Vendée Globe

February 16. 2009 at 12:35Highlights of Brian's press conference

You can listen to Brian's press conference by clicking here ... 

Here are some of the highlights:

It’s absolutely fantastic to be on dry land and to arrive back on such a beautiful day, and with so many family and friends and public who’ve come to welcome me back. It’s a little bit strange, but this is where the race started and les Sables is such a fantastic place and the people are so friendly and it feels like I’m back home again. The start was not the best start I’ve ever had. I was not that near the front and I had too many people on my boat 3 minutes before the start and they’re supposed to get off 4 minutes before. So there was some misunderstanding about the timing of the start. It was a very difficult start, straight into big seas from the very beginning. And you think, oh is the whole race going to be like this?

I took a penalty for the problem with the people on board and the penalty was 4 hours, but because of the place where I had to take the penalty it cost me 500 miles to where Dominique Wavre was. Interestingly perhaps it was a good thing in a strange way as I was out of the leading pack and I was then able to sail my own race. I’m still not too happy about the penalty but the leading boats were all racing each other and going faster and faster until there were only 2 left.

In the southern ocean I had a lot of repairs to do. One time I was doing repairs down below for 3 days solid, going quite slowly to make sure the boat did not move too much so that the repairs would solidify. I think I sent an email to a sponsor Andrew Pindar and said near the Kerguelen Islands I thought I could get in the top 5. I could see a lot of attrition at the front of the fleet.

There was actually one big storm before Cape Horn, then I thought Cape Horn would be the deliverance to better weather, but actually the biggest storm of the race was after Cape Horn. This storm was so bad that the race committee looked at the weather with Météo France, and called me and said Brian I think you should turn around and hide behind Staten Island, and that shows how great the race committee is and how they take care of us. Because at that point I didn’t have a lot of weather information, so maybe their actions saved my life

In the South Atlantic ,I was 2nd fastest and then I was stopped for nearly 24 hours, so I was very lucky and sailed a good course up there. I was hoping to get the record for that, but of course Michel Desjoyeaux got it. After my good run in the South Atlantic, in the Doldrums, after using my keel so much the hydraulics started to fail and that was a problem all the way from the Doldrums to the finish here. I couldn’t really use the full potential of the boat in reaching conditions. It was incredible, as on the very last night of the race, last night, the two rams became disengaged from the keel, because the bolts broke. It shows you how lucky I’ve been to finish this race and very fortunate to be back in les Sables, and very happy to be in 5th place.

The boat is a very good boat, very strong, very new, so little problems became big problems in the Vendee Globe, but normally we’d have had more time to test things beforehand. I’ve had to learn about lots of new things, and also I’ve had a lot of support from my shore team and also from experts all around the world who’ve given up their time to be on the end of the phone. It was definitely a team effort, but I’m very happy that I kept pushing and kept trying to over come each obstacle and get to the finish in les sables and my goal in the beginning was to get in the top 5 and finish and I did it.

I’ve sailed around the world twice on big catamarans, and I thought that would prepare me for the Vendée Globe, but still the Vendee Globe is much much harder than you can possibly imagine. And those times like having to go up the mast by yourself, which you don’t have to do with a crew, are the most difficult moments. And also it takes longer, and you see much more bad weather, than in a maxi catamaran which goes much faster and in the south sees with only one weather system for many days or even weeks, but on our boats we see more weather and bigger storms.

I would really like to see a Bahraini sailor in the Vendee Globe, and I think 8 years would probably be the right amount of time. It would be possible in 4 years. There are some very good sailors in Bahrain, but to get the offshore experience, 2016 would be ideal.

