Annoying breakage on "Hugo Boss": During a training mission in the Solent last weekend, the new port foil of the black Imoca 60 broke in shallow water in 20 knots of wind and 26 to 28 knots of boat speed. Thompson heard a loud bang. The foil broke at a point where he had just looked out of the boat. The conditions were "quite normal" for his boat, explains the "boss", who will now have to fall back on the first generation foils for the coming period and probably also for the upcoming Vendée Globe.
"We didn't make any huge technical leaps with the new foils and will now analyse exactly what caused the compact carbon fibre part to break. There must have been a fault somewhere in the design or manufacture. It was certainly not a user error," says Thomson. He is not happy that he now has to sail with the "old" foils again. "It's not exactly the best in the world, but one thing is for sure - they are reliable! They have completed 10,000 nautical miles and we are absolutely convinced that they are strong enough for the job."
The boat might be at a slight disadvantage in some conditions with the Generation 1 foils, but that is not the end of the world. Thomson recalled the most important prerequisite for success in sailing marathons such as the non-stop single-handed Vendée Globe: "If you want to be first, you have to get there first. And this(he pats the older foil and smiles) should get us to the finish line."
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
