Alex Thomson on the Vendee Globe

Commiserations to Yann Elies from the Hugo Boss skipper

In the lead up to Christmas it’s been a really rough week in the Vendee Globe. We have seen two leaders have to slow or retire with serious damage and Yann Ellies has a broken leg from being was washed down the foredeck. To be seriously injured at sea is a solo skippers nightmare and all of the fleet will be mentally affected by this horrific accident. After Yann broke his leg, he managed to crawl back to the cockpit and raise the alarm. He is currently waiting for a Australian navy frigate while Mark Guillmout onboard Safran stands by. I hope they reach him soon and can get him quickly and safely out of his predicament.

Earlier in the week, the race leader, JP Dick collided with a UFO damaging his rudder and assembly forcing him to sail of course and put himself in a position to be able to fix the problem. In doing so he has sailed well off track and allowed Mike Golding to take his place at the front of the lead group which was thinning out. Mike had been sailing a blinding race and was rewarded by first place, a position he held for three hours before his mast came tumbling down. The Vendee Globe is a harsh game sometimes and Mike did not deserve this, but that's the way it goes sometimes and when I spoke to Mike a few days ago he was very pragmatic about it. The whole mast had gone over the side but Mike managed to save his boom and was aiming to make it to Perth where Ecover can be shipped home.

I really feel for Mike who had been sailing brilliantly, not pushing too hard but always fast and always sounded in good spirits and not too tired. I, for one, felt this could be his time, before fate dealt another cruel blow.

After Mike lost his mast, the door was left open for Michel Desjoyeaux who has sailed an unbelievable race onboard Foncia. Starting two days and over 600nm behind the leader Michel has had the after burners on and day by day he has fought for a place in the lead group and now the lead. It is difficult to see where the challenge to him will come from without any damage that will impede his progress. The lead group has changed significantly with Michel at the front and Bilou on Veolia in second only 30Nm miles further back. Seb Josse and Jean Le Cam are 130Nm and 150Nm off the lead and are beginning to be stretched out.

Sam Davis on Roxy is now the leading British skipper having broken into the top 10 and is heading east towards Generali in case she can be of assistance to Yann Ellies. Sam has had a tough time too and yesterday was shifting some gear around under the cockpit of her boat when she was knocked unconscious for a few minutes. Coming round and finding yourself under the cockpit of your boat while it is surfing at 25 knots down Southern Ocean waves can't have been a pleasant experience. Sam is doing an amazing job in this race, sailing a 10 year old boat and competing with boats a decade younger. Brian Thompson is only a 150Nm further back and is having a great personal battle with Sam. Brian has been struggling to control the boat with his autopilot, another very scary situation for a Vendee skipper! I managed to speak to Dee Caffari in the week and she is now up to 12th position on the track. Herself and Aviva had to battle though 50+ knots of wind earlier in the week and trying not to go too fast and break something. Dee looked and sounded great despite having sailed through a near hurricane and obviously very tired. Aviva is performing well and Dee has maintained a very steady conscious all the time that something could break.

Its been a tough week for all the racers in the Vendee Globe but none as tough as for Yann Ellies on board Generali. My thoughts are certainly with him.