Alex Thomson (born 18 April 1974,

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) is a British

yachtsman A yacht () is a sail- or motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a ...

. Alex Thomson was helped early in his sailing career by Sir Keith Mills, the British businessman who ran London's successful bid to host the

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and

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and set up with British America's Cup campaign TEAMORIGIN. With Mills' backing, Thomson broke into the professional solo sailing circuit at a young age. Thomson's Clipper Race win in 1999 made him the youngest skipper ever to win a round-the-world yacht race. he still holds this record. He is an around the world solo sailor, and held the 24-hour world speed sailing record for solo mono-hulls (537

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s at an average speed of 22.4

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s). Sponsored by

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he took part in the Vendée Globe 2004/05 but was forced to retire after damage to the carbon fitting that attached the boom to the deck. He also started in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, but had to retire from the race after a cracked hull. He was third in

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and second in the

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edition. During the latter edition, Thomson set new fastest reference times from Les Sables d'Olonne to the

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(9 days 7 h 02 min) and the

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(17 days 22 h 58 min). However, 13 days into the race ''Hugo Bosss starboard foil broke after hitting an unidentified floating object, therefore hampering Alex's progress throughout the rest of the course. Of note, most of the race takes place on port tack, that is, the boat would have made good use of the missing starboard foil. Despite his foil and anemometer/autopilot problems, Thomson finished the race with the second fastest time on record – 74 days 19 h 35 min 15 sec, 16h behind Armel Le Cléac'h. In the 2019 Transat Jacques Vabre race, Thomson's $7.7 million racing yacht was struck by a submerged object, forcing Thomson and his co-skipper Neal McDonald to make repairs to stabilise the boat.

Career highlights

Boats owned

Records

* 2007: Monohull (up to 60 feet) 24-hour distance record with Andrew Cape: 501.3 nautical miles * 2012: Monohull (up to 60 feet) singlehanded transatlantic sailing record: 8 days 21 hours 8 minutes and 31 seconds * 2017: Monohull singlehanded 24-hour distance record: 536.8

s * 2018: Route du Rhum IMOCA60 Class 11 days 23 hours 10 minutes 58 seconds

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, Alex 1974 births Living people Single-handed sailors Single-handed circumnavigating sailors Sportspeople from Bangor, Gwynedd 2004 Vendee Globe sailors 2008 Vendee Globe sailors 2012 Vendee Globe sailors 2016 Vendee Globe sailors 2020 Vendee Globe sailors Vendée Globe finishers British Vendee Globe sailors Sailing teams IMOCA 60 class sailors Welsh male sailors (sport) Clipper Round the World Yacht Race