Vendee Globe and Alex Thomson / Hugo Boss

Alex has said on several occasions that this will be his last VG. I wonder if that changes now. I don't believe that he'll want to bow out in these circumstances and with an unenviable record of retiring from 3 out of 5 with no win. It might be less of a question of whether Alex will go again, and more one of whether he'll be in Hugo Boss livery when he does...
 
Airscrew said:
Have been looking at the pics of the rear of the 2020HB.

I cant see for certain that they are, or are not, 'pop up', fold back, easy to repair replace items.
I cant see a single pic of the windward rudder folded back out of the way.
Whereas HB 2016 did have them...

I'd love to know, but those pink tie bars structures dont look servicable.

Any pics and/or info much appreciated as it becomes available / understood.
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Hugo Boss : The Launch
Yes, they pop up.
 
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Ric said:
Since my last post a few minutes ago - it seems he has done a "Sebastien Josse" and with relatively minor boat damage (he still has a working rudder) given up before he ends up facing starving to death and eating lifeboat rations like Conrad Colman, orliving off crabs and shoreline muscles lie Yves Parlier, or the other legends of the VG. I would have liked to have seen him fight to the end- not just fight to win. I think fighting to the end is what you have to do to be a VG legend - after all it was Moitessier who really started the legend..
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I'll be returning my Hugo Boss trousers from whence they came - The Cats Protection charity shop .

They can keep the £3.50. ?
 
john_morris_uk said:
I’d be interested to know how many people on this forum have been in the Southern Ocean. I’ll put my hand up as one, but it was on HMS ENDURANCE!
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Yes, on an old cross channel car ferry, now known as the MV Exploration. Drakes Channel and Cape Horn were disappointingly calm. I would have liked to have done it by yacht, but my wife has more sense than me and said no.
 
Ric said:
Since my last post a few minutes ago - it seems he has done a "Sebastien Josse" and with relatively minor boat damage (he still has a working rudder) given up before he ends up facing starving to death and eating lifeboat rations like Conrad Colman, orliving off crabs and shoreline muscles lie Yves Parlier, or the other legends of the VG. I would have liked to have seen him fight to the end- not just fight to win. I think fighting to the end is what you have to do to be a VG legend - after all it was Moitessier who really started the legend..
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I don't believe that the second rudder is for redundancy! On these wide arsed modern boast heel the windward rudder doesn't do much/enough.
 
I think that I will just wait before saying anything.
And yes I have been in the Southern Ocean so have respect for anyone down there.
It is not Lake Solent or the Channel, and the Seas tend to concentrate the mind and it's enormity and lack of safe places to hide in.
 
Can anyone with some understanding of the matter shed any light on the tactics and routing of the leader Charlie Dahlin?

I notice that his route dives down to the exclusion zone and he has then jibed back up to the same latitude as the rest of the fleet?

My French is not good enough to understand the videos that he posted but he seemed to be saying that he came North because of the wind. I can see that the wind from the pressure system around the exclusion zone is around 30 knots whereas it is about 10 knots less at the northern edge where the chasing pack are bunched.

What is puzzling me is that I thought that these lunatics with their crazy boats considered 30 knots as a good thing.

And if he is jibing North to avoid the 30+ winds, why did he not stay at a more northern latitude rather than sailing a less efficient zig zag course? (The pressure system seems to be behaving as forecast.)

I am not questioning the race tactics of a professional sailor who is leading the Vendee Globe- just trying to understand them!
 
Ravi said:
Can anyone with some understanding of the matter shed any light on the tactics and routing of the leader Charlie Dahlin?

I notice that his route dives down to the exclusion zone and he has then jibed back up to the same latitude as the rest of the fleet?

My French is not good enough to understand the videos that he posted but he seemed to be saying that he came North because of the wind. I can see that the wind from the pressure system around the exclusion zone is around 30 knots whereas it is about 10 knots less at the northern edge where the chasing pack are bunched.

What is puzzling me is that I thought that these lunatics with their crazy boats considered 30 knots as a good thing.

And if he is jibing North to avoid the 30+ winds, why did he not stay at a more northern latitude rather than sailing a less efficient zig zag course? (The pressure system seems to be behaving as forecast.)

I am not questioning the race tactics of a professional sailor who is leading the Vendee Globe- just trying to understand them!
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VMG
 
I understand that the boats computer uses the polar diagrams and weather data to optimise VMG.
 
I understand CD is determining what is the optimum gybe and angle not only for the present wind, but also for the wind expected when the approaching front comes through. I imagine he doesn't want to be on starboard gybe, then, while close to the Ice Exclusion Zone.... which carries a substantial penalty for infringement..... and which also trends a bit northwards towards the Kerguelen Islands.
 
Buck Turgidson said:
VMG
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I guess that you are saying that by sailing a greater distance, he was sailing in better wind that maintained a higher velocity which compensated for the additional miles covered. I can get that theory. (He sailed 1,002 miles to travel a leg that was 680 miles and off the wind)

If terms of VMG, for the time that Dalin was heading South (and then North again), Le Cam was sailing the direct route in lighter winds further North and had a better VMG than Dalin despite his lower boatspeed. After his little excursion South, Dalin's lead over LeCam remained at 350 M. Similarly, Ruyant sailed the latitude where Dalin headed South and, when he wasn't chopping bits off his boat, he had a better VMG, as well.

From zoidberg's answer to my question I can understand why Dalin wants to be where he is now for the imminent arrival of the approaching front. i.e. to have sea room to run downwind in the NW winds at the front of the depression. (As a cat sailor, I wholly disapprove of wind forward of the beam!)

So, thanks to zoidberg, I can see why Dalin came back up North. I am still a bit puzzled about his reasoning for his southern excursion.
 
Tomahawk said:
Weight saving. The interior of Play Station was the same. They only painted the galley and nav station. The rest, including the heads, was like a black hole.
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It also means the structure is easier to inspect (no paint to hide any signs of stress or cracks starting) and easier to laminate to if there’s a problem. (No paint to grind off to establish a clean surface.)
 
Probably a daft question but could not HB go round anyway after repairs if they don't take too long ?

More information would be gained about the boat and perhaps leave a more positive vibe for both Alex and the company ?
 
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