Oceanracing 2003 - Transat Jacques Vabre 2003

Transat Jacques Vabre 2003
zur Übersicht - www.jacques-vabre.com

Betreff: Alex Thomson Racing: A "Bitter Breakfast" for the Sill Boys
Absender: "Mary Ambler"
Datum: 14. Nov 2003 08:19

ALEX THOMSON RACING - alexthomsonracing.com
A “BITTER BREAKFAST” FOR THE SILL BOYS
Transat Jacques Vabre: Monohull Class 1 – DAY 13
Leader: Virbac (Dick/Abiven FRA))
07:00hrs GMT Position of SILL: 3rd place, 107.6m to the leader
Conditions: 13 knots from all over the place!
Location: 1,326m to Brazil! 1 ½ days to the Equator

Alex Thomson was asleep at the pre-arranged time we were to speak – well, just for today the call time was 0500GMT, so we’ll forgive him if he has had to prioritize his zeds…he and Bilou have had a pretty hard night and woke up to a “bitter breakfast” as Bilou put it.

Foto: alexthomsonracing.com

In fact we did speak to Bilou instead, and he was sounding fuzzy himself, especially as he had just received the news that Golding and Thompson on Ecover have repositioned themselves just one degree to the West overnight and are now back in second place 11m ahead and in slightly more breeze...

“I’ve only just woken up so what more can I say but it’s not good news! Is it Mike’s boat speed, the wind, or both, I don’t know but there’s been more wind to the west. We got caught under a cloud yesterday afternoon and Mike was directly behind us but he obviously moved over to the West by a handful of miles and now we wake up to find him 35m over to the west and ahead. We’re going a long nicely still, in 13 knots of breeze, and we’re expecting it to go lighter today, look at Virbac ahead, those guys are struggling still. Most annoying, not a good wake up call…”

No doubt both skippers are now up on deck and putting all their weight behind attacking Ecover’s thin lead again. They may have a small advantage in that up ahead, the multihull which lies directly ahead of Ecover on the same Longitude slowed up briefly to 5 knots and so there are still some pot-holes in the route ahead, and the monohulls will be in the thick of the Doldrums for at least another 150 miles. Remembering that during the first part of the evening there is no moon and so detecting the cloud lines is done purely by radar, so by day it is easier to react to the ever changing skyline and see the squalls approaching.

Both Ecover and Sill are now 100m from Virbac and sailing a knot or two faster on average so by this time tomorrow the gaps and rankings are likely to have metamorphosed again. It is a game of snakes and ladders, even their index rivals admitting that a lot is down to luck in the wind lottery as to who wins and loses. Don’t lose faith, the Sill boys will rise to the challenge…The final 1,000 miles of this England v France naval battle will be passionately fought!

And finally…a big thanks to the boys for being game and sending us their photo of their ‘rugby duel’ on the boat. It will go online full size at www.alexthomsonracing.com if you want to see it full screen and read the predicted scores on both sides from Alex and Bilou.

Media: If used, please credit alexthomsonracing.com – thanks! ATR.COM WEBSITE You can follow Alex Thomson on ‘Sill’ in the Transat Jacques Vabre 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 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 Official Race web site is at www.jacques-vabre.com 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@at-racing.com - Mobile: +44 (0) 7887 643 583 High resolution images of Alex Thomson / Sill (on board & aerial) are available on request and copyright free. 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’. 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.