Virtually the full range of emotions were starkly evident on the Transat Jacques Vabre race track today as the leading trio fast approach the half way mark for the IMOCA Open 60 fleet on their 4370 miles course from Le Havre to Porto Limon, Costa Rica.
As under-pressure leaders Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier on Safran bent to the task of holding off the rapidly advancing, Kito de Pavant and Francois Gabart, their smiling, chilled rivals on identical design sistership, the laughing cow' logo'd Groupe Bel, back on eighth placed Aviva Britain's Dee Caffari declared herself one 'happy bunny' as she and Brian Thompson hit the trade-winds conveyor belt, into the warmth , the sunshine and brisker winds, for some fast, champagne sailing and a chance to unwrap herself from the layers of warm, waterproof clothing she has had on for the best part of week,
But for Alex Thomson, once again it is the unfortunately familiar welling up of bitter disappointment to deal with, as he and co-skipper Ross Daniel are forced to head for the Azores, limping north with Hugo Boss taking on water after they hit something at high speed yesterday afternoon. After a night at slow speed trying to keep the damaged area, an indentation of about 30 cms, Thomson and Daniel's race is over, all too soon.
If the anger and frustration feels like dejà vu after having to pull out of last year's Vendee Globe with structural damage sustained in the first big storm, less than 36 hours into the race, Thomson's shred of consolation this time is that he had done a good job through the worst storm and had earned a strong position with Hugo Boss. But this afternoon that was a bitter pill to swallow. He had certainly achieved the objective of giving former boat captain Ross Daniel a first hand insight into the rigours of ocean racing on the Open 60 with a view to maximising gear reliability for future endeavours.
When Daniel went forwards after striking an object with a thud during yesterday afternoon he found four tonnes of water in the watertight compartment.
As under-pressure leaders Marc Guillemot and Charles Caudrelier on Safran bent to the task of holding off the rapidly advancing, Kito de Pavant and Francois Gabart, their smiling, chilled rivals on identical design sistership, the laughing cow' logo'd Groupe Bel, back on eighth placed Aviva Britain's Dee Caffari declared herself one 'happy bunny' as she and Brian Thompson hit the trade-winds conveyor belt, into the warmth , the sunshine and brisker winds, for some fast, champagne sailing and a chance to unwrap herself from the layers of warm, waterproof clothing she has had on for the best part of week,
But for Alex Thomson, once again it is the unfortunately familiar welling up of bitter disappointment to deal with, as he and co-skipper Ross Daniel are forced to head for the Azores, limping north with Hugo Boss taking on water after they hit something at high speed yesterday afternoon. After a night at slow speed trying to keep the damaged area, an indentation of about 30 cms, Thomson and Daniel's race is over, all too soon.
If the anger and frustration feels like dejà vu after having to pull out of last year's Vendee Globe with structural damage sustained in the first big storm, less than 36 hours into the race, Thomson's shred of consolation this time is that he had done a good job through the worst storm and had earned a strong position with Hugo Boss. But this afternoon that was a bitter pill to swallow. He had certainly achieved the objective of giving former boat captain Ross Daniel a first hand insight into the rigours of ocean racing on the Open 60 with a view to maximising gear reliability for future endeavours.
When Daniel went forwards after striking an object with a thud during yesterday afternoon he found four tonnes of water in the watertight compartment.
