Le Défi Atlantique - Alex Thomson Gets 3rd: From Rookie To Record Man In 16 Days
mercredi 17 déc. 17:50

Alex Thomson, Gosport’s own 29 year old ‘rookie’ Open 60 solo skipper, hand-steered AT Racing across the finish line as the sun rose at 08:24:10 GMT, just 17 minutes and 3 seconds behind ex-Vendée Globe winning boat PRB, skippered by Vincent Riou, in the 4,100 mile Défi Atlantique solo transatlantic race from Salvador, Brazil to La Rochelle, France. His race time was 16 days, 17 hours, 24 minutes and 10 seconds.

In completing this race, Alex has achieved his main goal and officially qualified for the solo, non-stop round the world Vendée Globe race next year. To have scored a podium in this fiercely fought and unpredictable race has established Alex as one of the main contenders for the Vendée Globe now. Moreover, Thomson boldly went where no skipper has gone before and set a new World Speed Sailing Record for the solo 24hr distance of 466 miles (subject to ratification), and is now being heralded as the new Record Man.

Exactly 3 hours before at 05:24:10 GMT, fellow Brit and veteran solo skipper Mike Golding on Ecover clinched his first ever Open 60 victory in a race that was at the outset supposed to be an event staged for these 10 skippers to qualify for the Vendée Globe 2004, but which turned out to become one of the most hotly contested races for the IMOCA fleet in recent history.

After finishing 2nd and top British skipper in the classic two-handed Transat Jacques Vabre race just 12 days before, Alex Thomson set off on his first ever solo Open 60 race along with 9 other Open 60 skippers at 1500GMT on 30th November from Salvador, Brazil. AT Racing was the 3rd boat behind Virbac (Dick) & PRB (Riou) to leave the Bay of All Saints, and from that moment on, Thomson began to make waves.

Already on Day 3 he had his first taste of the podium in 2nd place behind Virbac, as Transat Jacques Vabre winner, Jean-Pierre Dick, became Thomson’s sparring partner for the first half of the race with the two of them on the Westerly side of the course until the Frenchman’s unfortunate dismasting 7 days later.

By Day 4 Alex had nosed into the lead, fighting off two new generation Open 60’s on his 3 yr old Lombard design rocket ship. Then the weather became the common enemy as the squally conditions in the Doldrums shook up the race order, followed by an unusual low pressure system centred off the Cape Verde Islands. Alex’s Westerly option suddenly looked dire and on Day 8 he plunged to 7th in the rankings and got as far back as 224m from leading boat Ecover (Golding) at the half way stage.

Then the boldest move was to come, when Alex decided to stick to his guns and not only stay out west but head towards the centre of the low pressure away from the fleet and the direct route in order to pull off a sling-shot move back into the fray. He did this by gybing out of the system into a moving band of strong SSE winds, which propelled him rapidly back into pole position again four days later. In the process, Alex saw a window to attempt the 24hr solo distance record and so kept AT Racing power reaching at an average boat speed of 19.4 knots in this corridor of 30 – 35 knots of SSE breeze until he had covered an incredible 466 miles in just one day, smashing the previous distance by as much as 34 miles.

The Rookie became Record Man overnight, and Thomson was heralded as a force to be reckoned with by setting a new pace for Open 60 performance. In the final 24hrs of the Défi Atlantique a four way battle for victory was waged mile for mile in strong upwind conditions from Cape Finisterre between VMI (Josse), Ecover (Golding), PRB (Riou) and AT Racing (Thomson).

In the end, it was Golding who got the gold, and until half an hour before the finish were 2nd and 3rd place decided between PRB and AT Racing respectively. One thing is for certain, 29 year old Alex Thomson has come from nowhere very fast to prove himself a worthy adversary for the top ranking Open 60 skippers in this first test of form before the Vendée Globe in 2004. He has also broken on to the scene as a fresh personality, and captivated a most extraordinary cross section of non-sailing supporters.

Keith Mills, CEO of the London 2012 Olympic bid and AT Racing marketing partner, rang Alex just after the finish, and had only words of praise for such an achievement: “Alex has proved to all that he has the guts, tenacity and star quality to shine brightly in his chosen sport. He is fast exceeding our original objectives for the project and now with a world record under his belt he really is a sponsor’s dream.”

Alex Thomson Racing is actively looking for title and partner sponsorship for the Vendée Globe 2004 campaign. Since buying the Open 60 from World Champion Roland Jourdain under 4 months ago, skipper Alex Thomson has scored 2 podiums in his first two back-to-back transatlantic races, broken a world record and qualified for the Vendée Globe. And from his character, one knows there is a lot more potential still to come.

ALEX THOMSON OFF-THE-CUFF QUOTES

“Before this race, I realistically thought I could be in the top 5, and I now I know I can aim higher having got onto the podium. I would have loved to have raced against Jourdain, Le Cam and Stamm as well, whom I consider to be my main rivals for the Vendée Globe along with the top skippers in this race – well I have that to look forward to in The Transat!”

“I have heard people talking about me as another Parlier or that I sail like Stamm, with the foot to the pedal the whole time, and some people question my attitude as of course these skippers crashed and burned as much as they pushed boundaries and won races. But I believe that unless you go to your limit and find those breaking points before the big race, then you’ll never really know what you can do or be comfortable sailing in the extreme conditions. I have always had the ability to push very hard and I will continue to do so if it means that I learn the full potential of this boat. She is a very powerful machine and can be optimised still to suit my capabilities. I’m already very comfortable with what I am getting out of her now, we’re definitely perfect partners, but I know I can do more.”

“My most frustrating moment was at Cape Finisterre. I’d worked so hard to get back into the lead from 7th place and then the whole race restarted in the light airs. Mike was on the phone to me as he passed to leeward and just said “Sorry I’ve ruined your day!” My worst moment was waking up to find 30 flying fish on the deck – you know how much I don’t share Bilou’s love for those horrible creatures and I hated having to find them in all sorts of weird places on the boat before they started to smell rank!”

“The most satisfying moment – well it was 3 hours after I knew I broke the record. Just after, all I wanted to do was sleep as I was totally wrecked. But I woke up 2 hrs later and just had this feeling of elation come over me – I realised I’d really done it! It’s still sinking in to be honest.”

“Going for the record was one of the hardest things I’ve had to endure physically. Also the boat probably did more of the work than I did, she kept going at over 19 knots average boat speed for longer than the 24hr period and I just clung to the chart table asking myself what was going to be the first thing to break and what would I do…my boat is a very wet boat anyway, so out in the cockpit it’s like stepping into a full spin cycle in a washing machine, insane, absolutely insane! I didn’t sleep at all during the whole time. But I know this can be bettered, I could break this again, I believe this boat could do 500 miles a day in the future.”

“The objective now for the campaign is to find sponsorship, and AT Racing is even more dedicated to this goal now that I have the credentials to back up my proposition to any potential sponsor. Immediately, I am expected in my home town of Gosport on Friday afternoon this week for a really big homecoming and am just looking forward to bringing my fantastic Open 60 back home!”

Source: AT Racing www.alexthomsonracing.com

For Race Information go to www.defi-atlantique.org