Oceanracing 2003 - Defi Atlantique Solo - Qualifier Race for Vendee Globe 2004

Defi Atlantique Solo -Qualifier Race for Vendee Globe 2004
for Open 60 IMOCA class monohulls
zur Übersicht - -

Alex Thomson Racing in The Défi Atlantique: Alex Thomson is new race leader
battling with the brand new boats
Absender: "Mary Ambler"
Datum: 04. Dec 2003 15:55

ALEX THOMSON RACING
ALEX THOMSON IS NEW RACE LEADER AS ‘AT RACING’ BATTLES WITH THE BRAND NEW BOATS!
Défi Atlantique: DAY 4
Leader: AT Racing (Thomson GBR)
12:00 GMT Position of AT Racing: 03 00 N, 33 34.5 W
Speed: Reaching at 10 - 13 knots
Location: Just North of the Equator, AT Racing crossed at 03:00GMT

Alex surfing through the Duldrums
at 19 knots under a 35 knot squall
Foto: Alex Thomson

* Alex was somewhat taken aback on the phone after hearing that he had moved into 1st place in The Défi Atlantique on the fourth day of racing against 9 other top Open 60’s from Brazil to La Rochelle. “Blimey, am I really in the lead?! I’ve had such a hard morning on the boat changing sails 15 times already and they couldn’t poll me either so I’ve had no idea where I was in the fleet for 12 hours. What a surprise! But it’s not over ‘til the fat lady sings you know!”

* AT Racing had a speedy passage overnight across the Equator at 0300 GMT clocking 18 knots boat speed on average, which has clearly contributed to his leading position today, even ahead of the two new boats Virbac (Dick) and Ecover (Golding). “I had full index up and solent or gennaker a couple of times overnight when the wind got up to 38 knots, and I don’t want to be doing that again!”

* AT Racing is the furthest boat North in latitude, but is actually the farthest over in the West as the fleet approach the Doldrums: “This is not cut and dry, there’s a big split in the fleet now so there’s no way to control the others as we’ll be going through different weather systems at different times. Also, the forecasts I am collecting are all saying different things, and the conditions beyond at the Cape Verde’s are extremely unusual for the area. All in all it does seem to be a bit of a lottery…c’est la vie!”

* The Défi Atlantique race positions are now going up online at around 0700, 1400, 1900 GMT. Go to the Race website to hear audio interviews with Alex Thomson – www.defi-atlantique.org/uk and click on AUDIO link.

This morning’s 11:00 GMT position report showed Alex Thomson as the new leader of The Défi Atlantique race, overtaking the brand new Farr design Open 60 ‘Virbac’ skippered by Jean-Pierre Dick by 0.7m and putting 38m between him and the new Ecover skippered by accomplished solo skipper Mike Golding. This has been the best news for the AT Racing team just to see Alex battling with the brand new boats on a three and a half year old Open 60 with sails that have crossed the Atlantic a few times…!

When we rang Alex he was very buoyed up too but also still focused - it was racing as normal on board and there is still 3,200m of ocean to cover. Alex has actually had a frustrating morning as AT Racing creeps through the Doldrums, otherwise known as the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, where winds rotate and fluctuate with no rhyme or reason at the drop of a hat, and the conditions test the sailors mental as well as physical stamina to the limit. “Last night was easy sailing, although I had full index up and solent or gennaker a couple of times overnight when the wind got up to 38 knots, so I don’t want to be doing that again! This morning though has been really hard, I think I overdid it on the sail changes, 15 I reckon, at one point the wind swung from 35 knots from the SE to 20 knots from the East in 10 minutes flat. I’m now going along at 10 – 13 knots but might have to run up on deck and change again soon. It’s a real pain in the arse, you know, but physically I’m fine. I got 5 hours kip last night so I was ready for it today. I don’t feel I’ve been pushing too hard, in fact I had throttled back a bit this morning to pace myself so I’m quite surprised to see myself in the lead really.

