Defi Atlantique Solo -Qualifier Race for Vendee Globe 2004 for Open 60 IMOCA class monohulls zur Übersicht - - Alex Thomson Racing in The Défi Atlantique: The first shall be last but AT Racing holds onto 3rd Absender: "Mary Ambler" Datum: 15. Dec 2003 17:05 ALEX THOMSON RACING THE FIRST SHALL BE LAST BUT AT RACING HOLDS ONTO 3RD Défi Atlantique: DAY 15 Race Leader: PRB (Riou FRA) Position at 11:00 GMT: 44 43 N, 010 03 W AT Racing Location: Rounding Cape Finisterre Miles to La Rochelle finish line: 374.6m ETA La Rochelle: Wednesday 17th December – in daylight hopefully! * Read all about Alex Thomson in The Times Sports section today! * There are now under 400 miles to go to the finish of the inaugural Défi Atlantique solo transatlantic race, and the top four boats are within 12 miles of each other, but the rankings have been turned upside down overnight! Ecover (Golding) has taken the lead entering the Bay of Biscay, and now VMI (Josse) has sneaked into 2nd just 2.2m behind, followed by AT Racing (Thomson) 2.6 miles further back. They are flanked across the course with PRB nearest to land and VMi furthest in the North, all sailing in 17 knots of ESE headwinds generated by the high pressure sitting over Western France. Who dares predict the podium? Just when we imagined he would be jumping up and down, Alex was remarkably relaxed and philosophical this morning on the satellite phone call about what is happening out on ocean, a sign that he is happy with his performance and could not be doing more right now to try and get on the podium in this, his first ever solo Open 60 race. “The wind came back around 0100hrs and I changed from Code 0 (spinnaker) to Solent but I have to play with the pilot all the time. With no working wind instruments, the autopilot doesn’t hold the compass course I set it on and every half an hour the pilot errors and I need to reset it. So now I’ve got my gloves on and I’m helming! At about 0300hrs I saw Ecover’s nav lights off my beam and so called Mike up on the VHF & then Iridium. We had a really good chat, nattered about our problems during the race, had a bit of a laugh, and all the while he was passing me slowly to leeward. He said he was really impressed with my performance and then half laughing said ‘sorry to ruin your day!’ and now he’s on my starboard bow! “Yeah, I’m feeling quite relaxed about this. Ecover kicks ass in these upwind conditions, and I’d be pleased if Mike wins, I know I’ve sailed a respectable race and to be honest if I’m on that podium then I’ll be chuffed to bits. I’m still ready for any opportunity, and I’m really enjoying this match-racing with VMI now as I can see her on my port bow. I’m working hard to beat both VMI and PRB as I should be able to. But at the same time I am not sailing too hard because the boat is showing signs of wear and tear. I’ve now got charging problems, leaking ballast tanks, computer and satellite comms problems, and sail damage, so I just want to get her to the finish in one piece. You know, you have to play the game, and sometimes it works in your favour, sometimes it doesn’t, and that’s yacht racing. In this race, it really has been a case of the last shall be first and the other way round too! I’m looking forward to the finish, definitely, now it’s so close. Whilst I think about it, can you sort me out with a burger and chips when I arrive – don’t forget to bring some ketchup with you!” 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 Copyright © 1996-2016 - SEGEL.DE