Pindar sets off on qualifier

Brian Thompson's Open 60 back on the water again

Following the recent installation of the new mast, Team Pindar’s Open 60 skipper, Brian Thompson took to the water again yesterday, to undertake a 4,500 mile qualifier for the Vendée Globe, which begins in November.

The transatlantic solo journey, which will take him from Falmouth much of the way to Newfoundland, requires Brian to pass the longitude of W50° and return crossing the latitude of Lands End at N52°, for at least 12 hours.

Since Brian joined Team Pindar in August 2007, the Open 60 campaign has been hampered by two dismastings and subsequent delays to the refit, forcing the team to miss the start of the Transat Jacques Vabre in November 2007 and also withdraw from the The Artemis Transat in May. This qualifier offers the chance for Brian to fulfil his dream of becoming the first British sailor to win the most coveted prize in solo sailing - the Vendée Globe.

Scores of designers, engineers, boat builders, sailmakers and fabricators from around the globe have been involved in getting the Juan Kouyoumdjian-designed, Open 60 back on the water. Speaking from Falmouth before he set out, Brian commented: “So far we have been very confident of the new mast. It’s much larger in section to the last one and it has a lot of inherent stability. In the same conditions it seems to be much stiffer. Of course it’s very early days but I feel very excited that this boat has the pace to rival any of the Open 60 fleet. Particularly upwind, she’s hugely powerful so it’s a matter of harnessing that energy efficiently. If we can be sailing at 85% of potential and matching the same speed as others at 100%, then that has to be a good thing, especially in a race like the Vendée Globe. This qualifier is a great opportunity to learn as much as I can about the boat ahead of our final preparations over the summer.”

Brian hopes to complete the voyage in less than three weeks, before returning to Gosport to make further enhancements to the boat.


See our interview with Brian Thompson here