Good news, Bad news for Alex Thomson

(November 27, 2020) – When it comes to Alex Thomson and the Vendée Globe, it always seems to be one thing or another that interferes with his pursuit of victory. In a day of contrasts, here is good news, bad news from his team:

Good news: 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 November 21, 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 technical team, engineers and architects on shore. After 48 hours, the skipper was able to hoist his sails once again but has since had to maintain a cautious speed in order to complete the final stages of the structural repair work.

Now, 19 days into the race – which is expected to last around 70 days – the 46-year-old sailor from Hampshire is back sailing at full speed and preparing to enter the most notoriously challenging stage of the race, the Southern Ocean.

Bad news: At approximately 19:00 UTC – 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 working to assess the extent of the damage. A further update will be released on Saturday 28th November.

Race details – Boat types – Tracker – Ranking – YouTube

The Vendée Globe is the only sailing race round the world that’s solo, non-stop, and without assistance, and it was all systems go for the 9th edition on November 8. Beginning in 1989 with 13 entries, the start line in 2020 had 33 skippers taking off from Les Sables d’Olonne, France.

The development of the IMOCA Class toward foiling will see these boats hurl themselves around the world, teetering on carbon skates through inhospitable regions, chasing the record set in 2016-17 by Armel le Cléac’h of 74:03:35:46.

2020-21 Attrition
Nov. 16, 2020 – Nicolas TROUSSEL, CORUM L’EPARGNE – dismasted

Participation history:
1989-90: 13 boats at the start
1992-93: 15 boats
1996-97: 15 boats
2000-01: 24 boats
2004-05: 20 boats
2008-2009: 30 boats
2012-2013: 20 boats
2016-2017: 29 boats
2020-2021: 33 boats

2020-21 Entries
Fabrice AMEDEO: NEWREST – ART & FENÊTRES
Romain ATTANASIO: PURE – BEST WESTERN
Alexia BARRIER: TSE – 4MYPLANET
Yannick BESTAVEN: MAÎTRE COQ IV
Jérémie BEYOU: CHARAL
Arnaud BOISSIÈRES: LA MIE CÂLINE – ARTISANS ARTIPÔLE
Louis BURTON: BUREAU VALLÉE 2
Didac COSTA: ONE PLANET ONE OCEAN
Manuel COUSIN: GROUPE SÉTIN
Clarisse CREMER: BANQUE POPULAIRE X
Charlie DALIN: APIVIA
Samantha DAVIES: INITIATIVES-CŒUR
Sébastien DESTREMAU: MERCI
Benjamin DUTREUX: OMIA – WATER FAMILY
Kevin ESCOFFIER: PRB
Clément GIRAUD: COMPAGNIE DU LIT / JILITI
Pip HARE: MEDALLIA
Boris HERRMANN: SEA EXPLORER – YACHT CLUB DE MONACO
Ari HUUSELA: STARK
Isabelle JOSCHKE: MACSF
Jean LE CAM: YES WE CAM !
Stéphane LE DIRAISON: TIME FOR OCEANS
Miranda MERRON: CAMPAGNE DE FRANCE
Giancarlo PEDOTE: PRYSMIAN GROUP
Alan ROURA: LA FABRIQUE
Thomas RUYANT: LINKEDOUT
Damien SEGUIN: GROUPE APICIL
Kojiro SHIRAISHI: DMG MORI
Sébastien SIMON: ARKEA – PAPREC
Maxime SOREL: V AND B – MAYENNE
Alex THOMSON: HUGO BOSS
Armel TRIPON: L’OCCITANE EN PROVENCE
Nicolas TROUSSEL: CORUM L’ÉPARGNE

Source: Alex Thomson Racing