Vendee Globe and Alex Thomson / Hugo Boss

[cherod]

Everybody has to have a first time otherwise nobody would go!

yes but perhaps she should have done a crewed trip first then she would have had an idea of what she was letting herself in for.

 

[Frogmogman]

If I replied to that with what I actually think, I'd be thrown off the forums. But it is one of the very daftest things I've ever seen on this forum.

I know Pip well, she's been building towards the Vendee since before I first met her, in 2006. Even before then she'd sailed the Atlantic single handed. Since then she's done so I think at least 6 more times, in everything from a mini transat to an IMOCA. Plus a fair few crewed or doublehanded crossings.
There probably isn't a sailor in the fleet who hasn't already done the Vendee who's better prepared then Pip in terms of Ocean miles. There is only one race that takes IMOCAs into the southern Ocean though, and that's the Vendee. There's a reason why it's the pinnacle of the sport, and of course everyone who does it has to have a first time.

What Pip really is though, is honest. Of course she's a bit scared. It's the Southern Ocean, alone, on a 60 foot surfboard. You'd have to be bloody mental not to be a bit scared to take that on. But on her first day riding a Southern Ocean low she smashed through 400 miles. I could not be more chuffed for her, and more proud to call her a friend.
And you think maybe she shouldn't be there...

Spot on Flaming.

This is someone who did the 3 peaks race two-handed......and finished second.

Pip has no lack of guts or determination.

 

[cherod]

I bet she wishes she had your armchair with her.......?

you think so ?

 

[Ravi]

There is

Not sure Alex Thomson totally understands the concept of "nursing his broken boat to Cape Town".

Fastest in the fleet this morning, at 20.5 kts.

There is retiring and there is retiring in style.
.

 

[Tomahawk]

you think so ?

Methithnks you need to see the invisible the sarcasm smilie

 

[flaming]

Content deleted

I think you should leave this thread now.

Your posts are worthless chauvinistic rubbish.

 

[cherod]

Methithnks you need to see the invisible the sarcasm smilie

some people cant see the sarcasm without the wee smilley thing ? ( oh the internet )

 

[TLouth7]

yes she is doing alright , 340 miles in the last 24 hours ,, good on her . ,, pity the other english wifey seems to be out tho .

That is at least the second time you have used this incredibly sexist and patronising term. Please stop using it to refer to anybody, let alone serious athletes who are racing around the world. I won't even address the dishes comment because you know that is sexist.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Sometimes it’s best to ignore people who are trolling. Remember that trolls feed off the indignant and angry comments that they produce from others. Pretending that something was ‘only a joke’ when there was no hint or emoticon is no defence.

 

[E39mad]

yes but perhaps she should have done a crewed trip first then she would have had an idea of what she was letting herself in for.

So tell me, other than a very infrequent Jules Vernes attempt what crewed races are there these days that spend most of their time in the Southern Ocean?

 

[NormanB]

totally agree with some of that but some is nonsense ,,, if i went and did it i would not whinge about it ,, either do it or dont .

Who was ‘whinging’?

 

[dom]

Rather than descending into yet another sniping war, why don't we just Ctrl-Alt-Del this thread and then restart in a civil way?

 

[ryanroberts]

Alex was looking pretty tired and emotional too. I like Pip's videos, it's nice to see someone being candid and processing this stuff on camera in a more typically feminine way. We all deal with stress differently, and that is one hell of a test.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Edit: I see FAT deleted it while I was on here!

I don’t really want to delete the thread. There’s lots of good stuff in it. I suggest we move on.

 

[Sandy]

some people cant see the sarcasm without the wee smilley thing ? ( oh the internet )

No sir, you live in the dark ages.

 

[flaming]

Very bad news for Sam. Sadly I think that's her race done.

