Route du Rhum: Thomson passes the line 10 hours after his crash

The Briton Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss), who hit a cliff on Thursday night in northern Guadeloupe causing major damage on his boat, crossed the finish line of the Route du Rhum Friday at 8:10 local (1:10 pm in metropolis ) at Pointe-à-Pitre.

The boat was heavily damaged in the collision, including a hole in the hull, an impacted bow, damaged starboard foil and keel. But not finding a waterway, the skipper had chosen to try to finish his race. It's done: it took him 11 days 23 hours and 10 minutes to complete his crossing alone. And 10 hours to finish his race since the accident.

He is the first skipper in Imoca to arrive in Pointe-à-Pitre and the fourth in the fleet of 123 boats, part Sunday, November 4 from Saint-Malo (Ille-et-Vilaine).

"Alex (Thomson) clamored violently at the edge of the cliff while the boat was sailing at 18 knots (33 km / h) .The skipper cleared the cliff by putting his engine," said before his arrival the director Jacques Caraës, stating that a claim had been made for use of the engine. An international jury must decide in the coming hours.

The British star of the offshore race, which led the fleet Imoca (monohulls of 18 m), ran aground on a cliff at the tip of the Great Wyrm (north of Grande-Terre) between 21h45 and 22h00 local (2:45 and 03:00 in metropolitan France).

"Sleeping"

"I can not confirm that he was sleeping, but everything suggests that he was asleep," said Caraës, "I think he has fallen asleep, it's already happened at the end of the race and more than one (competitor)".

"He was shocked and very sorry at the sound of his voice, he did not see the sudden coming," said Caraës.

The 44-year-old Thomson is taking part in his first Route du Rhum and has entered Imoca, the Vendée Globe monohulls, around the world solo and non-stop, where he has participated four times with a 2nd place finish at the last edition in 2016. In 2020, he intends to resume the start of the Vendée Globe at the helm of a brand new boat, launched next summer.

Since the start, the Welsh has been leading the Imoca. Thursday night, it posted 209 nautical miles (387 km) ahead of Paul Meilhat (SMA), about 14 hours of sailing between the two boats.

Penalty

Meilhat is, him, waited Friday at Pointe-à-Pitre with 22:20 (3:20 in metropolis). As a winner, surely, since at the arrival of Thomson, a jury imposed a penalty of 24 hours due to the use of his engine to clear the cliff.

This use is strictly forbidden, but the jury considered that the situation represented a mitigating circumstance and thus gave it only the minimum penalty.

The jury also paid tribute to Alex Thomson, who risked disqualification for the race.

The jury is made up of two British, two French and one German. As it is an international jury, its decisions are not subject to appeal.

Thursday, late afternoon, Armel Tripon (Chocolate Rite) completed the podium after 11 days 7 hours and 32 minutes of crossing.

On Sunday, the 62-year old Dean Francis Joyon (Idec Sport) won the Route du Rhum in 7 days 14 h 21 min, after a grand duel with the young (35) François Gabart (Macif), 7 min 08 sec sec .

An arrival that should see Lalou Roucayrol, despite his abandonment. After capsizing Wednesday in a violent sea, the 54-year-old navigator was rescued Friday by another competitor Pierre Antoine, aboard the trimaran Olmix (RhumMulti category), and is now safe.

16/11/2018 14:43:31 –
Pointe-à-Pitre (AFP) –
© 2018 AFP