with none of the 40knot gusts of the last few days, and the seas are much better, less confused allowing me to surf down some waves which helps with maintaining good speeds. I've been doing some maintenance on my reefing lines today, the lines used to make the main sail smaller. It's important to keep checking them for chafe as the reefs are like my gears and without them all functioning properly its like driving a car with only one gear!
The routing still has me rounding Cape Horn in early January so I'll be seeing in the New Year in the Pacific, crossing back into the Atlantic early in 2013.
Thanks for all the messages over the past week, around Christmas and especially when the conditions are so harsh it's a real boost to hear from everyone on dry land!"
-
I don't think that Bernard wil be able to successfully appeal this, but what shit luck. I feel so sorry for him….
http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/article/8629/cheminees-poujoulat-disqualified.html
-
The shit….. continueth
http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/article/8703/stamm-wants-to-fight-on.html
My view. He should be given some sort of time penalty, but outright disqualification is harsh…...
-
Finally read what's going on and I have to agree- the penalty outweighs the infraction. The cited precedent, if anything, emphasizes that. Hopefully, the jury will reconsider.
-
Only 2 of them:
Bernard Bonneau (FRA); Ana Sanchez (ESP); Trevor Lewis (GBR); Jack Lloyd (NZL); Georges Priol (FRA)(Two too many, I'll grant you that…)
-
"Morning! I spent most of last night sailing in a SE direction waiting for the wind to shift to the NW so I could gybe. It felt a little strange being south of Cape Horn and still heading south but now the shift has come and I have gybed this morning and now am sailing in the direction of Cape Horn, I should be arriving in about the next 16 hours or so. I have about 300 miles left before I make this first solo passage of the horn. There are reports of a lot of ice around Cape Horn area so naturally I am also a little apprehensive about that, but the race committee provide us with positions of all icebergs within the area on a daily bases, so with this information I should be able to navigate my way past the Horn safely and back into the south Atlantic.
The other good news is that I managed to do some work on the hydro generator yesterday. I still have a fair bit to do and will keep plugging away at it. I take every opportunity in the weather I get to work on this and hope that there will be more opportunities in the South Atlantic for me to get this done so I can get out of power saving mode and have my full attention on finishing the race."
-
An interesting read from 2006, when Alex had to be rescued my Mike Golding as they chased down Bernard Stamm (the poor bastard who has just been disqualified from this race)…...
-
Go on boy….....
Though the skipper of Hugo Boss still has more than one quarter of the course to complete, and the ice strewn passage of the Cape in itself holds considerable danger through the next 24 hours, a successful release from the Pacific Ocean and into the Atlantic will also release many of the demons of past disappointments.
Two failed previous Vendée Globe races and one solo Velux 5 Oceans – when he had to abandon his IMOCA Open 60 in the Indian Ocean – mean that this will be his first Cape Horn alone. That he is in an excellent fourth place in an older generation of design, still in touch with the podium whilst managing an acute on board power shortage is already an enduring endorsement of his skills as a solo sailor. Thomson has been in power saving mode since he broke a hydrogenerator on December 11th, but plans to speak to Vendée Globe LIVE after his passage.
_“It will mean a huge amount to Alex tonight. Don’t get me wrong we have not finished yet, but in itself he has got further solo than ever before and passing Cape Horn successfully in fourth will the culmination of 15 years of hard work on his part. This is the last big milestone before the finish and it has been a great race that Alex has sailed. He has worked so hard, as have the whole team over the years, so he deserves this. He has put up with a lot of criticism, negative feelings and back biting over the years, and Alex has thicker skin than most people, but for sure that has hurt him.”
“It has been like in any sport when there is a pressure on a tennis player, a driver or a golfer to perform but Alex will be pleased to have got this far and done so well.”
“Not many skippers will have worked harder. He has done four Transatlantics in six months including setting a new record.”_ Comments Stewart Hosford, CEO at Alex Thomson Racing.
-
News Flash:
South of the front three boats, Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) triumphantly rounded Cape Horn early this morning at 0238 GMT in a 25 knot wind, making 17.5 knots. This is the first solo passage for the 38 year old British skipper and the culmination of 12 years hard work for him and his team. It demonstrates another superb performance on board Hugo Boss, the Farr 2007, which has never ceased, since the beginning of the race, to hold onto the rooster tails of the latest generation IMOCA Open 60.
According to the computers at the race HQ at Montparnasse Station, Paris, Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) skirted passed a large iceberg, which was theoretically in his path, south of Diego Ramirez Islands. The courageous skipper, held his course without incident, demonstrating why he has gripped firmly onto fourth place overall, always ready to play his hand and try his luck.
-
“It is a huge achievement for me and the team behind me,” said Alex. “This is the third time I have rounded Cape Horn, but the first on my own. But there has been no time to relax and enjoy the moment, in fact quite the opposite. There are about 15 icebergs around this area and although I have their location from the race office as well as my radar, passing through in the dark is a daunting feeling. I passed within 0.8miles of one this morning, but saw nothing.”
“I am going to be really glad to leave the Southern Ocean behind me over the next few days, but there is still a long way to go,” said Alex. The conditions don’t look easy ahead and the amount of strain put on the boats through the Southern Ocean could really begin to tell. But I have had one focus throughout this entire race – to finish. I will do everything I can to achieve that goal.”
-
Alex Thomson Racing
Day 56, Alex still in 4th position and making his way past the Falkland Islands:"This morning I am in sight of the Falkland Islands, which is topical as I hear they have been in the news a lot this week! From what I can see they’re incredibly flat!! Today it should be another sunny day, which is good, conditions are considerably better than they have been and considering we’re in the middle of an ocean it is relatively calm out here. It’s still incredibly cold at night, but with the sunshine is relatively warm during the day which is good for the spirits. I’m also making the most of these conditions to get as much rest as I can.
I’m still happy with the progress I’m making, my route east of the Falklands has allowed me to benefit from the protection they have given me while I focus on the on-going hydro repairs. I spent a lot of the day on these yesterday, and will be starting again once it gets light down here. Hopefully the end is almost in sight with them as with around four weeks left of this race it’s still important that I get the second hydro back into action.
