Hugo Boss to be repaired

Immense task ahead to get Alex Thomson's Open 60 to the Vendee Globe start line

The team from Alex Thomson Racing have been working around the clock since their Open 60 was collided into by a French fishing vessel in the early hours of Friday morning. The full technical team from Alex Thomson Racing have been drafted in to help get Alex and Hugo Boss to the start line. In addition to this, Sir Keith Mills (Chairman of Alex Thomson Racing) has brought in support staff from Team Origin in the form of Team Director Mike Sanderson, Shore Operations Director David Duff and others to assist Alex in making the start line a reality.

The damage that Hugo Boss suffered through the collision was severe. The mast, which came down during the incident was broken five metres from the deck, but luckily it was recovered on Friday evening. David Barnaby from Southern Spars has been on site and the mast has been deemed repairable. All the sails were recovered and remarkably were undamaged, including the mainsail. They have been sent to North Sails France to be serviced.

Hugo Boss was hit just forward of the mast bulkhead, which doubles as the forward structural bulkhead for the keel box. This took the brunt of the impact. If the boat had been hit two metres further aft or forward of this point, the boat would have been cut in half and there would have been a serious threat to the crew on board. Both structural keel bulkheads are damaged, which are difficult to repair. The size of the damage in the side of Hugo Boss hull is 5 x 2m (roughly a third of the length of the boat). French Vendée Globe skipper Yann Eliès and his team have kindly offered the mould from Hugo Boss' sistership Generali. The boats are fairly similar and the team plan to make a new section of the hull from the mould and fit it to Hugo Boss.

The team have been working alongside Pascal Conq the designer at Finot Conq, structural engineer Dr Paolo Manganelli from SP, and Multiplast in Vannes to decide the best way to repair the extensive damage. The team have also brought in specialists in ultrasound to assess the structural damage. The priority right now is to find a solution that allows a strong repair but also a fast one. This will be a difficult to balance, but crucial to the team’s goal of making the start line on 9 November.

Hugo Boss was lifted out of the water into the commercial dock in Les Sables d’Olonne on Saturday and the keel removed. The boat was moved from the commercial dock to a local boat yard in Les Sables d’Olonne owned by Alliaura Marine this afternoon. A team of 25 will now begin work on the damage to the hull and deck; the repairs to the mast have already begun.

Alex Thomson and his team have been preparing for this Vendée Globe for the last four years. There are less than 19 days remaining until the start of the race, so the task is huge.

“We have been briefed by Alex and the team in France regarding the damage to the boat. Hugo Boss is committed to support Alex Thomson Racing and the team through this difficult and challenging time. We will do whatever we can to assist Alex to get to the start line on 9 November,” commented Till Pohlmann, Hugo Boss' Head of Sports Sponsorship.

Alex Thomson added: “We have an incredibly dedicated team that are on site who are determined to make sure I am on the start line. I cannot explain the devastation the team and I felt on Friday and it has been a tense few days as we work out how we can fix the issue at hand. The support we have received from the local community, the race organisers, other teams, my sponsors and from back home in the UK has been overwhelming. I would particularly like to thank Lisa Radineau from Alliaura Marine as without their offer of yard space the task would be impossible. We think that this is an achievable task, but we cannot do this without everyone’s continued support. The focus for the team is no longer just winning the race but getting to the start line. That will be a huge achievement in itself."