SAIL - April 2015

PHOTO COURTESY OF

GILLES MARTIN-RAGET/BARCELONA WORLD RACE

RACING

UNDER SAIL

Busted Dreams for Thomson

D

ouble-handed skippers Alex Thomson

(UK) and Pepe Ribes (ESP), sailing

aboard the IMOCA 60 Hugo Boss,

suffered calamity when they were dismasted

during the nonstop, around-the-globe

Barcelona World Race (BWR) in January,

370 miles off the Brazilian coast. At the time,

Thomson and Ribes were leading the eight-

strong fleet by 60 miles, after having shown

the others their transom pretty much from the

start back in Barcelona, Spain, on New Year’s

Eve. The cause was a single pin, which sheared

and set off a chain-reaction of failures.

“The rig kind of hovered there for a few

seconds and then fell backward into the

water,” said Thomson, for whom the setback

was the latest in a long list of difficulties (see

“Thomson’s Travails,” right). “It’s extremely

disappointing.” Thomson is next expected to

compete in the 2016-17 Vendée Globe aboard

a new VPLP/Verdier-designed IMOCA 60

that’s currently under construction.—DS

THOMSON’S TRAVAILS

No one ever said professional offshore

sailing was gonna be easy, but over the

years Alex Thomson has received his

share of hard knocks, and then some.

2004 —Structural hull damage forces

retirement from the Vendée Globe Race

2006 —Structural hull damage forces

retirement from the Velux 5 Oceans Race

2008 —A collision at sea forces retirement

from the Vendée Globe Race

2011 —Retires from the BWR due to a medical emergency involving his son, this after trouble

joining the race because of appendicitis (his son recovered fully)

2014 —Dismasted on delivery from England to New York

2014 —Misses New York to Barcelona Race because it conflicts with the due date for the birth of

his second child; Ribes and U.S. sailor Ryan Breymaier go on to win

2015 —Dismasting forces retirement from the BWR

Thomson—

still smiling

in the face of

adversity