Sea, Sail & Surf newsTransat Jacques Vabre
Alex Thompson dreams of Vendée Globe on the Jacques Vabre starting line
English skipper enters two-handed race with French Roland Jourdain
jeudi 30 octobre 2003 –
- Alex Thompson at the helm of Roland Jourdain’s Open 60
- Photo JN / ATR
Thomson, however, is no stranger to the International Monohull Open Class (IMOCA Imoca #IMOCA ) racing circuit. After winning the Clipper 98 Round-the-World yacht race at the tender age of 25, he competed in the Transat Jacques Vabre Transat Jacques Vabre #TJV2015 with Josh Hall back in 1999 on ’Gartmore’, and has successfully campaigned the Open 50 ’Sailthatdream.com’, with which he holds still the Round Britain and Ireland record Record #sailingrecord .
Speaking about his goals in preparation for the Jacques Vabre from the race village in Le Havre just 2 days before the start, Thomson revealed a more long term strategy : "I am at the start of my route to the 2004 Vendée Globe, and the Transat Jacques Vabre Transat Jacques Vabre #TJV2015 was initially a way for me to take over the boat at the finish in order to qualify for the Vendée in the single-handed Défi Atlantique race back from Brazil to France. Then the decision was made to race with Jourdain in the event, and of course I want to win this with him, but for me is more a golden opportunity to learn how to sail this boat with the skipper in a race scenario. As I am also still looking for a lead sponsor for my campaign, it’s important that I’m out there getting the best experience and exposure as the other top skippers lining up for the Vendée."
Jourdain himself decided to have Thomson as his ’wing-man’ on board for the race, regardless of the fact that the young English skipper had just bought his boat. After their offshore training period, Jourdain came back with one definite response in mind : "Alex is a dangerous talent !" The constraint of speaking little of each other’s language has not compromised their working relationship, as Jourdain added : "Alex and I realised that we have similar thought processes, and share the same way of sailing the boat, so there is no real barrier of understanding."
For the 6th edition of the Transat The Transat #thetransat #ostar Jacques Vabre, the Anglo-French duo are defending the winner’s title and course record Record #sailingrecord of 16 days 13 hours 23 minutes 41 seconds, which Jourdain took in 2001 on board ’Sill’. Amongst this, the largest class and most international fleet of 17 Open 60 monohulls ever fielded for the race, Thomson and Jourdain are pitted against the world’s top skippers from 8 different countries and with experience in other major disciplines of the sport outside Open 60 racing ; Britain’s Mike Golding and giant multihull ace Brian Thompson on ’Ecover’, Aussie Route Du Rhum Route du Rhum #RouteDuRhum Class II winner Nick Moloney, racing with rising Figaro sailor Sam Davies on ’Team Cowes’, as well as Around Alone’s winner Swiss soloist Bernard Stamm, and round the world female sailing star Emma Richards, who has teamed up on ’Pindar’ with Mari Cha IV’s record-breaking helmsman Mike Sanderson from New Zealand. There is also a formidable group of French talent dominating this class, and thankfully Thomson is racing with the best of them !
The weather is going to be the common enemy for the monohull fleet as on their first night at sea the boats will have to engage in regular tacking manoeuvres enduring a 40 knot breeze on the nose and roughed up seas in the world’s busiest shipping channel. Inevitably, this will mean little sleep and plenty of work on deck for a couple of days punching through the high winds and keeping the competition at bay.
Information Mary Ambler / www.alexthomsonracing.com
• About Alex
Alex Thomson, 29 year old professional sailor from Gosport in England, is the youngest skipper ever to win a round the world yacht race after he came 1st in the Clipper ’98 race. Alex Thomson founded in 2000 and headed up the sailing side of yacht charter company, Formula 1 Sailing Ltd for 3 years. His short-handed career includes racing as co-skipper to Josh Hall on ’Gartmore’ in the 1999 Transat Jacques Vabre. He also came 1st in the 2000 Criterion Round Britain & Ireland race, and 3rd in class in the 2000 Europe 1 New Man STAR on the Open 50 ’Sail That Dream.com’.
• About Sill
Open 60 ’Sill Entreprises’ - Under the previous skipper, Roland Jourdain, the Lombard design Open 60 ’Sill Entreprises’ has been on the podium many times since being launched in 1999 and broke the solo 24hr record by covering 436 miles at an average speed of 18.16 knots within days of arriving 3rd on the podium of the Vendée Globe. With trademark giant deck spreaders and rotating mast, ’Sill Entreprises’ has been constantly optimised from build, particularly for upwind performance, which is second to none in the current fleet.
• About The 2004 Vendée Globe
Out of all the current five RTW yacht races, only two are single-handed, and the Vendée Globe is the only non-stop event. Held every 4 years from the port of Les Sables d’Olonne in the Vendée region on the western coast of France, this 26,000 mile solo marathon around the globe is renown as the ’Everest’ of the sport of sailing. The Vendée Globe was created by legendary French solo skipper Philippe Jeantot after he had won the first two editions of the solo RTW BOC Challenge race, which was competed in 4 legs. First run in 1989 with just thirteen competitors on the start line, the Vendée Globe has now become a high profile international sporting event thanks to the incredible exploits of competitors from outside France such as Pete Goss, Tony Bullimore, and more recently Ellen MacArthur. In 2000/1, the race attracted 24 professional teams with their sponsors, plus a major following from media all around the world. The fifth Vendée Globe starts on 7th November 2004.
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