Sam Davies this morning on the audio call, “I was sailing last night I had gybed in the shift in the front, there was 30-35kts of wind for the gybe and that had gone well, and I was happy with where I was. I was sailing on starboard gybe heading east, and obviously the sea state was quite chaotic which it has been for the last two days. And obviously I know I was in these currents and I know these risks are there but I was sailing really nicely, as well as possible given the sea state. So speeds between 15 and 22kts and I was actually just making a hot meal after the gybe and the stack and everything and it was just starting to get dark. I hit something. I did not see anything. I did not know what it was. It was pretty much dark when it happened. But it was as if I had run aground on a rock at the time. The boatspeed went from 20kts to zero. The boat nosedived on the impact with the keel. I knew it was the keel. I heard a crack coming from there. I and everything else flew forwards, including my dinner which has repainted the entire inside of my boat. Everything moved. I went flying into a ring frame, luckily, because that could have been worse. It was really violent. But luckily I have just hurt some ribs. It is not serious but really painful. But I stopped the boat, dropped the main, and went to check around the keel, the bearings and the bulkhead. The bulkhead, the main bearing bulkheads (which support the keelbox) are intact as far as I can see. The keelbearings are intact. The longitudinal structure around the keelbox is all cracked. That has taken the shock of the impact of when the boat moved, that is cracked on both sides. The keel ram, because the keel ram goes through the sidewall of the keelbox, that had all moved and there is a watertight seal on the ram and that was knocked off. There was some water coming in but I have a really good immersion pump which I got going really quickly and permanently to keep the water down. For me the most important thing is to stabilise the boat. It is still is really bad, 30kts of wind, so I have the boat on a course which will minimise all the strains and effort on the keel and the bulkheads. And then I ran a whole lot of checks with my team who mobilised really quickly, the architects and the structural engineers just to check I was not in immediate danger. We did that really and the news was reassuring, they were really confident that I am not in danger unless I sail fast, so there is no bad noise and the keel is still in its bearings and not moving at all. I cannot sail at any speed, so I am heading slowly towards Cape Town because that is the nearest shelter and we are continuing to assess the damage and what to do with my shore team who are being amazing.”

 

[Ravi]

Has that actually been announced or speculation?

My own speculation but sadly, although he is not officially retired until he sails into port, the damage looks considerable. In the extremely unlikely event that it is considered safe to continue around the world, his race is over (IMHO).

Sebastian made a poignant video yesterday where he films the damage and the water ingress and discusses his options. The crushing disappointment is written all over his face and he looks absolutely gutted.. If you watch the video through the following Youtube link, you can turn on English subtitles.

The video shows the damage inside the hull.
These photos show the external damage more clearly.

https://www.vendeeglobe.org/medias/05/47/54793/image-r-1600-1200.jpg
https://www.vendeeglobe.org/medias/05/47/54790/image-r-1600-1200.jpg
https://www.vendeeglobe.org/medias/05/47/54789/image-r-1600-1200.jpg

It would be great if he could somehow make good the damage but even if he did he would have lost days and there would be too many boats ahead of him for him to have a chance. In the video, he talks about sailing North for a couple of days to calmer conditions of the coming high pressure zone to assess the damage.

When you see the damage in the pictures, though, you may agree with me that it is only reluctance to through throw in the towel that is delaying the decision to retire.

 

[Keith 66]

I see Sam Davies has hit something & damaged her boat, sailing northwards now. She was going bloody well too.
All these boats breaking, In the extreme pusuit of lightness they seem to be using carbon fibre almost exclusively? I always thought its primary advantage was high stiffness & strength to weight ratio but it has very little impact resistance. I wonder if a bit more kevlar should be in there to up the impact resistance. Though at the speeds & loadings i dont suppose it would make much difference.

 

[flaming]

I see Sam Davies has hit something & damaged her boat, sailing northwards now. She was going bloody well too.
All these boats breaking, In the extreme pusuit of lightness they seem to be using carbon fibre almost exclusively? I always thought its primary advantage was high stiffness & strength to weight ratio but it has very little impact resistance. I wonder if a bit more kevlar should be in there to up the impact resistance. Though at the speeds & loadings i dont suppose it would make much difference.

Sam's keel took the brunt, and it sounds like it's the structure supporting the keel box that is cracked. Good news is that the keel fin and attachment mechanism did what it is designed to do and withstood the impact.

At the end of the day if you want a boat that can do 20 knots, you can't also have a boat able to shrug off hitting something that stops it dead "like we ran aground on a rock". Sounds like this one is actually a design win, as it's had a massive crash, but hasn't dumped the skipper in the drink, but left her with a boat that can be sailed slowly to a safe haven.
As disappointing as that undoubtedly will be for Sam, and with the caveat that she's not ashore yet, it's a good result in terms of accident mitigation.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Sam's keel took the brunt, and it sounds like it's the structure supporting the keel box that is cracked. Good news is that the keel fin and attachment mechanism did what it is designed to do and withstood the impact.

At the end of the day if you want a boat that can do 20 knots, you can't also have a boat able to shrug off hitting something that stops it dead "like we ran aground on a rock". Sounds like this one is actually a design win, as it's had a massive crash, but hasn't dumped the skipper in the drink, but left her with a boat that can be sailed slowly to a safe haven.
As disappointing as that undoubtedly will be for Sam, and with the caveat that she's not ashore yet, it's a good result in terms of accident mitigation.

at least she can have a beer with Alex. Real shame as she was having a good race.