With unsparing candour, the Brit takes the viewer on a video tour of the foredeck. He shows the central stringer, or "longitudinal", which is completely broken in four places and absorbs the longitudinal forces in this area. He does not explain how the damage occurred, but shows exactly where the breakage occurred and you can already see metal and carbon tube supports, which Thomson has obviously already pulled in to prevent the failure from progressing any further.
Thomson shows its structural damage in the bow
He now wants to continue with the repair, apparently laminating over the broken areas. "It could take another day, but luckily I'm not in the Southern Ocean yet; it's quite calm here on the St Helena High," he comments. He is "super positive" that the repair is working and the designers are confident that the boat will be fully resilient again afterwards.
He is now working with a headlamp in the black carbon fibre cave, where it is very hot, stuffy and humid given the latitude at which he is sailing. In a second video, Thomson can be seen on deck marking out and cutting a whole pile of carbon fibre sheets and strips to be laminated below deck later. In one shot, he takes us through the foredeck, showing the already sanded stringers that he plans to laminate over soon. "I'll do most of it at night, it's too hot down here during the day!"
Meanwhile, the chasing group around Boris Herrmann is gradually passing the "Hugo Boss", which is now in 7th place, but could soon drop back to 10th place. He is now 470 miles behind the leading duo, who fortunately for Thomson are not making huge strides in the light wind. It is to be hoped that the likeable Brit succeeds in repairing the situation and does not have to bury his dream of winning at the fifth attempt.
Progress on board the Hugo Boss
