Alex Thomson Racing in The Défi Atlantique: "It's a risky move but I've got nothing to lose!"
Absender: "Mary Ambler"
Datum: 09. Dec 2003 17:49
ALEX THOMSON RACING
“IT’S A RISKY MOVE BUT I’VE GOT NOTHING TO LOSE!”
Défi Atlantique: DAY 9
9th December 2003
Leader: Ecover (Golding GBR)
09:00 GMT Position of AT Racing: 18 41.5 N, 34 52.9 W
Wind & Speed: 35 knots from South, boat speed 20 knots
Location: 300m west of Ecover!
* Alex Thomson is not the kind of sportsman to simply ‘follow the leader’ when the tables turn on him, and so the last 24 hours has seen AT Racing lose his sparring partner Virbac (Dick) and head more to the NW to end up 224m behind Ecover in 7th place in terms of distance to finish. “It’s a risky move to sail straight into the low pressure and then gybe out of it this morning, but I’ve got nothing to lose. I wanted to do something different, it’s the only way to learn, now I’m in the strongest breeze and even if it doesn’t work out, I’m having wicked fun!”
* Alex has been pushing the boundaries of his own experience as he handles his first ever knock down alone on AT Racing – with style: “I had the full index up and fractional asymmetric spinnaker flying, when a black cloud came over with 36 knots of wind, and I must say the boat fell over in a very graceful fashion going down a wave. I was more in shock as I got the sail down in 10 minutes – the emergency drop system I rigged worked beautifully – now I know!”
Alex Thomson is definitely one pig who’s found his patch of mud to roll in! After a bad day at the office yesterday changing sails umpteen times and watching his rivals take off to the East, Alex felt the need for speed and made a rather unconventional move, which he hopes will get him back in the game. He is now in 35 – 40 knots of Southerly wind averaging 20 knots boat speed – and loving it. “My position on the race course yesterday meant I was in more of a Southerly breeze rather than SE like the others. I saw that the strongest band of wind was in the North West so the idea was to get into this corridor of wind for the next 2 days. So I sailed into the low pressure and at midnight the wind picked up big time, topped out at 39 knots once, and I’ve been averaging 19-20 knots since – I’m hooning it! It’s a risky move, but I’ve got nothing to lose. I wanted to do something different, and it’s the only way to learn stuff. I gybed out of the low at 8am this morning, now I’m in the strongest breeze and even if it doesn’t work out, I’m having wicked fun!
“Looking ahead, I need the boats in the East to get less wind further up the course as they get nearer the coastline, as over here I should stay in the breeze for longer. I hope to gain in latitude again and although I am 300m to the West of Ecover, this may pay later on. If I’d been 100m further North when I made this move I’d be in better shape in the rankings, but the low moved North a bit too and so I didn’t come out with the best wind angle. It’s not a winning move but I hope it will put me back in the game in a couple of day’s time.”
Part of experiencing different wind conditions – especially the top end of the weather – is invaluable practice for Alex as he learns to handle his ‘Formula 1’ ocean-racing machine, and importantly gets to know the limits, by himself. “I did actually broach the boat for the first time. I had the full index and fractional asymmetric spinnaker flying, about 430 square metres of sail up, when a black cloud came over with 36 knots of wind under it, and I must say the boat fell over in a very graceful fashion going down a wave – I’ve got to do these things, otherwise I’ll never know. I dumped the sheets and headed down, but the tack on the kite blew across the foot and up the luff. When this happened with Bilou it was a total nightmare, but I have rigged emergency drops systems for the kites and it worked beautifully – it took 10 minutes to get the sail down – I was shocked!”
“I’m just having a wonderful time out here, in 28 knots of breeze with 1 reef in the indexsail and Code 5 up and the boat speed is going 21…22…23...! I also did my first ever gybe this morning in 35 knots of wind – it’s going to make all the others easier from now on! It was such a palava before with two of us, so by myself, I had to shift the sails over, put a second reef in the index, then roll the Code 5 which takes 15 minutes to grind in. Then I gybed the boat, unfurled the Code 5 and got going again. The boat is spot on and it feels comfortable even going along at this rate, my only problem is that I’m pretty exhausted, I haven’t slept properly for two days, but now I can’t sleep because I want to stay up and enjoy it!”
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
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