Barcelona World Race – Alex Thomson reveals co-skipper

by Kassi Denman on 9 Sep 2010 Alex Thomson Racing today announced that Volvo Ocean Race sailor, Andy Meiklejohn, will join Alex Thomson as co-skipper for the 2010 edition of the Barcelona World Race.

Andy (34), from Auckland, New Zealand has over 100,000 ocean miles to his name, and has sailed extensively offshore, including the round the world 2004 Oryx Quest and the 2005/06 Volvo Ocean Race.

Alex and Andy have known each other for many years, having first raced together in The Commodores Cup in 2004. Andy joined the Alex Thomson Racing team earlier this year with overall responsibility for the boat performance and he has been a key part of the team that has launched and developed the new Hugo Boss. Together with Alex he has now covered over 10,000 miles onboard the yacht.

Alex is positive they have created a winning formula, 'Andy is a confident, professional sailor with broad experience in the racing field. He has accumulated many offshore miles and has invaluable on-board technical experience within an offshore race environment. We compliment each other’s abilities and both have the attitude and drive to win.'

Andy has been professionally racing for over ten years. Starting in dinghy sailing, and progressing up to the America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race, Andy is used to extreme racing conditions.

Referring to his recent appointment, Andy commented, 'I’m excited to be accepting the Co-Skipper role on-board Hugo Boss for The Barcelona World Race and to be able to do this race with a good friend. The boat itself is incredible, it has the same power and sail area as a fully crewed VO70, so the challenge of racing on the boat with only two of us when I’m used to ten will be a demanding but exciting prospect. Alex and I can both learn from each other and I will be able to help enhance the boat’s capability and performance for The Vendee Globe in 2012.'

Stewart Hosford, Managing Director at Alex Thomson Racing commented, 'I believe the partnership between Alex and Andy teamed with the speed and capability of Hugo Boss, creates one of the strongest entries in this year’s BWR. We had a couple of candidates in mind for the position but we were always gravitating towards Andy as his skill set was the perfect fit against Alex’s.'

Following his success in the last Barcelona World Race Alex has his eyes set firmly on the top spot and, with his new co-skipper and new boat, he is confident they have the ability and determination to make this happen.

For more information, please go to: www.hugoboss.com, www.sailspeedrecords.com and www.imoca.org