Hugo Boss reaches 31.2 knots, Alex Thomson reports

by Annabel Merrison on 21 Nov 2006 Latest daily reports from Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss:

Wind: 20-25 knots SW
Speed: 18-20 knots
Sea state: Lumpy!!
Last meal: Porridge - I quite like this really
Tunes: Still Lou Reed

Well it is nice to be off the train for a while, although we ain’t going that slow now!

Yesterday was painful for me, under-sailing the boat and watching the miles between Golding, and Koji, and Hugo Boss get smaller and smaller. I guess it was the right thing to do as I have not broken anything, and last night was fun when the sail plan I had up came into range and the breeze climbed to 45 knots.

Have managed to top the record for the boat speed now at 31.2 knots. It was fun, but it was hard with the boat leaping off waves into the pitch black. It felt like you were falling in space, not knowing when you will crash back to earth.

This morning the front passed through us and I have gybed heading SE, still with good speed, but not quite as fast and not as uncomfortable.

Next few days will continue to be interesting!

Regards

Alex Thomson

HUGO BOSS


Velux 5 Oceans, Daily Report, 19 November 2006

Wind: 25-30 knots
Speed: 20-23 knots
Last meal: Beef Curry
Tunes: Lou Reed

Hammering along at speed really does take it out of you, even just sitting in my nav seat takes huge effort, as its like being in a rally car that is cornering, accelerating fast and breaking hard, sometimes very hard.

The expression chucking the anchors out is a good one for this situation. I have been true to my word today, and last night, and have kept the foot firmly off the pedal, changing sails early and reefing early but she still rockets along, often over 20 knots! These boats are amazing to sail in these conditions. It seems crazy to me that there is no one at the steering stick, guiding her through the waves, a real testament to the progress of auto pilots. In the Vendee Globe, like Sir Robin, I had very little faith in my pilots. Not a very nice situation to be in but now it is the opposite, sometimes I fear that they are so good us skippers will soon be redundant! Thanks B&G, can you put my redundancy cheque in the post please?!

There is new breeze now, over 35 knots at times, which has been coming from behind, allowing those behind to catch me up. I could, of course, be going faster and that hurts like a knife in the guts, but I know how to go fast, very fast, and right now I should be trying to learn how to go slower. But no one told me it would hurt so much!

I managed to get some jobs done yesterday, in particular I finished off 'bodging' (technical term) my solent stay so that it would furl properly because I knew I was going to need it today. While doing some checks, I noticed that the pin in the bottom of my staysail stay was half out - thank god i noticed. It was not easy to get it back in, especially while surfing down waves at pace, but it had to be done.

It’s pretty cold out here now and I will be adding layers tonight as it will be bitter especially, when the front associated with this low pressure passes over us, and the wind direction changes from NW to SW - bringing the wind directly from Antarctica. Brrrrrrrr!

After that it will be more of the same, hopefully I will be able to hold Golding at bay!

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday

Alex Thomson

HUGO BOSS

www.alexthomsonracing.com