 |
After briefly passing through Orlando, Florida and Northern Virginia after I left England on November 29th, I arrived in Fremantle, Australia on the evening of December 7th.
I’m here to support Sir Robin’s first of only two stops in the Velux 5 Oceans race around the world. The list of competitors has been trimmed down from nine entrants to five. One never made the start. One was not allowed to start, his boat being disqualified on a safety technicality a few days before the race began. More dramatically, only weeks ago one boat sunk and a second has suffered such severe damage a mere six hours after rescuing the sailor who's boat had been taking on water that he, too, was eventually forced to withdraw from the race.
Three days before I arrived, the first sailor, Switzerland's Bernard Stamm had finally arrived in Fremantle. Checking in with the race office after a night's rest, I learned that while the second competitor had arrived in Fremantle the pre-dawn hours that morning, Robin had only moments before past the 4000 miles to go mark. The remaining two competitors were close behind.
Dividing those 4000 miles by a speed Robin was likely to average from that point on, his projected arrival date was Christmas or the day after.
I would have a lot of free time on my hands, it would appear.
Below I've collected a summary of the rescue from the participant's websites. It's rather lengthy but, if you've got the time to read it, it's an amazing human story, especially when you ponder that I'd been having beers with these two guys for weeks in sunny Bilbao. Even back in Gosport, where I live and Alex is based, Alex would often stop by the boatyard where a team of us worked on Robin's boat, offering advice and encouragement and joining us for our typical end of day beer at the local pub.
Alex and Robin have been friends since Alex skippered one of the boat's in Robin's Clipper Ventures Race in 1998. Winning it overall, he became at age 25 the youngest skipper to ever win a round the world race.
Mike Golding's boat is ECOVER. Alex Thomson's boat is HUGO BOSS, both of them under sail side by side in the photo below, taken during an in-harbour race in Bilbao days before the official race start.
If you've got a good broadband connection, the following three videos give you some great footage of the event. Read the account first, then come back and watch the videos in the order presented below.
23/11/2006: Keel failure!
28/11/2006: A dramatic week in
02/12/2006: Land ahoy!
Nov 23th, News release from Alex's webpage
 |
HUGO BOSS keel suffers extreme structural failure
British solo skipper Alex Thomson is in trouble in the Southern Ocean, during leg one of the VELUX 5 Oceans. At approximately 03.30 GMT this morning, his yacht HUGO BOSS was sailing at 18 knots, in 30 knots of wind, when the keel suffered extreme structural failure and the boat capsized. The race office has alerted fourth placed competitor Kojiro Shiraishi (JPN) aboard Spirit of Yukoh, in case Thomson should require rescuing. Thomson is unhurt and is now working with his team to bring the keel under control.
Thomson, one of the favourites in the VELUX 5 Oceans race, was almost neck and neck with second placed Mike Golding (GBR) when the incident happened, with just one nautical mile separating the two boats. He was sailing downwind, around 1000 nautical miles south of Cape Town, South Africa, with three reefs in the mainsail in order to avoid over-powering the boat.
Thomson issued this statement:
“I was in my bunk grabbing a quick power kip when I was suddenly thrown across the cabin as the boat broached. I ran up on deck and went to ease the mainsail but nothing happened. I then went to try and cant the keel, but again nothing happened. By this stage the boat was leaning right over on its side with the spreaders in the water, so I went back down below to look inside the keel box. The section which attaches the rams to the keel had completely snapped off and the keel was swinging freely. I went back up on deck with the boat still on its side. I took all of the sails down and finally the boat righted itself.”
“I can’t believe it, I am absolutely gutted. I have learnt so much already in this race about how hard to push the boat and when to hold back, in order to maintain the right balance between speed and safety. To have a problem with my keel at this critical stage in the race, something which I have no control over, is absolutely devastating.”