Alex is able to view a lot of different weather information and download weather ‘GRIB’ files, but has to make his own routing decisions alone according to the Vendée Globe rules. “My real frustration is having so much information at hand about the weather, I’ve got 5 different models saying different things, and I don’t know what to do! I don’t think the Doldrums are going to be a problem, I reckon I’ll be coming out of it in 12 hours, it’s the low pressure after that sitting on the route which is very strange. I mean a low off Cape Verde, I’ve never come across this type of weather North of the Doldrums before, and I’ve sailed in this part of the ocean many times, as well as routed 3 ARC races through here. It’s not cut and dry - there’s a big split in the fleet now so there’s no way to control the others as we’ll be going through different weather systems at different times, and for one I don’t like not being in control. It’s going to be a very hard and very interesting race for the next few days, but I feel better being out in the West. It does seem like I am out a limb here and I just have to stick with my option and follow through with it as there’s nothing else I can do…c’est la vie!

FOLLOW ALEX THOMSON ON THE ALEXTHOMSONRACING.COM WEBSITE
You can follow Alex Thomson’s racing programme on a new-look format of the current campaign website at www.alexthomsonracing.com, where Alex’s personal updates & images taken on board, plus the latest race information and boat positions will be posted daily online. If you wish to make enquiries, sign up to receive updates or send Alex a message of support at any time please register your email through the Quick Enquiries section online or at info@at-racing.com.

The Défi Atlantique official race web site is at www.defi-atlantique.org
High resolution images of Alex Thomson / ‘AT Racing’ (on board & aerial) are available on request and copyright free.
For all photography, interviews and information, please contact Mary Ambler.

ENDS
AT Racing Ltd
Address: Unit 11, Haslar Marina, Haslar Road, Gosport PO12 1NU Tel: +44 (0)23 9252 4343 - Fax: +44 (0)23 9252 4646 Website: www.alexthomsonracing.com
Sponsorship enquiries: sponsorship@at-racing.com
General enquiries: info@at-racing.com Media enquiries: Mary Ambler - Email: mary@alexthomsonracing.com - Mobile: +44 (0) 7887 643 583
Notes to Editors
Alex Thomson, 29 year old professional sailor from Gosport in England, is the youngest skipper ever to win a round the world yacht race after he came 1st in the Clipper ’98 race. Alex Thomson founded in 2000 and headed up the sailing side of yacht charter company, Formula 1 Sailing Ltd for 3 years. His short-handed career includes racing as co-skipper to Josh Hall on ‘Gartmore’ in the 1999 Transat Jacques Vabre. He also came 1st in the 2000 Criterion Round Britain & Ireland race, and 3rd in class in the 2000 Europe 1 New Man STAR on the Open 50 ‘Sail That Dream.com’. Now Alex Thomson holds the title of first Briton to finish the Transat Jacques Vabre 03 and with Roland Jourdain took 2nd place in the Open 60 Monohull class.

Keith Mills has just been appointed CEO of the London 2012 bid for the Olympic Games and is currently Chairman and Chief Executive of Air Miles International Group BV (AMIG) which is the holding company he established in 1988 to develop the AIR MILES programme. He is also Chairman of Loyalty Management International and Loyalty Management UK Ltd, the company which recently launched the Nectar programme. Prior to founding the AIR MILES business, Mr Mills had over 20 years experience in marketing and advertising. He is also a keen sailor, and was part of the crew on board the winning boat in the Clipper ’98 RTW yacht race.

AT Racing Ltd is the new company set up by Keith Mills and Alex Thomson to manage all aspects of the Open 60 boat campaign, including shore team, marketing and communications support.

Open 60 ‘Sill Entreprises’ - Under the previous skipper, Roland Jourdain, the Lombard design Open 60 ‘Sill Entreprises’ has been on the podium many times since being launched in 1999 and broke the solo 24hr record by covering 436 miles at an average speed of 18.16 knots within days of arriving 3rd on the podium of the Vendée Globe. With trademark giant deck spreaders and rotating mast, ‘Sill Entreprises’ has been constantly optimised from build, particularly for upwind performance, which is second to none in the current fleet.