Alex Thomson Racing in The Défi Atlantique: Sunday Roasting South of the Cape Verde's
Absender: "Mary Ambler"
Datum: 07. Dec 2003 18:11
AT RACING SLOWLY ROASTING SOUTH OF CAPE VERDE’S
Défi Atlantique: DAY 7
Leader: Ecover (Golding GBR)
11:00 GMT Position of AT Racing: 13 18 N, 33 28 W
Wind & Speed: 5-8 knots from ENE - ESE, boat speed 7-8 knots
Location: 446m W and 75m South of Cape Verde Islands
* Alex Thomson has held on to 4th position in the 10 strong Défi Atlantique fleet of Open 60 monohulls racing to La Rochelle, and after one week alone on the ocean, there are only 18 miles in it between AT Racing and leader Ecover (Golding), with two French competitors Virbac (Dick) and PRB (Riou) sandwiched between the Brits. “There’s about 200 miles between the two pairs of boats, and although Virbac and I are furthest North, Ecover and PRB are more on the direct route. The good thing is that over the last day I am still keeping up with the new Farr boat (Virbac) but Ecover has made the most gains in the East to be out in the lead again.”
* There is an unusual low pressure at around 15 North Latitude and spread from 30 – 35W, off the Cape Verde’s, which was not predicted before the start, and all the skippers in the fleet are uncertain of how the system will effect their routing, and it’s a game of snake and ladders for the next 48hrs. “On my side of the course, things are really not looking pretty, but I hope to hook into the low in order to get into the SW winds, which will mean we’ll be going dead downwind, not the fastest sailing angle for the boat, and the guys in the East will get SE winds to be on a fast reaching angle.”
Alex Thomson is keeping cool despite the fact that he’s having his own version of a Sunday roasting as AT Racing has dropped to 7 knots boat speed over in the West of the race course. “I’ve got full index up and the Code Zero, which as the wind gets lighter I have to trim like mad to keep the boat moving. It’s more tense racing in light airs for sure, but this unusual low pressure system ahead spread along 30 – 35 West in longitude is what’s worrying me most. On my side of the course, things are really not looking pretty. According to the worst scenario, I could lose as much as 100 miles in the next 48 hours on the guys in the East, but then things can still change. So it’s all about managing best what weather you have in the short term without losing the long term perspective, which for me is to keep heading North. So I hope to hook into the bottom of the low in order to get into the SW winds and eventually reach the SE breeze. But in the short term it means I’ll be heading downwind on the course, not the fastest sailing angle for the boat compared to the others in the East who will reach a South Easterly breeze, but there will be options ahead to keep in the game.”
All the skippers out there are also learning how to deal with the psychology of racing in this first test of form for both themselves and their boats in the lead up to being on this same course in Vendée Globe. Alex has a simple positive philosophy to just get on with the job, but it’s easy to get caught in a few mind games as he explains: “I do get a bit low from time to time but it never lasts long as there’s always something to do on the boat and Lou Reed on the stereo. I can’t do anything about most of the competition right now as they are in different weather 200m in the East, and I keep reminding myself that the goal is just to finish in order to qualify for the Vendée Globe. Saying that, it’s turning into a big race, and I am constantly routing the other boats on my Maxsea software to see what might happen in theory given the different weather files I receive, it’s invaluable practice. I heard that Jean-Pierre Dick came out on this side of the course initially to cover me after the start, and I have to confess, although I was always going to go West, the fact that I stayed West was partly because I thought well, if Jean-Pierre’s out here too, he must know what he’s doing, after all he didn’t put a foot wrong tactically in the Jacques Vabre and won that race. Turns out he’s not happy today with where he is since this low pressure came onto our screens. I should have phoned him a few days ago when things didn’t look good and just made a pact for us both to head East, so I feel I ought to apologise to him for dragging him out here!”
And finally…Enemy Number 1 is not the weather, nor the competition, but a whole flying squad of “those ‘orrible fish” which have launched a major offensive against Alex. “I was in my bunk last night and could hear slap after slap as about 40 flying fish hit the boat. It was like something out of an Alien movie. When I took a look around the boat in the morning, there were fish and slimy scales everywhere. I even found one jammed in the daggerboard casing, I mean how did it end up there? It’s disgusting! Anyway, today I wasn’t able to have a nice Sunday roast but I made some excellent bacon sarnies. While the weather’s light I’ll check over the boat again, but so far the boat is all good, the shore team’s done such a good job, there are no major problems, which has meant I can focus on racing, so thanks guys!”
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.
The 2004 Vendée Globe
Out of all the current five RTW yacht races, only two are single-handed, and the Vendée Globe is the only non-stop event. Held every 4 years from the port of Les Sables d’Olonne in the Vendée region on the western coast of France, this 26,000 mile solo marathon around the globe is renown as the ‘Everest’ of the sport of sailing. The Vendée Globe was created by legendary French solo skipper Philippe Jeantot after he had won the first two editions of the solo RTW BOC Challenge race, which was competed in 4 legs. First run in 1989 with just thirteen competitors on the start line, the Vendée Globe has now become a high profile international sporting event thanks to the incredible exploits of competitors from outside France such as Pete Goss, Tony Bullimore, and more recently Ellen MacArthur. In 2000/1, the race attracted 24 professional teams with their sponsors, plus a major following from media all around the world. The fifth Vendée Globe starts on 7th November 2004.
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