Vendée Globe: "Hugo Boss" with technical problems

The defect was a chain of unfortunate circumstances, as skipper Thomson explains: "My batteries were pretty flat, so I folded down the hydrogenerator at the stern to charge them. I was travelling at about 18 knots at the time and suddenly heard a strange noise. I could see from the companionway that the hydrogenerator was vibrating quite a lot and it was getting worse. I was just about to bring it up to prevent it from breaking, when that's exactly what happened. It flew through the air and smashed the starboard rudder bar that connects the twin rudder system. As the rudder was no longer connected to the tiller, it was immediately clear that I was going to take a sun shot. That's what happened, but I was able to right the boat relatively quickly, furl the gennaker and get back on course with the other rudder in the water."

But then the real work began: "I had to repair the pole as we don't have a replacement on board. It's a carbon tube about three metres long. Cliff Nicholson, our composite specialist, came up with a plan on how I could patch it up with carbon strips. First I had to cut away the remnants, which is not a nice job because everything would be covered in carbon dust. But I managed it, and the boat continued travelling at 19 knots. The repair took around seven hours, it didn't turn out very pretty, but it should hold!"

In fact, Thomson has hardly lost any ground with his "Hugo Boss", is still sailing in 6th place and is currently even logging the highest speeds in the entire field. However, it is not entirely clear what effect the damaged hydrogenerator will have. According to initial information from Thomson, it is important in order to supply the boat with enough power in the long term. It is currently unclear whether a repair is possible or whether it will be able to manage without the generator. The generators are now a central part of the power supply on board, as they allow much less diesel to be carried and thus save weight. As soon as the boats sail for days under thick clouds in the Southern Ocean, the power supply from the solar panels is usually lost. So things could get tight for the Brit.

Undeterred by this, the front of the peloton continues southwards and will soon reach the Doldrums. Frenchman Armel Le Cléac'h ("Banque Populaire") is still in the lead ahead of François Gabart ("Macif") and Jean-Pierre Dick ("Paprec-Virbac 3").