Open 60 yachts are some of the fastest and most high-tech yachts in the world, in the case of HUGO BOSS, using hydraulic rams to cant the keel from one side to another in order to increase performance. The keel can be angled 40 degrees into the wind, counterbalancing the yachts’ heeling angle much more effectively than traditional keels.
Thomson is working with his shore team to resolve the problem and a further statement will be issued once more information is available.
Dubbed the ultimate solo challenge, the VELUX 5 Oceans is a 30,000 nautical mile single-handed yacht race, taking the skippers through some of the toughest and most extreme conditions on the planet. Thomson was en route from Bilbao (Spain) to Fremantle (Australia) when he ran into trouble and where the first yachts are expected to arrive around 6 December.
Nov 26th, from Alex's webpage, quoting Mike Golding's webpage after the first paragraph:
It is with huge relief we heard from Alex that he and Mike are safe and well, all things considered! Though they've had plenty to do with rigging up the new much-reduced mast, Mike took some time out to send the following words back to his many followers....
"Since my last Blog things have changed, first my priorities, then my whole race have taken a massive change of direction. During the past 48 hours I have enjoyed the greatest feelings of success and joy at the successful rescue of a fellow competitor and then, just hours later, the crashing despair brought on by a mast failure which effectively puts me out of contention in the Velux 5 Oceans. As I write Ecover is making progress north towards South Africa, probably Cape Town, where we can make a measured assessment of what comes next.
Two days ago on the 23rd Nov the first sign of a change came with the 1020hrs position report. Over the previous 48 hours Ecover and Hugo Boss were making some of the fastest speeds of the race so far with 24hour runs around 450 miles. On Ecover we were seeing regular speeds in excess of 30 kts and our averages were around 20 kts. This is the most stressful sailing humanly possible - the speed is electrifying and the Southern Ocean is the most fearful location. Here the wind and waves have been uninterrupted by land for 15000 miles and this makes it the best place for high speed sailing but also the most terrifying for the sheer hostile and uncontrolled power exerted by the elements. But for us, huge strides were being made on Bernard Stamms lead, all indications were that within the next few days the race, the challenge for overall pole position would be firmly up for grabs. But on seeing this particular position data file, with Alex and Hugo Boss making only 8 kts to my 19 - an intuition told me that things were about to change radically.
I immediately called the race office and asked them to find out what was happening, minutes later they confirmed that there was indeed a problem on Hugo Boss though Alex had not at this time requested any assistance. I told the race office that it was my intention to slow until such time as we could confirm that Alex was indeed OK - I would not normally do this, but something here was not right and at the speeds Ecover was doing we were rapidly putting a big and difficult distance between each other, if I did need to turn around, the job of getting back was getting much harder by the minute.
I put the deep reef in the mainsail, slowing the boat measurably but still averaging over 16kts - then waited. Fifty minutes later David Adams called to tell me things had changed dramatically on Hugo Boss. The keel head had snapped, the keel was swinging uncontrolled in the boat, which was now taking in water - it was just a matter on time before the situation turned from a dangerous one into an potentially fatal one. Alex was now asking for assistance and Ecover was the closest to render it.
I put the phone down, looked at the B&G which was showing that the wind was 42kts, I climbed into the cockpit just as we screamed off huge wave at 25kts and I set about rigging the boat with storm sails to turn around. Twenty minutes later Ecover was crashing through freezing waves at 9 kts on the reciprocal heading - Alex was 90 miles away and we had 5 hours before darkness set in.
Ecover did not enjoy this massive change of direction, the Fleet 77 sat com packed up immediately, next the engine got up to its tricks agin and with the batteries now desperately needing a charge, I was once more buried in the engine bay, covered in diesel as the boat lurched and crashed back wher we had just come to the west. This time I had to fix the problem in a fully reliable manner, the engine would be needed to manoeuvre to get Alex on board and had to be 100% reliable. I ditched all advice, and rigged a jerry can filled with diesel as a gravity feed direct to the HP pump on the engine skipping the fuel pump and secondary filter. The engine ran - and it now ran reliably - at last I could concentrate on preparing the boat and myself for the job of collecting Alex safely.
