Just 48 hours after he unearthed structural damage to his HUGO BOSS boat – on day 13 of the Vendée Globe round-the-world yacht race – Alex Thomson has confirmed that he is sailing once again. Thomson discovered damage to the bow area of his IMOCA yacht on Saturday evening UTC and, after alerting his team on shore, was forced to bring the boat to a stop while he carried out a complex repair at sea to reinforce the structure inside the boat. With the help of Read More
“This is the Vendée Globe. You have to be able to deal with this stuff”
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 Read More
Team Update
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 Read More
Team Statement
Day 12: Take 5 with Alex
Leading the fleet I hate being in a position of possibly losing out in a big way, which can happen when you’re following so I’d much prefer to lead. I think perhaps I’m a bit different in the way I sail. But I go out there to win, and so I want to be leading from the early stages. A game of cat and mouse? I try not to constantly think about who is behind me, chasing me. I used to be a bit like that but not so much any more. When I got a position report Read More
Alex Thomson in first place as he crosses the Equator onboard HUGO BOSS
Alex Thomson has successfully crossed the equator into the southern hemisphere, as he maintains his lead in the Vendée Globe. The HUGO BOSS skipper crossed the equator at 13:19 UTC today (Wednesday 18th November) after 9 days, 23 hours and 59 minutes at sea. One of the favourites going into the race, which takes place just every four years, Thomson finds himself ahead of his nearest rival by some 70 miles. Despite a gruelling start to the race – Read More
After tackling Storm Theta, Alex Thomson races south towards the equator.
After a week of racing in the Vendée Globe, Alex now heads south after passing through Storm Theta yesterday in some challenging conditions. The routing had HUGO BOSS tacking just before the eye of the storm, however 70 miles from the centre with consistent wind of 50 knots and 5 metre waves, the boat violently broached. Whilst the boat was on its side and head to the wind, Alex decided to sail away from the storm’s centre in a south westerly direction. Since Read More
Alex Thomson heads towards the centre of Storm Theta
Alex is currently heading towards the centre of Storm Theta. At around 14:00 UTC we expect him to gybe to the west of the storm. At this point he will be in strong winds of approximately 45-50 knots with swells of four- five metres. Then as the storm continues to track to the east, a south west routing will lead to better conditions Read More
Team Update: A solid start to the race
Update from Ross Daniel, Technical Director at Alex Thomson Racing: Alex got off to a good start, crossing the line without any complications, reaching to the west at a good speed and staying in the leading group. As you saw in his video, he managed to get some fishing gear caught on the rudder and foil on the first night but he was able to kick up the rudder, which managed to release it. He’s since managed to check both the rudder and foil and there Read More
“Third, second…there’s only really one place to go, isn’t there?”
Alex Thomson begins his quest for Vendée Globe gold Alex Thomson today (Sunday 8th November) set off onboard his HUGO BOSS boat from the seaside town of Les Sables-d’Olonne in France to begin the Vendée Globe - a 24,000-mile, solo, non-stop, unassisted round-the-world yacht race. A sporting challenge conquered by only 89 sailors in history, the Vendée Globe sees skippers push their minds and bodies to the absolute limits onboard custom-built racing yachts, Read More
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