HUGO BOSS breaks mast

The upcoming Ocean Masters race on June 1, a double-handed transatlantic from New York to Barcelona, sailed in the IMOCA 60ft monohull class, may have just lost one of the stars of the show.

One of the five entries, HUGO BOSS, best known for the flashy fashion worn by skipper Alex Thomson while riding the keel or climbing the mast, just broke its mast. While making the transit across the Atlantic, this report comes from the team:

This morning (May 8) at roughly 0130 GMT whilst sailing upwind at 25 knots, the team progress to New York has been interrupted when their mast broke (800 miles from New York). The reason for the broken mast is currently unknown; however, the on-board team, which includes skippers Alex Thomson, Pepe Ribes, Ryan Breymaier and crewmember, Willy Altadill are all safe and have stabilized the mast. Alex has reported that there is no damage to the boat or sails and they will continue to Newport, Rhode Island with an expected arrival on Sunday, 11 May 2014. Upon arrival, the boat will be assessed.

American Ryan Breymaier was selected to replace Alex for the race, as Alex needs to be home for the birth of his second child.

Alex Thomson Racing’s Managing Director, Stewart Hosford, has issued a statement on behalf of the team: “This morning we were contacted by the boat and were informed that the mast is broken above the top spreader. We are relieved that the four crew members on-board are safe and we have notified their families and our sponsors. We could not have a better team on the boat to deal with this and members of the shore team are planning to meet the boat upon its arrival to Newport this weekend, and will carry out an assessment to determine if the boat can be repaired in time to enable us to take part in the New York to Barcelona race. The broken section has been secured and the boat is able to sail with the remaining mast and they are on route to Newport RI. At the moment our intention is to make a suitable repair to allow Pepe and Ryan to take part in the race but until the boat is in port and fully assessed we cannot finalise our plans.”

The OCEAN MASTERS New York to Barcelona Race is to launch a new era for the IMOCA 60ft monohull class, as it is the first event run by Sir Keith Mills’ Lausanne-based Open Sports Management (OSM), commercial rights holder to the IMOCA class. It is also the first event to count towards the new OCEAN MASTERS World Championship.

The double-handed New York to Barcelona is the only race scheduled this summer for IMOCA, allowing teams ample time to prepare for this autumn and winter’s other major OCEAN MASTERS World Championship events – the Route du Rhum and the Barcelona World Race.

The original plan was for Hugo Boss to be in New York at North Cove Marina on approximately May 11-19, and then in Newport, RI on May 20-24. The team was then to return to North Cove on May 29 to prepare for the Ocean Masters race start on June 1. The schedule now will have the team in Newport to affect repairs in hopes of still being able to compete in the race.