The wind moderated and headed me as I closed the distance, the sea state did not, if anything the waves got steeper and it became harder and harder to make progress and eventually I ended up with full sail as the ridge passed then began reefing again as the breeze built back to 25kts. We were still not going to quite make the rendezvous in daylight but with accurate and regular information coming through Gringo from the Race Office we moved ever closer together. In the final few miles Alex and I conferred over satphone and radio to make last small navigational adjustments.
Finally out of the blackest night imaginable, a flare shot into the air, in the glow cast down from the scudding low cloud I could see Hugo Boss's mast and was able to pickup his masthead strobe light and finally his deck level nav lights. A transfer was absolutely too dangerous during the night, if during the transfer I lost sight of him, even for a moment - he would be gone. I dropped sail and tried to match his drifting course and speed, Alex slept, I fretted and tinkered with my engine, tested the controls, gathered my rescue kit, coiling down throw lines into buckets and in the end playing Solitaire on the PC - I was nervous about the transfer. At some point, it was clear that Alex may well end up in the water and in 5C temperatures there would be no time for a screw up.
Sunrise was at 0259GMT, I called and woke Alex. we both ate some food and generally got our acts together before he rigged in his survival suit and set himself up for me to come close. The plan was that he would inflate his raft on his leeward side, throw some supplies in and jump in. He would then send a line across to me with his rocket line thrower before letting himself adrift from Hugo Boss. A good basic plan which meant he would never be unattached.
I manuovered Ecover under engine, the controls were stiff - being unused for three weeks but otherwise all seemed OK. I experimented to see if I could drive the bows through the wind and wave - nope - she would no go, I gunned the engine and - Bang!!! - the shear pin between the engine and drive leg failed - now I had a reliable engine but with no ability to drive the propeller. I called Alex and just stopped him from jumping into the raft. Then I did possibly the quickest sheer pin change in history, even reducing the chance of a further failure by pushing the broken piece of pin into the slot and taping to give the whole thing twice the strength. Then we began again
The first part went OK, he was in the raft and in fact he let a painter out so that he was 50 ft behind his boat, I positioned myself to leeward of both the raft and Hugo Boss bringing the boats together would be a full on disaster in the steep waves. He aimed the rocket thrower, I ducked - it looked like he was aiming at me! - but nothing, the rocket line did not work. I grabbed my first pre coiled down line and ran to the rail and did possibility the worst line throw imaginable. I turned and went around again.
This time it looked better I got a line to him but - the throttle/gear control now would not work and I could not kill my speed or control the gearbox for ahead or astern. We dropped the line and I pulled some sail out to make another pass. By now he had dropped his line to Hugo Boss, he could see the danger we would be in if the boat came together and realised that I needed some room to manoeuvre around him without getting any lines in the prop. Hugo Boss slowly headed away to the South looking low in the water but otherwise perfect - a deeply sad sight.
Then I unfurled some headsail and we had another go. This time I got a line on him and he secured the raft but in the process the bows blew down and Ecover began to sail too fast, a big wave started us on a surf. Alex clung on desperately, injuring his hand in the process, he yelled in pain and fright as the raft was being towed at 5/6kts with the rope twisted around his hand. Looking for all the world like a doughnut skier, Alex moving his weight to the backof the raft but the raft still flooded with water - we dropped the line and round I went again.
Perhaps the most bizarre image - which will stay with me - is the sight of Alex alone in his raft, Hugo Boss now a quarter mile away, and in the steep seas the world's largest albatross sitting in the water just feet from Alex - this could have been almost funny - but to me it began to look like a vulture moving in for the kill - this was just not happening....
This time I took off most of the sail and used the engine which was now stuck permanently in 'ahead', leaping below to adjust the throttle setting under the sink and in the very last moment killing the engine completely with the kill switch in the Nav station. But this time the approach was near perfect, the raft arrived on my bows, bounced down the hull, I virtually passed Alex the line which he made fast, I killed the engine and winched him back into the leeward side - we had him!
