Since HUGO BOSS arrived back in Gosport after her retirement from the Vendee Globe Round he World Race in November she has been in the shed at Endeavour Quay, Gosport – formerly Camper & Nicholsons – and has had a team busily surveying and working on her repairs.

‘The first thing to do was to check the structure of the hull. after 2 fairly major impacts we were really unsure what we would find’ said Boat Captain Ross Daniel, ‘for 5 days we undertook a process called laser chorography – which works by attaching giant suckers to the side of the hull, and pulling the carbon layers apart to see if there is any movement. This lengthy process determines if there is any damage to the structure of the hull, and we are pleased to report that the only damage that has been detected is localised – around the area of the crack.’

So now the next step in her repair is to patch the damaged area. A large hole has now been cut away around the crack, extending over 5 metres, and a mould prepared to make a new panel which will then be fitted and re-sprayed in the new year – a very similar process to the one that was carried out in Les Sables d’Olonne following the accident with the fishing vessel. The work is fairly straightforward, we have a team of 5 working on her in January, including our boat captain Ross Daniel and boatbuilder Clifford Nicholson, and we hope very much that she will be back in the water sailing by mid February

In the meantime the team are all taking a well earned break over Christmas and will be back in the office on the 5th January for a fresh start! And if you happen to be planning a visit to the boatshow in January have a look out for Alex – on Saturday 10th he has the honour of presenting the Raymarine Young Sailor of the year award, and will also be attending on Sunday 18th as a ‘Boating Heroes’ guest speaker on the mainstage.

http://www.alexthomsonracing.com