News

British sailor Alex Thomson has announced he won’t compete as a skipper in the 2024 Vendée Globe, the solo, non-stop race around-the-world, but doesn’t rule out returning to the race in 2028. Thomson has competed in the IMOCA circuit for 19 years including five successive Vendée Globe’s with two podium finishes and numerous world records. “I have had the privilege to compete and race IMOCA 60s for almost 20 years. I love the sport but it’s now time for me to spend more time on land, with […]

Alex Thomson announces his co-skipper for the Rolex Fastnet Race as Swiss sailor Ollie Heer. As Boat Captain of HUGO BOSS, Ollie has worked in the Alex Thomson Racing Team since 2018 and has completed over 50,000 nautical miles on the boat. ‘Ollie is a natural choice, we have sailed thousands of miles together on HUGO BOSS and it’s worked extremely well.   He’s a great sailor and has aspirations to take on […]

Alex Thomson Racing will begin their 2021 competitive season with the Fastnet Race on August 8th. Three months out from the start of the prestigious race, the team this week returned their IMOCA 60 yacht, HUGO BOSS, to the water, with training set to commence in the coming days. “The boat has had a full inspection, NDT and service, and two new rudders installed” said Skipper Thomson. “Restrictions here in the UK […]

Alex Thomson and his crew today arrived back to their home base of Gosport, England having sailed close to 8,000nm from Cape Town onboard the HUGO BOSS boat. After departing from Cape Town last month – following his retirement from the Vendée Globe round-the-world yacht race – the skipper and his crew of three spent close to four weeks at sea, delivering the IMOCA racing yacht safely back to port. The ocean […]

Alex Thomson today departed from Cape Town, South Africa to begin the 6,500nm journey back to the UK onboard his HUGO BOSS boat. After being forced to retire from the Vendée Globe round-the-world yacht race – which is still under way – Thomson sailed his IMOCA yacht to Cape Town where the boat remained over the Christmas and New Year period. Thomson and members of his technical team this week returned to […]

After irreparable rudder damage put a stop to his quest for victory in the Vendée Globe, British sailor Alex Thomson has arrived safely in Cape Town, South Africa. It took the skipper almost seven days to make the 1,800nm journey to port, sailing his IMOCA racing yacht with just one rudder. Thomson began the journey on Saturday (28th November), after he was forced to cease racing, 19 days into the solo, non-stop, […]

For the best part of 20 years, this race has been my goal. We’ve come so close before. And this time, I really thought it was possible. I have the boat of my dreams. We put together a campaign that I am extremely proud of and, despite the setbacks of the last week, I still thought it was possible. I’ve given my life to this sport and it’s a very difficult pill […]

November 28, 2020. After incurring damage to the starboard rudder of his boat, British sailor Alex Thomson has ceased racing in the Vendée Globe and is now sailing his boat towards Cape Town. Thomson last night disconnected the starboard rudder and has since been sailing the yacht with just one rudder. After assessing the situation today, the skipper and his team have decided that the only course of action is to cease […]

At approximately 19:00 UTC this evening (Friday 27th November) – 19 days into the Vendée Globe round-the-world yacht race – Alex Thomson notified his technical team on shore of damage to the starboard rudder of his HUGO BOSS boat. The team immediately advised Thomson to disconnect the rudder to regain steerage. He now has control of the yacht with one rudder, and is safe and in no danger onboard. The team is […]

Alex Thomson is back in action in the Vendée Globe and preparing to enter the Southern Ocean, after structural damage onboard his HUGO BOSS boat temporarily halted his hunt for the title. The British sailor unearthed the damage to his IMOCA 60 boat on Saturday evening (21st November), 13 days into the solo, non-stop, unassisted, round-the-world yacht race. He was forced to slow the boat to make crucial repairs with support from his […]

Update from Ross Daniel, Technical Director at Alex Thomson Racing:  “Yesterday evening, Alex decided to take advantage of the light conditions to further reinforce the repairs that he has done onboard HUGO BOSS in order to increase the safety factors before he enters the Southern Ocean. “To do this, he had to slow the boat down slightly so that he could work in relatively stable conditions. With the new weather front crossing the […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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.

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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

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 […]