We hugged as I welcomed him aboard, I apologised for my shabby pickup - " I probably would have failed my Yachtmasters on that one" I said - but we had him - and oh what a fantastic feeling!!!.
We took a couple of photos grabbed his luggage out of the raft - we are not going to starve - and chatted and then chatted some more. The relief from both of us was tangible. As we talked Hugo Boss now a mile away disappeared from view, the boat was taking in water and this morning (25th) we hear that the Sat C stopped transmitting - Hugo Boss has gone forever.
Slowly we set about getting Alex sorted, I cut away his glove and we cleaned and dressed his hand injury which is painful but not too serious. He climbed out of his survival suit, we tidied up, drank some coffee then some more. Then we slowly set about getting moving. I unrolled some headsail, and hoisted some mainsail, aiming the boat back towards Fremantle. Over the next two hours we cruised, talked, drank lots of tea and coffee - in 24 hours we had both been through the mill and back, Alex was and is clearly deeply upset by the loss of his boat - but he was now safe.
I was not about to immediately charge back into the race full throttle - we had enough adrenaline in the past 24 hours to last us a good time yet and the race seemed distant and somewhat less important than what we had just done. Alex was safe.
Six hours after the transfer, Ecover was moving well again, the wind had built to match our reduced sailplan and we were seeing speeds of 15 - 20 knots. Still conditions were such that the boat was very much in control - I loaded the aft ballast and moments later a squall hit us from astern. The wind jumped up from 25kts and sleet and snow accompanied a truly icy blast from Antarctica. The boat healed over to 20 degrees or so as altered the pilot to come down 10, released the vang (which had no load), and moved towards the mainsheet to take the pressure off the boat. Nothing here was unusual in these boats but as I did so my second intuition in 24 hours made me look up the rig - as I did so - the mast tube exploded 1.5m above the main spreader, shards of carbons of carbon scattered and a terrible grinding bang followed. The mast had broken and my competitive Velux 5 Oceans race was over.
We were blown away, in shock, call it what you will, we could not believe all that had just gone down - it was just too bizarre. Instead of rushing headlong into this new development - we ate the meal we had been preparing, rigged to work on deck and set about 12 crushing hours of cutting away the broken sections of Ecovers beautiful mast and setting the boat up to continue sailing. This was mind numbingly hard and disappointing. For me the competitive race is over, for Alex there is the loss of his boat a totally misplaced feeling of guilt. But the work to make the boat safe and sailable remained. Alex volunteered to go aloft and spent a treacherous hour dangling with 20ft of mast crashing around him. More squalls, more snow and an icy deck made working hugely difficult and dangerous. But working together, we achieved what would have ironically been completely impossible alone and as dark descended on an extraordinary 48 hours I hoisted the staysail and we altered our course once more away from Freementle to the North and South Africa.
45 foot of our mast remains in place, the 2 broken upper sections are lashed on deck. We only lost the Code Eco sail and even the mainsail which was at the first reef is undamaged. Everything about this is bizarre. We have stabilised the situation, we are in full control and we are making fair progress north which will improve once we have attached the main and hoisted it to the third reef point. The weather is now foul, 35/40 kts of wind and these icy squalls which have given both of us the first stages of frostbite in our fingers from our labours on deck. We are resting, eating, sleeping and chatting about the future, right now we have few concerns other that the immediate ones.
As for the cause of the failure, we know some facts. No element of the rigging or its attachments to the mast or boat failed. Nothing in our teams preparation of the boat was responsible. We know this because we have all the evidence here - nothing was broken except the tube. The conditions at the time of failure were incomparably small when compared to the loads which were being excerted just 24 hours before when we were clocking of huge milages and sailing on the brink of control. The failure was therefore most likley there in the carbon tube before I collected Alex. It could have happened anywhere, during the first brutal gale in Biscay, in a squall in the Doldrums or when we turned upwind to come get Alex - we won't ever know for sure.
