Alex takes on the Everest of sailing in the Vendee race
NORTH Wales yachtsman Alex Thomson was today attempting to become the first Briton to win a lone, round-the-world race dubbed ‘The Everest of Sailing’.
The 42-year-old from Bangor set sail yesterday in the The Vendée Globe – a gruelling 26,000 mile single-handed, non-stop unassisted race around the world.
The event, which takes place every three years, will see Alex alone at sea for around three months without stopping or setting foot on dry land.
So extreme is the race, only 71 of the 138 sailors who have attempted the challenge have made it across the finishing line. Three competitors have also lost their lives along the way.
Alex competed in the event in 2012-13 – finishing in 3rd place.
He set sail yesterday from Les Sables d’Olonne, France, alongside 28 other sailors. It was his final opportunity to bid wife, Kate, son, Oscar, 5, and daughter, Georgia, 2, farewell.
Alex said before starting: “Of course, today is bitter sweet for me.
“I get to enjoy the atmosphere as thousands of people gather to wave myself and the other sailors off but I also have to say goodbye to my wife and children, which never gets easier as time goes on.”
He will compete in the race on-board his new £4.5m IMOCA 60 race boat, HUGO BOSS - a yacht which, after more than two years in the making, was unveiled at the end of 2015.
Thomson and his team have spent the past four years train- ing, preparing and developing cutting edge technologies which they believe will place them in the very best position to win the race this time around.
Alex added: “The team has worked incredibly hard to get HUGO BOSS ready and I am confident that we now have a boat which is genuinely capable of winning the race.
“The next time my wife and children see me, I hope to be crossing the finish line on board HUGO BOSS in first place.
“That would be an incredibly special moment not only for myself and my team, but for British sport as a whole.”
In 1999, Alex became the youngest skipper ever to win a round-the-world yacht race.