| Velux 5 Oceans: Alex Thomson and Hugo Boss sailing fast in the wrong direction |
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| Tuesday, 14 November 2006 | |
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Alex Thomson: It is so difficult to effectively sail away from where you are going, no matter how fast you are going. And that is what I have been doing - going fast in the wrong direction, but it is the only way I can go. I have to continue like this for another day and then hopefully I can begin to round the high pressure and start sailing east towards Fremantle. The high pressure is remaining in the same position as forecast, which means there will be no gains to be made for me. Stamm will gain as he is the only boat at the moment able to sail in the right direction, the rest of us will suffer and I suspect I could be one to suffer the most. That said, it would still have been worse for me if I had tried to cross east of the high pressure, so I am not beating myself up about it, it’s just a fact of life. Life onboard the last 24 hours has been very unpleasant. The sea swell has been very confused, and big boat speeds have had HUGO BOSS jumping all over the place, slamming into waves and being completely immersed in water. It’s not good news for the boat so I have been trying to limit the punishment where possible. It can sometimes be difficult to judge when to push hard, gauging when the boat will break versus the speeds required to make good progress. But it is never good to push to the edge in these situations, better to chill and come home in one piece! The nights now are black, making it difficult to see anything or figure which way the boat will move next, so balance is a problem and I was forced to crawl around on the boat last night. I got very little sleep and didn't get much chance to eat as I was trying to keep the boat safe and fast. I really have not enjoyed the last 24 hours and even felt very nervous at times about the punishment she was taking. Thankfully the wind has calmed down a little now, and so I am off to boil the kettle and get some fodder inside me, and then maybe finally get my head down. Alex Thomson HUGO BOSS http://www.at-racing.co.uk/racecentre/race.asp Velux 5 Oceans album |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 14 November 2006 ) |
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