One thing I am sure of right now, we may have lost an expensive mast, we may also have lost our place in this race, but I would not trade any of it for what we have gained in getting Alex off Hugo Boss - right now we might all be looking at a far more tragic outcome than a lump of broken carbon mast.
As for our future in this race, well Gringo and the team are exploring all the possibilities, we have a mast in Southampton, it is possible to ship it but this would take time, we could fly it but this is prohibitivly expensive. For now I think we need to concentrate our thoughs and efforts on getting safely to shore, only then can we make a proper valued judgment on what sensibly comes next.
Even from here in the wastes of the Soutern Ocean we are both touched by the huge outflowing of support and positive wishes we have recieved from all around the world - these are not easy times and we fully appreaciate all the sentiments.
However, when we do get to wherever we choose to go in South Africa - they had better watch out - cause two Angry Bulls are coming to town and its going to get very messy!"
December 3rd, News release from Alex's webpage
CAPE TOWN FINALLY!!
 |
HUGO BOSS is sadly no longer
One week after their dramatic ordeal in the Southern Ocean, British solo skippers, Alex Thomson (GBR) and Mike Golding (GBR), finally arrived into Cape Town (South Africa). ECOVER docked around 18.30 GMT on 1 December with two very exhausted, very relieved sailors onboard. The start of the VELUX 5 Oceans yacht race in Spain and the horrific storms of the first night, 41 days ago, now seem but a distant memory. It is time for Golding make a decision about ECOVER’s future in the VELUX 5 Oceans, whilst Thomson must come to terms with all that has happened and start to rebuild his life.
Nine days have now passed since Thomson, 32, suffered severe keel failure whilst in a close third place in the VELUX 5 Oceans. Forced to make the crushing decision to abandon his beloved HUGO BOSS, he took to a life raft and was rescued heroically by fellow sailor Mike Golding, who subsequently suffered a broken mast. Thrown into a very unusual situation together, the two solo sailors have undoubtedly formed a special bond. Having battled 1000 nautical miles to South Africa under vastly reduced sail, they could not have been happier to set foot on dry land.
“Mike has been absolutely brilliant and I am hugely grateful to him for everything he has done,” said Thomson on arrival in Cape Town. “We were both looking forward to a few beers last night and it was great to sink my teeth into a cheeseburger after six weeks of freeze-dried food. It has been a long week with an awful lot to take in and I am looking forward to starting a normal life again. I need to come to terms with the fact that life is not what it was. There is a lot to sort out when I come home and I need to switch my focus to my future.”
The two skippers were enjoying some of the most extraordinary and exhilarating sailing of the race when disaster struck and neither has been put off by last week’s events. A very pragmatic Golding commented: “It hasn’t worked out the way we planned it, but all of that is put into perspective. HUGO BOSS is gone and Alex is not. To some extent maybe that is the reason I was here. If that is the only reason I was in this race then that is good enough for me. I am very proud of what I did. Do I feel like a hero? No, Alex would have done the same for me. I know that with single-handed sailors, or indeed sailors – anyone who puts to sea – there is a mutual bond.”
“There will be a different relationship between us now. There is no onus on him or me for that to be so. Very early on I said to Alex: ‘You are not a passenger and you are not crew. Do what you feel comfortable with. Treat everything on board as if it were your own.”
With regard to Thomson’s huge loss, Golding said: “He is very disappointed to lose HUGO BOSS, much more than I think he is freely prepared to admit. To damage a boat badly is hard for a skipper, but to lose one is devastating. It is like losing a member of the family.”
Thomson and Golding will fly back to the UK together, where Thomson must put the VELUX 5 Oceans behind him and look to his future. His ultimate dream still stands; to be the first British sailor to win the Vendée Globe in 2008. He has a new yacht currently under construction, aboard which he will compete in the double-handed Barcelona World Race next year in the lead up to the Vendée Globe.
