Disaster for Thomson

Hugo Boss suffers damage to deck in Southern Ocean storm

On the morning of 2 December, Alex Thomson’s Open 60, Hugo Boss sustained damage to the gooseneck, approximately 1,000 nautical miles southwest of the Cape of Good Hope. Over the last 36 hours, the wind had increased to 45 knots (force 9), with gusts of 50 knots (force 10), and the seas were turbulent.

The supporting carbon structure for Alex’s gooseneck sheared off at deck level. The result of this is that there is a hole in his deck approximately 1sqft, and his boom is unsupported, meaning that he cannot use his mainsail. At present, it is unclear how this happened. Having dropped the mainsail, Alex will now start to make a full assessment of the scale of the damage. Alex will make every effort to attempt to repair it and stay within the race, however this is critical structural concern, and any major repairs may only be able to be done in warmer temperatures. Alex is therefore heading towards the warmer climes and shelter of South Africa.

Alex is safe and well, and the AT Racing shore team is in regular contact with him. An assessment of the damage is currently underway and this should be completed within the next few hours.

It should be noted that unlike conventional boats Open 60s have deck stepped mast and the boom instead of attaching to the back of the mast via the gooseneck is attached to the deck. The reason for this is two fold - it angles the aft end of boom up to prevent it swiping the skipper off the boat and it also keeps the integrity of the boom intact in the event of the boat dismasting. Unfortunately in this bizarre incident having the boom attached to the deck has caused a structural failure in the deck.

Watch this space for more when we hear it...