No more Vendee for Alex

[Tomahawk]

I wish him well.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

He seems to have made a habit out of always being the bridesmaid other than the start of his career with the Clipper Race. Apart from the time he decided to have a kip 100 miles from the finish in the Route du Rhum and running aground he seems to have been dogged by gear failure or just bad luck in hitting something underwater in the process of setting records. So if you wanted a skipper that would push your boat to its limits and perhaps past them he was your man. Without doubt a fiercely competitive and talented sailor but was that also his undoing being just that too competitive.

 

[flaming]

The RdR was also really due to pushing too hard and being far too tired...

He certainly has a reputation for only having 1 mode, maximum attack. We saw that in the last Vendee with the way he went playing with the depression in the North Atlantic and jumped out to a healthy lead.

The last 2 vendees will remain well debated "what ifs" with regard to Alex's potential to win the thing.

 

[ridgy]

Surprised there are no industry rumours about the numerous failures. Certainly black marks for vplp and Jason Carrington.

 

[michael_w]

I hope someone will twist his arm into doing the TJV.

 

[Tradewinds]

Unless I am misunderstanding AT's last Instagram post this evening it looks like HB is sold.

 

[matt1]

Mystery benefactor has purchased it for Alan Roura.

I wonder if Alex just couldn’t get a sponsor for 2024 and realised he was out of time? You would think he would have announced who the skipper would be if he was really going to manage an entrant in the 2024 edition? Time is running out. The shorthand circuit is providing some good younger talent to choose from ….

 

[flaming]

Mystery benefactor has purchased it for Alan Roura.

I wonder if Alex just couldn’t get a sponsor for 2024 and realised he was out of time? You would think he would have announced who the skipper would be if he was really going to manage an entrant in the 2024 edition? Time is running out. The shorthand circuit is providing some good younger talent to choose from ….

I'm pretty sure that Alex didn't want to go again.

I'm also pretty sure that he wanted to sell the whole shebang - boat and race company - to a new skipper, and then offer his services as a mentor, rather than continue to own and run the boat through a new cycle. Makes sense from a business perspective if you can realise some value from the company rather than just winding it up. It does of course rely on the purchaser seeing the value in that proposition, which to be honest I'd question. The real value in that company was the boat, and the technical know how of the team. And if you wind the company up, those guys will be looking for a job, so why would you pay for the company?

The fact that they have described the boat as having a new owner, rather than skipper, suggests that they have been at least partly successful. I'm intrigued as to if this covers the ATR company as well as the boat, or if it was a boat only deal. Time will tell I guess.