2015 Transat Jacques Vabre

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Back On Dry Land



2nd November 2015 – British sailor Alex Thomson and his co-skipper Guillermo
Altadill are looking towards the 2016 Vendee Globe after an extraordinary sequence
of events ended their participation in the Transat Jacques Vabre this weekend. The
pair were rescued by the Spanish coastguard on Saturday afternoon after a rogue
wave caught the new HUGO BOSS while the yacht was in a hove to position. The
boat, which sustained damage to its rig in addition to taking on water while inverted,
was later successfully brought to the dock in A Coruna, Spain, after a swift response
from the Alex Thomson Racing Team.

The weather conditions in the first few days saw wind speeds in excess of 50 knots
(75 km/h) and waves up to 10 metres high. Alex and Guillermo made the decision to
take the safest route, passing the weather system to the south. Whilst travelling
south west the yacht incurred some structural damage and the skippers took the
decision to head for A Coruna, Spain 120 miles away.

The yacht was hove to, whilst Alex and Guillermo waited for the next weather window
allowing them to proceed to port. Unexpectedly a rogue wave caught the racing
yacht causing the yacht to turn upside down. Alex and Guillermo managed to close
the hatches and secure the situation whilst inverted. Alex immediately hit the keel
button, bringing the yacht back upright. They then alerted the rescue services and
technical team of an emergency situation. The yacht had taken onboard a substantial
amount of water and the rig had sustained damage requiring the skippers to leave
the yacht.

Alex Thomson explains “I have never experienced anything like it. I was asleep and
woke up to a boat upside down rapidly filling with water. Guillermo and I responded
together as a team to the difficult situation and now that my boat’s back safely we
can focus on our Vendee Globe campaign as a team. We have overcome problems
before and I am as determined as ever to succeed.”

[Born 2 Sail]

Nice to see them salvage Hugo. Lose the foils guys!

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JP Speaks

This Sunday, the three times Transat Jacques Vabre winner Jean-Pierre Dick and Fabien Delahaye informed the race directors that they have been forced to abandon the Transat Jacques Vabre.
The St Michel Virbac duo discovered crack transverse ribs in their sail bin area. After discovering this on Friday the pair have sailed ot Madeira to further assess the damage and to effect repairs. But the team have taken the decision that this damage curtails their race.

Dick said today: "The boat in its current configuration, even repaired, is not strong enough to attempt a crossing of the Atlantic. We're not 100% sure that the boat is able to sail in the squalls that might be encountered in the Doldrums or at Cabo Frio, Brazil. This repair and reinforcement will take time. And for St Michel-Virbac to be able to race again It must be durable. "

What is your mindset?

JP Dick: "I am very disappointed but we must move on positively. We will go straight into a boat building process be able to sail safely and at 100% potential. Boats designed today are too fragile. We work now with the designers on Version 2 which is more consistent with the program. With my partners, we are frustrated not being able to finish the race but that's part and parcel of this game. These are racing prototypes. You need to update and evolve these prototypes. We knew we had a lot to learn with this new generation of boat foiler. And so we are already working to the future. "
What is the future program?

JP Dick: "We have two options: "To participate in the Transat B to B or to return to the base in Lorient. We will decide in the coming days. The decision depends on the repairs. "

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"My Whole Life Changed In One Hour"




Writing last night Nándor Fa, skipper and owner of the dismasted Spirit of Hungary said:

" The Spirit of Hungary’s race in the 2015 edition of the Transat Jacques Vabre has become a short one. Exactly one week, 2 hours and 30 minutes after the start, 60 nm away from Madeira we dismasted. We were sailing on starboard tack, wind angle 130°, wind power between 16-24 knots, mainsail one reef down, A7 gennaker, boat speed 12-17 knots. It was a nice, fast and safe ride, with 6-8m swells coming from NW. So, not in the 45 kts wind a few days back, not in the 46 kts gust yesterday, no, it went down in a weather that’s every sailor’s dream.

