Roberto
Well-known member
Having seen AT video of the damaged structure,. the "un coup de strat" wording used yesterday by the designer does not really seem appropriate
Vendee Globe and Alex Thomson / Hugo Boss
- Thread starter RichardS
- Start date
mainsail1
Well-known member
You have greater knowledge on the precise location of the failures but surely it showed what a pounding the bow takes and a lot of extra stiffening should have been added to make sure it could take the punishment of a Vendee?
Laysula
Well-known member
Reminded me of this. 
CLB
Well-known member
Reminded me of this.
Don't speak too soon. He has got the southern ocean to face yet. Still, at least that will be outside of the environment if anything does go wrong
flaming
Well-known member
I think there's something odd going on here to be honest. If we take Alex at his word something "felt wrong" with the boat the day before yesterday and on doing a full inspection he found the damage. I can't believe that he hasn't been into the front of the boat since he passed through Theta, and since then he's had moderate reaching conditions.
So either the boat has been damaged since Theta (or possibly the heavy upwind conditions in the 1st 48 hours) but Alex didn't notice, or it acquired that damage in very gentle conditions. There's a conspiracy doing the rounds that he knew about it and they were waiting for a quiet patch to fix it, but I don't buy that, it doesn't fit with the taking 6 hours nap whilst the team worked on the repair plan, or the keeping the lead for a week pushing hard whilst knowing that sort of damage was up front....
I'm also struggling to accept that Alex could sail for a week at full speed with that damage without noticing. They do a lot of boat inspecting as a routine, and surely you'd notice that lack of stiffness.....
The only thing I can think of that's different could be the fact that the boat has been across the equator, so could there be an element of temperature involved? Was it maybe too stiff and thermal expansion left the structure with nowhere to go?
But the reported conditions when it let go don't really support the "just didn't get the peak loads right" hypothesis... Fatigue maybe....? But you wouldn't expect many different break points from fatigue would you?
Agree it definitely shouldn't break like that, but I've got a funny feeling this may well end up as a case study for something unexpected.
dom
Well-known member
I'd so love to be wrong, but I just can't see how that sort of damage is repairable at sea - not in advance of the Southern Ocean.
I also don't see how that happened unbeknownst to Alex; when a racing boat takes a really bad fall off a wave - what it looks like to me - it is normal to spend a couple of hours micro inspecting the structure. Odd.
Whatever happened, such a shame, really sad.
Edit: I just love Alex's attitude when backed-up like this, true grit and all that.
Perhaps if he has to retire early we can pike his boat and make him Prime Minister for a year or two
I also don't see how that happened unbeknownst to Alex; when a racing boat takes a really bad fall off a wave - what it looks like to me - it is normal to spend a couple of hours micro inspecting the structure. Odd.
Whatever happened, such a shame, really sad.
Edit: I just love Alex's attitude when backed-up like this, true grit and all that.
Perhaps if he has to retire early we can pike his boat and make him Prime Minister for a year or two
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cherod
Well-known member
( i hope i am not wrong ) i cant see what is so difficult in the repair assuming access is possible and he has some tools , maybe physically difficult but not technically , as mentioned yesterday in official release , cutting and bolting on some carbon " plates " , ( effectively sheets of carbon ) , drill holes , bit of prep , slap on plenty resin and bolt into place , and wait ,,,there , easy ..I'd so love to be wrong, but I just can't see how that sort of damage is repairable at sea - not in advance of the Southern Ocean.
I also don't see how that happened unbeknownst to Alex; when a racing boat takes a really bad fall off a wave - what it looks like to me - it is normal to spend a couple of hours micro inspecting the structure. Odd.
Whatever happened, such a shame, really sad.
Edit: I just love Alex's attitude when backed-up like this, true grit and all that.
Perhaps if he has to retire early we can pike his boat and make him Prime Minister for a year or two
savageseadog
Well-known member
Contamination, keeping the repairs clean and dry could be difficult( i hope i am not wrong ) i cant see what is so difficult in the repair assuming access is possible and he has some tools , maybe physically difficult but not technically , as mentioned yesterday in official release , cutting and bolting on some carbon " plates " , ( effectively sheets of carbon ) , drill holes , bit of prep , slap on plenty resin and bolt into place , and wait ,,,there , easy ..
cherod
Well-known member
there is epoxy resin / paste that can go off even under the water , hope he has some with him ,
savageseadog
Well-known member
Yes, but it has to bond to the structure of the boat.there is epoxy resin / paste that can go off even under the water , hope he has some with him ,
cherod
Well-known member
yes , that is what it does , i would not imagine that they are carrying an epoxy , which can only be for repair , which does not bond to the boat structure .
Spyro
Well-known member
I’ve just watched his second update and wow, what an amount of kit and determination. Latest update suggests he’s off again.
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RJJ
Well-known member
They are saying they have all sorts of epoxies and glues. Likewise, why would you take something that doesn't go off in the expected temperature and humidity.
flaming
Well-known member
cherod
Well-known member
just watched the 2nd up date ,,, got to take my hat off to that guy
( surely that puts to bed the argument of if it is a good idea to carry a grinder on board !! )
( surely that puts to bed the argument of if it is a good idea to carry a grinder on board !! )
burgundyben
Well-known member
I guess the adhesive he has onboard is sonething like Sikapower 1200 in the double syringe kits. We put dozens of those in wind turbine blade repairs.
I'd love to see the FEA results in the damaged areas and the D/PFMEA work for those areas.
I'd love to see the FEA results in the damaged areas and the D/PFMEA work for those areas.
Rappey
Well-known member
Time means places and distance lost so taking time to video the damage and the repair is quite amazing.
cherod
Well-known member
looking forward to a close finish then ? ... i would expect hours if not days ,, i doubt minutes .
Hadenough
Well-known member
I don’t normally do racing but am following this and huge respect to the man ?.
Airscrew
Active member
Yep,
methinks there will be a host of race yacht design houses and CFD specialists at Uni etc who will try and build a model and replicate a (load) scenario that might cause that damage