Transat Jacques Vabre - Emergency situation for Alex Thomson Racing

by Alex Thomson Racing on 1 Nov 2015 Alex Thomson and Guillermo Altadill, skippers of yacht Hugo Boss in the Transat Jacques Vabre set off their emergency beacon Saturday 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 explained the situation:‘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.’

Two days earlier Alex Thomson and Guillermo Altadill made the decision to hove to at 15.00 UT in the afternoon. They have some technical problems which needed immediate attention. The plan was for the skippers to spend the next few hours attempting to make the repairs at sea and then evaluate the situation with the technical team.

After several hours at sea Thomson and Altadill made the difficult decision to return ashore. After attempting to address the issue onboard it has not been possible to ensure a sufficient repair whilst at sea to withstand an Atlantic crossing. They reported that they had made a suitable repair to get to the nearest port where they intended to analyse the situation. They reported that the current sea state and weather forecast hade not aided the situation onboard.

The technical team travelled to Vigo, Spain, where the boat it was hoped that the boat would be repaired and returned to racing.

Technical Director Ross Daniel explained at the time: 'It is disappointing that the current sea state and approaching weather system have forced us to return to land to make the repair. But it is early days in our training programme as we understand the new boat and work towards the start of the Vendee Globe 2016. We will do everything we can to try and return to the Transat Jacques Vabre as soon as possible.'

Clearly the situation deteriorated further necessitating the rescue of the crew of Hugo Boss.