We were sitting outside in our seats with Peter, having our meals and talking. The sun was shining, we weren’t cold anymore, everything was good. We were just discussing how to pass Madeira. There was a huge crack and from my seat I could see the boom disappear from the picture. I immediately knew what happened. I dropped the bowl and by reflex pushed the middle button on the keel controller. By the time I stood up, everything was in the water. Half of the boom was on the deck and on the cabin top. The bottom 3 metres of the mast was laying on the deck, then a big crack again, and everything was in the water, hanging on the halyards. Both of us jumped for tools, we mainly needed knifes and the iron saw. We knew that the most important was to cut everything off to save the boat. Peter had his camera on his head. I was working in the front, trying to saw the carbon stays off, but they were too thick so the saw was stuck, constantly pulling me as the boat was dancing on the waves. Peter was coming to help me when a bigger wave arrived and knocked the boat. Peter tried to catch the rail, which wasn’t there anymore. He fell off the deck in front of my eyes, his right foot stuck in the stay, I caught the left one and pulled him back. He hurt his leg very bad. Are you in one piece? - I asked. He nodded, he must have had serious pain. The camera with all our footages are on the way down to the bottom of the 4000m deep ocean. A minute later we continued cutting and we managed to get rid of everything, when I saw the A7 still hanging at the back. I tried to pull it back, wanted to save this beautiful brand new sail that we only used for 4 hours but on the other side it was pulled by the whole mast and it was pulling stronger. So I cut it off too, with bleeding heart.

We saved the boom, it is in perfect condition, and we have some ruins of themast left.

My whole life was changed in only one hour. It changed everything for the following months, maybe years. All of our communication instruments are working, I called the race organizers to inform them about what happened, and that our race is over for now.

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Hugo Salvage Update

UPDATE
Alex Thomson and his team are onboard HUGO BOSS which is now in a stable situation. Alex’s IMOCA 60 is undergoing the necessary checks in order to tow her back to A Coruna, Spain. Where additional team members are on hand to assist with the pending arrival. The rig has been removed and the water onboard pumped out, allowing the racing yacht to be towed. The weather conditions have enabled Alex Thomson Racing to complete a swift response to the emergency situation which occurred yesterday. The yacht is currently situated 100 miles offshore. The crew will remain onboard to make the necessary checks to ensure a safe tow through the night.

Technical Director Ross Daniel says ‘I am proud of our team considering the potential severity of the situation. Of course it’s disappointing we have had to retire from the race. But this year’s Transat Jacques Vabre has provided the fleet with challenging conditions, forcing seven IMOCA’s to retire. As a team we now need to focus on getting HUGO BOSS safely through the night and then assess the situation once she is alongside tomorrow.’

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Multi50' Ciella Village Damaged



Damage Aboard The Multi 50' Ciella Village

Thierry Bouchard and Oliver Krauss will make a brief layover in Cape Verde before resuming the race.

Today at 15 H 30, while operating in a wind of some twenty knots on the direct route, Thierry Bouchard and Oliver Krauss have suffered damage on board the multi 50 Ciela Village. The furling of the gennaker was ripped off, also damaging the attachments on the bow of the boat. They first tried to fix it, in vain. They are headed the Cape Verde or their technical team will be waiting for them to repair. They will resume their route to Brazil in order to finish when conditions allow.

[Born 2 Sail]

Sorry to hear. Glad they were safely rescued.

I trust when they recover the boat, they will abandon the foiling experiment.

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Hugo Loss:Alex Thomson and Guillermo Altadill Abandon Ship

Update – Emergency Situation

Alex Thomson and Guillermo Altadill, skippers of yacht HUGO BOSS in the Transat Jacques Vabre set off their emergency beacon this afternoon at 13.25UT.

The Spanish Coastguard was informed and sent a rescue helicopter to their location 82 nautical miles from the Spanish coast. Both Alex and Guillermo were rescued from the location by helicopter and are on their way back to land.

