Alex Thomson has been fighting for this moment for ten years: on Wednesday morning, the Brit and his "Hugo Boss" crossed the finish line of the seventh edition of the Vendée Globe at 8.35 am in third place. For the former factory worker, who then made his way in the world of solo sailors, the triumph is doubly sweet: after breaking his stride in 2004 and 2008, he has finally reached the finish line and at the same time proved those critics wrong who, due to his conspicuous "Hugo Boss" sponsorship, liked to categorise him as a good "marketing gig", but not in the top league of single-handed sailors. These voices should now fall silent.
The fact that the 38-year-old from Titchfield made it onto the podium after a very good performance emphasises the Englishman's willpower. Once again, tens of thousands of fans flocked to the harbour of Les Sables d'Olonne, even on an ordinary weekday, to celebrate the returning hero, who beamed like a winner, never tired of waving, waving the British Union Jack euphorically, celebrating his success with a red beacon and finally raising his clenched fist to the sky.
"I couldn't believe I'd finally done it until I crossed the finish line," said Thomson, "it feels like a good job. After ten years, I've finally done it." Among the first well-wishers were Thomson's mentor Sir Keith Mills and his conquerors François Gabart and Armel Le Cléac'h. As of today, Thomson holds the record for the fastest single-handed circumnavigation of the world by a Briton. Thomson has beaten the former record of his compatriot Mike Golding, who is currently in sixth place, by almost eight days. In the Vendée Globe's all-time best list, only Ellen MacArthur has achieved a better British result with second place in 2001. Mike Golding also came third in 2005. However, the Brits will have to wait a while longer for an English victory in this classic race - Thomson was not quite able to crack the magic 80-day mark. His race around the globe took him 80 days, 19 hours, 23 minutes and 43 seconds at an average speed of 12.6 knots.
Thomson's pursuer Jean-Pierre Dick, who held third place for a long time during the race before losing his keel after the passage of Cape Horn and has since been navigating his "Virbac Paprec 3" "bottomless" like a boat tamer through the Atlantic to Les Sables d'Olonne at an astonishing speed, seems to be able to hold on to his fourth place. On Wednesday morning, Dick still had 420 nautical miles to go to the finish harbour. The lead over Jean Le Cam's "SynerCiel" in fifth place was around 1425 nautical miles.
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
