Unfinished business....

...like me and Lymington (or perhaps not... ), but unfortunately it was 'not to be' for Alex Thomson in the Vendee Globe - despite making up the better part of 900 miles between the south and north Atlantic, instrument issues in the last couple of hundred miles with his wind kit - which he feeds to his automatic pilot for sailing to a wind angle, and also a steering issue, meant that he only managed to sleep for four or five hours in the last 48 (and when he crossed the line he's been up 24 hours straight) and the lead slipped away from him...

 

Despite that he took two records in this race - furthest 24hr distance (which he actually did twice, but the first time not by enough to be counted as a new record), and also fastest to the equator in the Vendee Globe...  he was 100 miles ahead when a collision with something under water took off one of his foils so this makes the result even more stunning...  and he's already talking about the next race!

Someone on the pontoon managed to get a shot of the broken foil

He comes across as a really nice bloke, so congratulations to him on his second and also Armel on his first - and look who was there on the pontoon to meet him - superb sportsmanship and a lovely photo..

Well done Alex!!