Thomson counts cost of South Atlantic yachting collision
Vendee Globe leader Alex Thomson was on Sunday counting the cost of his boat's collision with an unidentified object in the south Atlantic. The accident on Saturday when Thomson's boat struck a submerged object has damaged the Welsh sailor's Hugo Boss yacht, shearing off a metal foil which has allowed his nearest pursuers to gain ground. Thomson has been forced to slow down, with his 125 nautical mile lead whittled down to 90 miles by Sebastien Josse, with Armel Le Cleac'h a close up third. Thomson is hoping to be able to stay in front of his chasers until the Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of South Africa when he can tack and start using his other foil. Until then he will just have to make do, the 42-year-old who finished third in 2012/13 said. "There's still a bit of the foil there, sticking out and slowing me down, but I can't do anything about that,” he said. "At some point I'm going to have to go over the side and cut it off." Thomson is one of seven skippers using the 'Dali moustache' lifting foils. The device helps lift the boats above the water in a dragster effect, the idea being to lighten the vessel and increase speed. Despite making inroads, Le Cléac'h, runner up in the last two editions of the solo round the world odyssey, said he would have to wait for calmer seas to take full advantage of Thomson's misfortune. "The sea state is worsening and with the foils we're not necessarily faster," the Banque Populaire VIII skipper said. "We're going to have to wait for smoother seas to make the most of these appendages. "I'm gradually gaining ground on Alex Thomson, but we need to look after the boat for the rest of the race." Thomson's accident robbed him of the new world record for the furthest distance sailed solo in 24 hours. In the 24 hours up to the accident the British sailor had covered 535.34 miles to beat the previous record set by Francois Gabart in the 2012/13 edition of 534.48 miles. But organisers refused to recognise his achievement. To be an official new benchmark he had to have beaten the previous best by one entire mile - Thomson fell short by a mere 259 metres. Vendee Globe standings at 1800 GMT 1. Alex Thomson (GBR/Hugo Boss) at 19,341.8 nautical miles from the finish 2. Armel Le Cléac'h (FRA/Banque Populaire VIII) at 86.6 miles from the leader 3. Sébastien Josse (FRA/Edmond de Rothschild) at 89.6 4. Vincent Riou (FRA/PRB) 157.4 5. Morgan Lagravière (FRA/Safran) 182 6. Paul Meilhat (FRA/SMA) 222.6 7. Jérémie Beyou (FRA/Maître Coq) 313.1 8. Yann Eliès (FRA/Quéguiner-Leucémie Espoir) 703.6 9. Jean-Pierre Dick (FRA/StMichel-Virbac) 868.3 10. Jean Le Cam (FRA/Finistère Mer Vent) 874.6 Selected 17. Conrad Coleman (USA-AUS/Foresight Natural Energy) 1548.21 18. Kojiro Shiraishi (JPN/Spirit of Yukoh) 1568.8 20. Rich Wilson (USA/Great American IV) 1701.1 25. Enda O'Coineen (IRL/Kilcullen Voyager) 2083.89
