Hugo Boss back in for repairs after keel loss
Alex Thomson was forced to cut away the keel of his brand new Hugo Boss in the middle of the Atlantic in November following a collision with an unidentified submerged object during the Transat Jacques Vabre Race.
Thomson, who was competing in the double-handed transatlantic with highly experienced ocean racer Neal Mcdonald, reported that Hugo Boss hit a solid object while they were travelling at 25 knots.
“We came to a complete standstill. It was a pretty terrifying experience,” he explained on a video sent from the boat. “At those kinds of speeds it’s like being in a car crash or hitting a brick wall at 30mph.”
Neither Thomson nor Mcdonald was injured in the incident, although the keel was so critically damaged that it was hanging from the hydraulic ram of the canting mechanism.
After attempting to stabilise the keel with lines, Thomson and Mcdonald were eventually forced to cut the keel free using an angle grinder to prevent it causing further damage to the hull.
The duo then sailed the boat 800 miles to Mindelo in the Cape Verde islands using water ballast only for stability. Thomson’s team had calculated that the boat would capsize if it heeled to 30°, and it was a slow and stressful five-day sail through squally conditions.
“We physically couldn’t steer the boat, we were just slipping sideways until we got a little bit of wind, heeled over slightly and put the foil in, we couldn’t steer at all,” explained Mcdonald.
Thomson’s team would not comment on the cause of the keel problem. A spokesman said: “We will NDT [nondestructive test] it, assess the damage and begin repair work.”
Hugo Boss is currently on a delivery ship back to the UK, where the keel and hull will be repaired; the foils were undamaged in the incident. Thomson was one of the last skippers to launch his IMOCA 60 this autumn for the next Vendée Globe in November, and the repairs will eat into precious training time.
But don’t count him out: four years ago he had to abandon his previous boat after a rogue wave capsized and flooded it, but his team salvaged the yacht and rebuilt it, and Thomson went on take 2nd place in the round the world race.