The race is much bigger, better organised, and much tougher than any other race, and more than I ever could have imagined
 

February 16. 2009 at 11:05Brian's first words

"It’s brilliant, what a day, what a beautiful day, sun’s out, great seas, it’s amazing

I’ve been fighting to stay ahead of Dee (Dee Caffari, AVIVA) the whole time and keeping my keel problem a secret, and last night the ram broke, and disengaged from the keel

I’m amazed I’ve done any sailing at all, because every day I spent my whole time down below fixing various things, electronics, weather equipment, I mean it’s just amazing

I’d rather have done the race with a bit more sailing involved but I’m pleased of myself for getting through all those things and not getting down and fighting every problem and somehow get to the finish line one way or another

20 minutes before I crossed the finish line, I thought I’ve only got to do one tack nothing can go wrong now, and just had a beautiful crossing of the line

I had a few problems in the bow, but I managed to pull up the repairs, the worst thing was getting stuck up the mast on Christmas day, that was very rough, bumpy and not Christmasy at all

She’s obviously had a mainsail problem (on Dee Caffari aboard Aviva), but peen pushing quite hard, the keel not working for the last two three weeks has been hard, no electricity either, and no weather information, the last three days I’ve had very little power, and the only thing working was the autopilot

5th is an excellent result overall, I’m quite happy about that, I wanted to be in the top five, but I hadn’t expected the race to be such a race of attrition, but that’s pretty good out of 30 boats"

February 16. 2009 at 11:00ETA Dee Caffari

Dee Caffari is now expected to cross the finishing line at around 13h00 GMT, but due to tidal conditions in Port Olona will not be able to enter the harbour channel until around 17h30 GMT  At 10h00, this morning she was 29 miles from les Sables d'Olonne sailing at a speed of 5.3 knots

February 16. 2009 at 10:20Brian on his way to the podium

Brian Thompson (Bahrain Team Pindar) is expected to reach the podium at around 09h40 GMT

February 16. 2009 at 09:30And Brian finishes

Brian finishes on the bowsprit of his Open 60, punching the air with both fists, finish time is 08:31:55 GMT in fifth place, race time is 98 days 20 hours 29 minutes 55 seconds.

DISTANCE THEORETICAL : 24 840 MILLES
AVERAGE FOR THE THEORETICAL COURSE : 10.47 NOEUDS
 
REAL DISTANCE SAILED : 28 700 MILLES
REAL AVERAGE : 12.10 NOEUDS

Time difference from Michel Desjoyeaux:  14 days, 17 hours and  20 minutes

February 16. 2009 at 09:26In to the sun

And so Brian has made his final tack and heads into the sunshine steering from time to time, rolling out his bigger headsail with the Kingdom of Bahrain logo on it, just less than five minutes of his race, he is pointed at the line.  The race committee announce his imminent arrival in fifth place.

February 16. 2009 at 09:18Enjoying it

Brian is just enjoying steering the boat himself now, about 2.5 miles from the finish, keeping his Open 60 in the groove and powered up as the breeze rises and falls a little more as he gets closer to the coast. He is just checking his angles to the line as the sun comes back out from behind the cloud.

February 16. 2009 at 09:11The final tack

And the security boats start to make some space for Brian to tack now, in fact his solent has seen better days with the upper leech split for about three metres, and the luff tape separated and flapping in the breeze. You can imagine that releif will be Brian's overwhelming emotion when he gets across the line, and with his keel problem  this finish cannot come quick enough.

February 16. 2009 at 09:04Alongside Brian

And Brian is making ready for his final tack up on the deck of  Bahrain Team Pindar, making eight knots now as the sun disappears for a few minutes. So four different designers for the top six boats, two Farr, two Finot Conq, one VPLP/Verdier and this powerful Juan K design.

February 16. 2009 at 08:49Alongside Brian

And we are alongside Bahrain Team Pindar now on a perfect morning to bring Thompson's race to an end, he can see Les Sables d'Olonne bathed in the early sunshine and is about 3 miles from the line, making just over 7 knots. Brian's wife and family are alongside in the RIB with Andrew Pindar at the moment. The spectator fleet are in order, Brian has been on to the bow to make preparations for his final manouvers. He will be relieved to see the line and has done a great job to bring this boat successfully to the finish in fifth position. There is a small chafe mark at the back of his mainsail but otherwise the boat looks in OK shape. One reef in and solent, going nicely, heeling at times to the breeze.  A morning Brian will cherish forever, rewarded with perfect weather. And the crowds were gathering just as we came out.