HUGO BOSS incurred some structural damage earlier this week forcing Alex and Guillermo to stop racing. The Skippers had made a repair and were on route to A Coruna where the technical team were waiting to meet them. After sailing for a period of 36 hours in high seas and strong winds, the structure of the boat deteriorated further and the boat started to take on water and sink. The technical team are in A Coruna, Spain awaiting further information from the coast guard.

Managing Director Stewart Hosford expresses ‘Our first concern is with Alex and Guillermo and when they are safely on the ground we will address the situation with our IMOCA 60 and begin the salvage process. We are grateful for the swift response from the rescue services in this situation.’

Alex Thomson Racing will keep everyone updated via the website www.AlexThomsonRacing.com

[Carl Spackler]

If the designers are looking for the breaking point, I would say they have achieved it!

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SMA Abandons!




Trailing Edge of the veil of keel ripped: SMA forced to abandonment

Since 36 hours, the speed of SMA was on average less than 2 knots to that of its competitors. While Paul and Michel had felt some vibrations, 17 hours ago (French time) Paul has plunged under the boat and found that the trailing edge of the veil of keel was almost totally ripped off.

As it is not a question of a structural integrity of the boat or the keel, the two men are not in danger. The duo have decided to make their way to the Guadeloupe, distance of about 2000 miles where the technical team the will wait on site for repairs as quickly as possible in view of the Transat St Barth - Port-LA-Forest.

[Prince of Whales]

And the hits keep coming!

You can say that again!

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IMOCA 60 St Michel-Virbac Suffers Structural Damage



IMOCA 60 St Michel-Virbac is headed to Madeira for a pit stop. As you can see, Jean-Pierre Dick's gorgeous race yacht is wounded, with broken parts in the structure. The consecutive low pressure systems clearly weren't easy on our sailors and boats!
Good luck lads!

The Imoca 60st Michel-Virbac fact road to Madeira for a stopover technique. As you can see, the beautiful bird of Jean-Pierre Dicko's hurt. A part of the structure has transferred under the repetitive shock waves breaking generated by the systems consecutive dépressionnaires crossed by our sailors and boats since the departure of le havre.

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Ultim Actual Headed To Shore



At 0400hrs UTC this Friday morning, Yves le Blevec, skipper of the Ultim Actual and his co-skipper Jean-Baptiste Vaillant, informed the Race Management of the Transat Jacques Vabre that they have technical problems. Actual was sailing in manageable conditions, reaching in 20-25 knots at the latitude of Gibraltar.

Actual now route towards the European mainland making a speed of 7 knots in a W –SW’ly wind. Both co-skippers are well.
More information to come during the morning.

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Creno Moustache-Solidaire Heads For Pit Stop



Following the breakage of a starboard spreader, Thibault Hector and Morgan Launay have secured their rig and decided to sail to Spain to make a repair. In a sustained wind of 30-35 knots SW'ly and high sea, a stainless fitting broke but the crew was able to quickly change tack to save the rig. But as the wind is veering NW Creno Moustache-Solidaire will be able to make a course towards La Coruña and Vigo in the next hours. The duo expects to quickly repair to return to the course.

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Adopteunskipper. net Retires




Nicolas Boidevezi, skipper of the monohull 60 feet Adopts A Skipper.net and his American co-skipper Ryan Breymaier racing in the IMOCA class in the Transat Jacques Vabre 2015 cornfirmed last night that they have a technical problem with their starboard lower running backstay (acable that ensures the holding of the mast). The crew finally decided to abandon the race, for safety reasons, and are bound for Concarneau.

This is obviously a very big disappointment for Nicolas Boidevezi and Ryan Breymaier who fought successfully to be at the start of this Transat Jacques Vabre. After a cautious start to the race the duo were happy with their strategic positioning to the west of the fleet and felt they were ready to reap a good reward.

"This is obviously a very difficult decision. But the breaking of the backstay at this level is sufficiently serious, We can not afford to take the risk to go and see another one break ... Ocean racing is not a a game of Russian roulette, "says Boidevezi.