Barcelona World Race - Challenge not over yet for Thomson and Ribes

by Alex Thomson Racing on 16 Jan 2015 Barcelona World Race 2014-15 - ‘One of the most painful experiences of my sporting life’ says Thomson - Alex Thomson and Pepe Ribes started the Barcelona World Race perfectly, with two race records broken: Barcelona to the Straits of Gibraltar and from Barcelona to the Equator. Hugo Boss set out to race 26,000 miles around the world, with Alex Thomson and Pepe Ribes one of the favourite teams to win the race.

The boat was leading the eight boat Barcelona World Race fleet by 60 nautical miles when disaster struck. She was dismasted at 21:02GMT on Wednesday evening in moderate conditions. Speaking from the South Atlantic yesterday whilst motoring towards Salvador, Brazil, Thomson said 'At about 9pm Pepe and I were doing a sail change in 18 knots of wind. As we dropped one of our headsails the furler broke and flew into the air. For a few seconds the mast hovered, before falling backwards and into the water. Pepe reacted quickly and we cut the rest away, losing the mast, boom and rigging. Of course we are devastated and disappointed. As offshore ocean racing sailors this is a peril of our sport, but it is still painful. Our aim now is to try and get to land, assess and analyse the problem and learn from this, but we will remain ever determined and resilient to come back stronger and succeed.'

The IMOCA 60 is currently motoring towards the coastline of South America. Thomson and Ribes have put together a jury rig and are heading straight towards Salvador. The Alex Thomson Racing technical team are on route to Brazil to meet the boat. The support team will have to board a rescue craft to carry provisions and supplies as the engine consumes the vessels limited emergency fuel reserve. This operation will take between 48 – 72 hours to complete but first the Skippers will have to face the elements and wait for support to arrive before coming ashore.

Stewart Hosford, Managing Director of the Alex Thomson Racing Team said 'The boat has lost the mast and our team is out of the race – Alex and Pepe are safe from the initial incident but they are still 300 miles off the coast of Brazil in a yacht with no mast, so there is more work to do to secure the boys safety and that of the boat. We will run a full enquiry into why the mechanical part failed on the boat and we will share the findings from that. We have a challenge on our hands right now, but if this had happened in the deep Southern Ocean then we could have been dealing with a major life threatening situation.'

The determination and strength of character Thomson and Ribes have displayed is unwavering. Winning is of course the final goal for any racing team but the true measure is the drive Thomson and Ribes have displayed whilst taking part in one of the most extreme races on the planet.

Alex Thomson Racing are grateful to all the support from their sponsor and fans. We will keep everyone updated on our website.