You feel isolated, there’s nobody to rescue you... in the dark it’s much worse
SEVENTY-THREE days ago, Alex Thomson, 42, set off on his quest to conquer the ‘Everest of Sailing’, the Vendee Globe, the only non-stop, solo round-theworld race. Tomorrow, he could become the first non-Frenchman to win the world’s toughest race
HIS UNWASHED body is wasting away after more than two months of not being able to walk in a straight line for more than 30 feet. Even using the toilet can mean risking his life. His mind is exhausted, having not slept for more than 45 minutes at any one time since he left France in early November. He is plagued by dreams and exhaustion just when he needs absolute clarity. “I have been dreaming that I’m not alone,” says Alex Thompson, who stands on the brink of history with just over a day’s sailing to go. “The wind alarm goes off and I imagine someone is there to see to the mainsail; my brother or my mate Josh. And then I suddenly realise I’m alone. “It would be nice to have someone to talk to.” Thomson has not spoken face to face with another human being since November 6, when the fleet left Les Sables d’Olonne, the seaside town of western France. His only contact with the world is by satellite phone.
“It’s difficult to sleep with huge squalls making the boat accelerate and decelerate so quickly,” he says. “The boat is flying down waves at 30knots [35mph] and then comes to a complete standstill and you get smashed into the bulkhead.
“It’s extremely wet, dreadfully uncomfortable and extremely bumpy. You’re being thrown around the boat all the time and water is rushing over the deck. It’s difficult to move around, difficult to eat. To go to the toilet [he pees over the edge and poos in a pot] is to risk your life.
“You feel pretty isolated. You are miles from land and the only things near you are birds. In the dark it’s always much worse. Your mind starts to wander, ‘What if the structure fails or we hit something?’ In the middle of the night there are a lot of brown trouser moments.”
On top of all this his boat is broken too, crippled by a collision two weeks into the race that came close to ending it. But Thomson’s spirit is unbreakable.
With hours remaining in arguably the world’s toughest battle, he has hunted down pre-race favourite and long-time leader Armel Le Cleac’h and one last, tricky turn in the English Channel and a final drag race to the finish line off the French coast stands between him and glory.
To top the podium would be almost beyond belief having faced a trial that tested his very soul.
Having taken the lead after six days at sea, he smashed the record to the Equator by a day – but then the race turned on him. A collision with an unidentified object tore off his starboard foil; his team estimate the damage has reduced his optimum speed by as much as 30 per cent.
Yet he still broke another record with the fastest run to the Cape of Good Hope – this time
by five days. But Thomson was tested further.
Before he reached Cape Horn and could turn Hugo Boss up the Atlantic towards home, he had to deal with communication problems that interrupted both the downloading of weather reports and – just as important – contact with his wife Kate and their children: six-year-old Oscar and Georgia, two.
Then, just before Christmas, came another lucky escape. Almost 12 months previously, Thomson had to be airlifted off Hugo Boss when she capsized after being hit by a massive wave in the Bay of Biscay. It felt like a rerun.
“I was sleeping quite deeply and I was woken up by the sound of the boat getting hit sideways by a big wave and we heeled over. My mind was telling me we were going over. I was hanging on to my bunk expecting it – but then she righted herself,” he says.
Rounding Cape Horn on Christmas Day felt like the best present and, in spite of problems with his wind instruments, he began to hunt down Le Cleac’h, reducing a lead that once stood at 900 miles to about 70, including yet another record, this time for the furthest distance sailed solo in 24 hours.
Now, his lifelong dream feels within his grasp. “The hardest thing has been to sail a boat so handicapped, to stay positive and work out how to sail her fast,” he said. “But I feel blessed. And can I win it? Absolutely.”
It’s difficult to move around, difficult to eat. To go to the toilet is to risk your life