Our Mate Alex Thomson’s Races
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Downloading to watch on the plane.
I don't know what he says here, but I have talked to Alex about the IMOCA Open 60 design and the way it has been going. It is so very fragile. There are great tracts of the hulls of the current generation that you can't stand on (else you will go though the carbon fibre). Alex thinks that this is utterly stupid and has been calling for change, but to remain competitive, he had to build the latest boast to the existing regs (or thought he did….....) Perhaps he should have stuck with the older generation and watch everyone else retire though breakage....
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Sound quality aside, it's an interesting interview. Alex is a great storyteller.
I'm really surprised how fragile the boats are getting. The ORMA trimaran class imploded after the fleet was wiped out in a couple of races, ironically one of which was the Transat Jacques Vabre, because they were unseaworthy. The IMOCAs could be heading in the same direction.
Bear in mind that the previous generation boats were even lighter. PRB is about 6.9 tonnes, versus 7.5 tonnes for the new designs. Alex would probably be best reusing the boat from his last Vendee…
Nigel Irens, who designed B&Q Castorama for Ellen MacArthur, believed a heavier, cheaper, and slightly less high-tech solution was safer. It worked out for Ellen, along with Francis Joyon, who still holds the solo round the world record.
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Three months later and Black Is Just About Back.
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I believe that Alex has been working with Hugh Welbourne, who developed the Dynamic Stability System foils, so I've got a rough idea where this is headed.
Let's just hope that he doesn't break the boat again in the next ten months…
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Bring it home this time Alex….(The cup as well as the boat).....
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Just looking at the Vendée Globe entrants, and noticed Alex's number.
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Come on, keep it up and don't break the bloody thing….
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Alex is still in the lead.
Jérémie Beyou is slightly behind him, by 2.8 miles. This is impressive because his boat, Maître Coq, is of the previous generation. I think that she's been upgraded with foils.
Sébastien Josse, on Edmond de Rothschild, is also in the chase, and trails Alex by 10.8 miles. He's following Beyou, though. The boat, which is occasionally referred to as Gitana (the team's name), is one of the latest generation.
Alex lost a lot of miles yesterday because his autopilot disengaged at 28 knots, and forced the boat into an emergency crash tack! There's a video on his Facebook page with all the details, but the short version is that a GPS failed, and caused the system to go down. Thankfully nothing was damaged, except his lead.
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You can follow Alex's progress here. He's now lost the lead….
