Our Mate Alex Thomson’s Races
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For those of you who don't know. The French have historically been the masters of long-distance solo yachting. For years Alex was seen as being "too" professional by the French, they did not like the way he went about this his desire to win in a professional and business-like fashion. Basically, they disliked and mistrusted him.
In the 2012 Vendee, the French skipper JP Dick, lost his keel a few days away from the finish line . Alex diverted his course to shadow JP, whist JP either had to abandon ship or learn how to sail without a keel. That sacrifice made the French love and respect Alex. In 2019 the French awarded Alex the French National Award of Merit (probably the British equivalent of a Knighthood).
As I type this, Alex is heading into the eye of Storm Theta. He has his cojones on the table. The French now call this bravery (us mere mortals would probably call it stupidity) "Doing an Alex"..
I'm proud to know Alex and am frankly humbled by what he is putting his mind and body through…..
Go boy.
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Any news on Alex’s progress?
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@motojobobo Here is the current info:
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Thankyou @goosehd ! Looks like Alex is clearly in the lead and doing fine.
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You can follow here|:
https://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/tracking-map
or here
https://www.alexthomsonracing.com/the-hub/race/
Latest vids here:
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Latest update:
At approximately 19:00 UTC on Saturday 21st November, British Skipper Alex Thomson notified his team on shore of a possible structural issue onboard the HUGO BOSS boat.
At the time, Thomson was located approximately 800 miles east of Rio de Janeiro in the South Atlantic ocean, and was 13 days into the Vendée Globe round-the-world yacht race.
Thomson and his team, together with their appointed naval architects and structural engineers, are now working together to assess the extent of the structural issue and to determine a repair programme and timeline.
Thomson is safe and well onboard, and in regular dialogue with the team. The Vendée Globe race organisation has been notified and is being kept well informed.
We kindly ask that members of the public refrain from attempting to contact the team at this time. A further update will be released on Sunday 22nd November.
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Looks like Alex broke another boat. Damn, that sucks.
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Ross Daniel, Technical Director at Alex Thomson Racing:
“Yesterday evening (Saturday 21st November), while Alex was carrying out a routine inspection onboard HUGO BOSS, he spotted what he believed to be some structural damage in the bow area of the boat. He immediately notified myself and the team on shore, and we provided clear instructions to allow him to carry out a full inspection of the damage.
“That inspection has revealed some structural damage to a longitudinal beam at the front of the boat. The damage appears to be isolated to that area alone. It is yet unclear what caused this damage. There have been no incidents of concern onboard the boat during the race so far.
“Together with our structural engineers and naval architects, we worked through the night to put together a full repair plan for Alex. During this time, Alex took some rest onboard in order to prepare to begin that repair work this morning.
“Alex has now put the boat into a safe position to manage the sea state in order to reduce movement onboard while he carries out the repair. He has all the necessary materials onboard, a detailed plan to follow, and a team of world class engineers advising him. We are therefore confident in his ability to complete the repair.
“Our objective is to carry out the necessary repair swiftly and effectively, in order to minimise the miles lost and resume racing again.
“A further update will follow from the team in due course”.
