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Excellent report on the first week Nope.Well, a week in now and it's certainly been interesting and in no way plain sailing (pun intended) for all the skippers. Tricky conditions with the initial front and Theta have ensured that all the skippers have had to demonstrate not only their undoubted skills but also shown how physically and mentally tough this race is, even so early in.
Highlights for me – of course it's good to see Alex and the boat going well and that his risks, esp regarding Theta, have paid off and given him a reasonable lead heading into what should be relatively 'easy' sailing for at least a few days. Also been enjoying the videos from Pip Hare and Boris Herrman. The real star of the first week has been Jean Le Cam though. To be where he is after 7 days in an old non-foiling boat shows some fantastic sailing and planning. Likely that the foilers will take advantage of the weather over the next few days and show how quick they really are.
Lowlights – Jeremie Beyou having to bring Charal back into port for repairs. Obviously while it is disappointing for Jeremie it's a shame for us following the race as well. I think minus any major mishaps (which are of course possible) Alex will win by some distance and we'll be denied the gripping race like we had in 2016 between Alex and Armel Le Cleach. Of course as always there are races within the race but still...
The Charal team are making an announcement tomorrow as to whether the boat can be repaired and back out before the Wednesday deadline. Fingers crossed that he makes it back out and shows us what the boat can do. Other lowlights are minimal updates from Sebastian Destremau, and that I didn't stick in at French at school – even Sam Davies gives most of her updates in French!!
So, as usual ha'way Alex, the lasses, the boats, and the rest of the fleet (on the waves or in the port)
Missed the start of this, even with 4 years notice.
Here we go againTEAM STATEMENT
At approximately 19:00 UTC on Saturday 21st November, Alex notified the team on shore of a possible structural issue onboard the HUGO BOSS boat.
At the time, Alex 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.
Alex and the team, together with our 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.
Alex 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.
Drama
Excellent update DearRatBoy. Let's hope he can do an effective repair and get back up to speed. There is still a hell of a long way to go. Come on Alex son.Alex Thomson shares an update following the news announced yesterday by his team, that he had discovered structural damage on the HUGO BOSS yacht, 13 days into the Vendée Globe.
“It was a bit of a shock at first but obviously it could have been a lot worse. It’s repairable and we’re not yet in the southern ocean.
“I called my technical team and they got the right group of people together – the designers, the engineers, the team. While they were digesting the information, that was my time to sleep. Knowing it was going to be a big job to get it all done, I got myself about six hours sleep so that I’d be ready.
“Then we started running through the repair plan so that I could fully understand it and ask the right questions. The first part of that was to stabilise the hull so that involved some cutting, gluing and bolting. That’s done now and it’s been laminated. The next part is to get the rest of the repair prepped. I need to get all the materials together and do as much of the cutting now while it’s still light. Then the rest of it doesn’t matter because it’s in the bow and it’s dark in there anyway. It’s really humid up in there. But we carry quite a lot of materials – under-water resin, glues that can deal with humid conditions – so the materials can deal with it quite well. I imagine a lot of teams don’t carry as much as we do.
“I’m in a rhythm now so I’ll keep going for as long as I can. It’s quite an intricate job so I can’t rush it and I need to make sure it’s right.
“I’m disappointed obviously but this is the Vendée Globe. This is what it entails. You’ve got to be able to deal with this stuff. This is why we carry these materials and tools, and why we’re generally very good at being able to deal with these things. Normally I feel angry and sad and emotional but I don’t this time. I just need to get on with it. I’m sure at some point the emotions may go the other way but, for now, there is only one thing to do and that is to get the job done as best as I possibly can. I will do whatever it takes to stay in the race”.
Couple of videos from Alex re: the repairs. Seems they are well underway and he sounds pretty positive on getting back in the race. The conditions aren't that good for Charlie and Thomas upfront so it will be interesting to see how much mileage Alex has to make up when he gets under full sail again - presently 380nm from APIVIA in 1st. Was mentioned the other day that in 2016 Alex was >800nm behind Armel rounding the Cape Horn and pulled nearly all of that back by the time they reached the equater - this is not over by a long shot.
repair vid 1
repair vid 2
Couple of videos from Alex re: the repairs. Seems they are well underway and he sounds pretty positive on getting back in the race. The conditions aren't that good for Charlie and Thomas upfront so it will be interesting to see how much mileage Alex has to make up when he gets under full sail again - presently 380nm from APIVIA in 1st. Was mentioned the other day that in 2016 Alex was >800nm behind Armel rounding the Cape Horn and pulled nearly all of that back by the time they reached the equater - this is not over by a long shot.
repair vid 1
repair vid 2
and now back sailing although not all repairs complete yet.