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    Iron Heart Fall/Winter 2025 Collection Preview - Now Live

    Our Mate Alex Thomson’s Races

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    • GilesG
      Giles
      IHUK Crew
      Joined:

      Guess what Alex wants to do next?  Yep, play with trimarans…..

      "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

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      • GilesG
        Giles
        IHUK Crew
        Joined:

        Hugo Boss does not need to be heeled as far over as "the others" to get lift from the foils, he therefore gets lift in lighter winds than the others…..And yes, that means he will get more lift when he is sailing downwind than the others....

        If you want to know more, come to the pub on a Wednesday night, there will always be some of the shore crew there to answer questions, and as long as Alex is not otherwise occupied (Gybing, tacking cleaning the diesel) then he will phone in and you can ask him anything you want.  One thing about Alex, he does not hide stuff (well, actually he told me last Christmas that the boat was enormously fast and he was deliberately sailing it slowly in some of the precursor races, so as not to show his hand before the Vende...), he is really open so will answer almost anything....Including where his "adult films" are stored on the boats hard drive (under "taxes" if you want to know 🙂 ). Yep someone asked him that question last night.....

        "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

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        • GraemeG
          Graeme
          啓蒙家
          Joined:

          Unfortunately I'm at the wrong end of the country to make it to the pub on a Wednesday. 😞

          The Classe Ultime (French for big tris) seems to be picking up. There were a few new builds recently, and I guess that the next big event will be the Route du Rhum in 2018. If Alex is organised, he could have a boat together for that.

          Here's an unofficial Vendée race tracker, which a lot of people prefer to the official one:

          http://gis.ee/vg/

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          • GilesG
            Giles
            IHUK Crew
            Joined:

            Pulling slowly away…...Boom....

            "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

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            • GilesG
              Giles
              IHUK Crew
              Joined:

              @Graeme If you have any questions, let me know.  I'll ask Alex…

              "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

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              • GraemeG
                Graeme
                啓蒙家
                Joined:

                Thanks @Giles.

                The thing I'd be curious to know is how far advanced his trimaran plans are, but I suspect that he won't announce that at a pub event. 😉

                Here's hoping Alex continues to extend his lead. 🙂

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                • AetasA
                  Aetas
                  見習いボス
                  Joined:

                  @Graeme:

                  Here's an unofficial Vendée race tracker, which a lot of people prefer to the official one:
                  http://gis.ee/vg/

                  Thanks @Graeme .Great tracker to watch at for the next weeks! Wind will be the key and is displayed here well!

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                  • GraemeG
                    Graeme
                    啓蒙家
                    Joined:

                    Alex is now just over 100 miles ahead of the next guy. He's pulled out a lead of about 20 or 30 miles over the past 24 hours.

                    Perhaps he should slow down to give the competition a sporting chance. 😉

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                    • GraemeG
                      Graeme
                      啓蒙家
                      Joined:

                      Speaking of enormous trimarans, here's the Gitana Maxi. It's a 33 metre design by VPLP, who were part of the team behind Hugo Boss, and probably along the lines of what Alex wants next…

                      Sailing Anarchy have also posted a podcast interview with VPLP. I've not listened to it yet, but it should be interesting.

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                      • GilesG
                        Giles
                        IHUK Crew
                        Joined:

                        133 miles in front.  Still not a lot, but gently easing ahead….

                        "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

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                        • GilesG
                          Giles
                          IHUK Crew
                          Joined:

                          And 525 miles in the last 24 hours…..The all time distance sailed in 24 hours record in the Vende was set in 2012 and is about 534, I am supremely confident that Alex will smash that very soon....

                          "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

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                          • GraemeG
                            Graeme
                            啓蒙家
                            Joined:

                            Alex has pranged one of his foils on something. I don't know if the damage is serious, but it'll probably slow him down. 😞

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                            • GilesG
                              Giles
                              IHUK Crew
                              Joined:

                              That's the risk when you have bloody great appendages sticking out from the boat…...But he's still going quickly.....

                              "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

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                              • GraemeG
                                Graeme
                                啓蒙家
                                Joined:

                                He's lost the starboard foil, but still keeping ahead of the chasing pack. 🙂

                                So on one tack he's going to be as fast as before, but on the other he'll struggle. Though at 20 knots, he's still going pretty quickly on the wrong side!

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                                • GraemeG
                                  Graeme
                                  啓蒙家
                                  Joined:

                                  Alex is still up front. He's pulled out his lead slightly, it's currently 96 nautical miles. 🙂

                                  Vincent Riou has retired. He hit something with his keel, and damaged the canting mechanism. He's not confident that he can complete the race without it dropping off. 😞

                                  There's an interview with Mike Golding, who's done the race a few times on the Vendée website.

                                  http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/news/16415/mike-golding-offers-his-view-of-the-2016-vendee-globe

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                                  • GilesG
                                    Giles
                                    IHUK Crew
                                    Joined:

                                    Go Boy…...

                                    British skipper Alex Thomson this afternoon completed the fastest ever passage from the Vendée Globe start line to the Cape of Good Hope in the race's 27-year history. Thomson's Hugo Boss passed the famous milestone on the tip of South Africa at 1100 UTC in seventeen days, 22 hours and 58 minutes since beginning the epic solo round the world race from Les Sables d'Olonne in France.

                                    The time obliterates the current race record for the passage of 22 days and 23 hours set by Armel Le Cléac'h in 2012, which in turn broke Vincent Riou's 2004 time of 24 days and two hours. While the Cape of Good Hope is used as the reference point for the passage in the Vendee Globe, it is not actually the most southerly point in South Africa. That title goes to Cape Agulhas, around 90 miles to the south east.

                                    "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

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                                    • rocketR
                                      rocket
                                      Joined:

                                      seems like he just smashed the old record, impressing…

                                      rocketrocksrox 🤙🏼🤙🏾

                                      It's all humbug, like everywhere
                                      R.I.P. Geo

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                                      • GilesG
                                        Giles
                                        IHUK Crew
                                        Joined:

                                        https://www.facebook.com/AlexThomsonRacing/videos/vb.124956890851705/1594904583856921/?type=2&theater

                                        "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

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                                        • GilesG
                                          Giles
                                          IHUK Crew
                                          Joined:

                                          https://www.facebook.com/IMOCA.OceanRacing/videos/10155406265035961/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED

                                          "OK face up to it - you're useless but generally pretty honest and straightforward . . . it's a rare combination of qualities that I have come to admire in you" - Geo 2011

                                          last edited by 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • SimonS
                                            Simon
                                            Joined:

                                            That's very cool, he's gaining ground even on a port tack, with a broken foil, amazing!

                                            Give me the luxuries of life and I will willingly do without the necessities - Frank Lloyd Wright

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