13.11.2006
Alex Thomson (GBR) closes gap on leaders despite keel and rudder issues
It has been an eventful weekend for British solo skipper Alex Thomson in the VELUX 5 Oceans. Despite experiencing keel and rudder issues on his yacht HUGO BOSS, Thomson has recorded the highest speed in the fleet over the past 24 hours, averaging 12 knots compared to less than eight for his competitors. He has reduced his deficit on race leader Bernard Stamm (SUI) by 261 nautical miles over the past 48 hours and currently lies in fourth place, 329 miles behind Stamm and 85 miles behind third placed Kojiro Shiraishi (JPN).
A testing few days lie ahead for the youngest skipper in the ultimate solo challenge as Thomson will have to negotiate a high pressure system which is blocking his path to the Southern Ocean. "My route has become very clear for me as the corridor of wind that the others find themselves in will not allow me through," explains Thomson. "So unfortunately I am heading out to skirt to the west of the new high pressure system and get into the Southern Ocean that way."
This will mean many more miles for Thomson than for those in front, but he reindexs ever optimistic, knowing that he will leave the high pressure to the east and avoid getting trapped in it. "Hopefully those in front will get held up allowing me to keep catching them, but I'm not holding my breath," says Thomson. Indeed, as fellow Brit Mike Golding pointed out this morning, his rival may have the advantage of sailing higher speeds than the boats ahead, even if he sails a greater distance.
Meanwhile, Thomson has had various issues to deal with on HUGO BOSS. The first problem is his keel which has been dropping under load meaning that the boat can quickly become overpowered and fall over. However, Thomson believes he has managed to solve this problem with instruction from his shore team.
"The other major issue is the starboard rudder which has started creaking like a staircase in a haunted house," says Thomson. Yesterday he took the spinnaker down and tacked the boat with the keel on the wrong side, allowing him to lean over the side of the boat as far as possible to investigate. "There was nothing there, which is definitely a good thing," commented Thomson, "but sadly that does mean it must be something else, so I will be listening out for that horrible sound again and will then further investigate. I hope it is ok, as going into the Southern Ocean with a dodgy rudder will not be a good move."
On top of this, Alex still has to climb the mast and sort the top of his headsail out, having missed a small window of opportunity to do it north of the Cape Verde islands. "Now really wish I had," he says, "but like most jobs we dislike, I put it off and have not had the conditions since. Right now I have a large southerly swell which won't help, but if needs be, I will slow down and get the job sorted in the next couple of days."
The first yachts are expected to arrive in Fremantle, near Perth, Western Australia sometime after 8 December and the VELUX 5 Oceans will depart Australia on 7 January, headed for Norfolk, USA, before returning to Spain at the end of April.
- End -
Position report at 15.08 GMT on 13 November:
Positions
Yacht
Skipper
Date
Latitude
Longitude
Course (°)
Speed (knot)
DTL (nautical miles)
DTF (nautical miles)
Average speed - last pos (knots)
Dist - last Pos (nautical miles)
Average speed - 24h (knots)
1
Cheminees Poujoulat
Bernard Stamm
13/11/2006 15:08
26° 48.56 S
016° 58.36 W
134
8.2
6623
9.85
47.3
6.18
2
Ecover
Mike Golding
13/11/2006 15:08
24° 03.56 S
021° 04.96 W
55
4.6
170
9.91
47.6
7.47
3
Spirit of Yukoh
Kojiro Shiraishi
13/11/2006 15:08
23° 02.56 S
022° 16.52 W
195
12
244
10.85
52.1
7.36
4
Hugo Boss
Alex Thomson
13/11/2006 15:08
23° 41.72 S
027° 36.96 W
212
15.3
329
14.14
67.9
12.26
5
SAGA Insurance
Sir Robin Knox-Johnston
13/11/2006 15:08
06° 07.28 N
026° 04.52 W
252
6.3
2020
5.03
24.1
5.35
6
A Southern Man-AGD
Graham Dalton
13/11/2006 15:08
10° 42.00 N
026° 03.12 W
47
1.3
2295
2.43
11.7
6.95
7
PAKEA
Unai Basurko
13/11/2006 15:08
13° 14.80 N
023° 06.52 W
168
11.4
2474
9.96
47.8
7.15
About Alex Thomson
* Alex Thomson set a new 24hr solo monohull World Speed Record in December 2003 covering 468.7nm at an average speed of 19.5 knots during the Défi Atlantique, in which he finished 3rd.
* At 25, Alex Thomson became the youngest skipper ever to win a round the world race - the Clipper Race 1998/99.
* In October 2005 Alex Thomson stepped forward as the only skipper to confirm that he will be racing "3 in 3": 3 grueling round the worlds in as many years: the solo VELUX 5 Oceans in 2006, the inaugural two-handed Barcelona World Race 2007 and the blue ribbon Vendée Globe 2008.
100,000 miles, 3 years, 1 goal: be the first Briton to win the Vendée Globe.
www.alexthomsonracing.com
About HUGO BOSS
Sailing complements the sponsorship portfolio of HUGO BOSS which already includes Formula 1 (Team McLaren Mercedes), IRL (Penske Racing), Tennis (Davis Cup), Golf, Boxing (Vladmir Klitschko) and Soccer. In sailing, HUGO BOSS gets another platform to demonstrate its fashion competence both on the boat with BOSS GREEN and shore-side with BOSS BLACK. BOSS GREEN provides Alex and the crew with highly functional and technical outfits for all possible weather conditions around the globe while BOSS BLACK will dress the crew for every celebration function in the smartest possible way.
www.hugoboss-sailing.com
VELUX 5 Oceans - The Ultimate Solo Challenge
Leg 1 Start: 22 October 2006, Bilbao, Spain
Leg 2 Start: 7 January 2007, Fremantle, Western Australia
Leg 3 Start: March 2007, Norfolk, USA
Race ends: Bilbao April 2007
VELUX 5 OCEANS is the oldest, most established, continuously run, single-handed round the world yacht race. It has taken place every four years since 1982 and is run by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston's Clipper Ventures Plc.
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