Scot

We couldn't be more gutted for Alex Thomson and the UK-based Hugo Boss team after the world's best known English-speaking ocean racer crashed headlong into the rocks on Guadeloupe Island at nearly 20 knots.  Thomson was able to motor his smashed Open 60 off the island, finishing the Route Du Rhum first-in-class a day later, though the 24-hour penalty he copped (for firing up the motor) from the International Jury drops him well out of first place.  Alex was half a day away from winning his first-ever Route Du Rhum  - the most prestigious race in the entire Open 60 world after the Vendee Globe - when, according to the above post-race interview, a sleeping Alex's proximity alarms failed and only sideways reality and the sound of crunching, smashing carbon woke the Brit. Just a couple of days earlier and in a commanding, 230-NM lead over the Open 60 fleet, Thomson ironically told the fans in a video interview that he just needed to avoid making mistakes.  He then went and made the most dangerous mistake of all - taking a nap surrounded by rocky bits of land.  As the world's most important solo sprint race, the RdR has seen dozens of crashes due to sleep deprivation over the years, and it won't stop anytime soon.  And while it's a bummer to see the current VPLP/Verdier Hugo Boss take a hit like this to the foil and hull, the team thinks it will be able to repair the boat and continue the campaign to sell what is clearly one of the fastest Open 60s on the planet.  If you've been eyeing the sexy black beast, maybe it's time to put in a lowball offer? The english-language portion of the RdR arrivals video including Alex's interview is above, and it should...

You think you know how to jury rig some shit and limp home?  Get a load of these Canadians! The crew of HMCS Lockeport sailed 350 km under this rig following a severe storm that disabled her engines in January 1944.  They made a square course and a proper mizzen from hammocks and blankets, making good progress before finally rendezvousing with a tow. Cool sailing story from the fun folks at the Royal Canadian Navy Fans page....

The US Coast Guard is looking for information about what seems to be a Sabre 34 adrift in the Gulf of Mexico around 80 NM southwest of Cape San Blas, Florida.  Coasties tried to raise the crew by radio or the horn from a NOAA ship that made a pass, though neither NOAA nor the Coast Guard could launch a small boat in the shitty sea state that's been beating up this piece of ocean for a while.  SAR put up a Jayhawk helicopter, but wind and rain forced them back to base. As you can see from the pic, My Time's sails are mostly put away and other than some peat staining, the boat looks good.  Hopefully there's no mummified skipper at the nav station...Anyone know more?  Post up or call USCG  Sector Mobile Command Center at 251-441-6211....

After a couple of spendy years under the ownership of Swedish ultra-enthusiast Hakan Svensson, the World Match Racing Tour is back on the block, currently under contract to new owners the C Shine Financial Corporation.  Svensson rescued the Tour from death just a few short years ago, transforming it into a truly high-performance tool to develop the skills of young racers from around the world while still attracting the likes of ultra-high profile teams like Spindrift and GAC Pindar. Alumni of the past few years of WMRT action now fill the rosters of Olympic Nacras, GC32s, Gunboats, and every other fast multihull out there, and most of them will tell you that the best series they've ever sailed was the 2016 World Tour... Unfortunately, a grip of circumstances prevented the series from getting back to the kind of sustainability it enjoyed back in the mid 2000s: Poor market research for the M32's sales potential, an inconsistent sales and marketing effort both for Tour sponsorship and the M32 cat, and personal issues in Svensson's life that came at a crucial point for the WMRT - these obstacles became too much for Svensson to overcome, and we're glad to hear he's moved on to hopefully less stressful things.  How stressful?  From an excellent interview in Yachtracing Life: I think we have paid the sailors about 3,000,000 US Dollars over the last three years. We have spent 6,000,000 USD on boats, and each regatta had an average cost of 850,000 USD. In total I am sure the total spend is around 20,000,000 USD. Holy shit!  We knew he spent a lot, but holy shit! Even though it is depressing to see this always-positive, generous, humble guy have his passion for the sport beaten out of him by life and the establishment, it's a...

In the battle between an AC 50 foiling cat and a DJI Mavic drone, the last one to flinch wins.  Matt Knighton pilotage, of course, and thanks to the folks in the Larry's Foiling Circus thread for the find....

Today we embark on day two of our three day METS World Tour, as this place is indeed full of virtually every marine industry from around the world. It is huge, well organized and so far, a fruitful and interesting experience. Getting stopped by people I don't really know because of my Sailing Anarchy jacket is kind of a trip and so far, none of them have punched me! Thanks to my amazing fiance Mary, we are making all our appointments, and truly enjoying the chance to chat with new and familiar faces, and seeing first hand what so many of the industry leaders are doing in their respective fields. That's Paul Eldred from One Sails and me chatting. We are doing our best not to be too drunk throughout the show, and if you are here at METS, hit me up via e-mail and I'll let you buy me a beer!...

Outside Mag published an incredible story yesterday by Ali Carr Troxell about the disappearance and search for her circumnavigating dad, retired shrink Richard Carr. For its attention to detail and the dee+p dive into the kind of fear and horror faced by the family of a sailor in trouble, we urge every ocean sailor to read it. For Carr, who just days before disappearing wrote to his daughter that he would "Adveture & learn or die trying," we wish fair winds.  Here's an excerpt of this great piece. I’ve spent hours trying to imagine what happened in the end. I’ve pictured Dad in an altered state: eyes glazed over, stoically moving about the boat as he completed necessary tasks, like dealing properly with my grandparents’ ashes. Or maybe he was sobbing—heartbroken to know he would never see his family again. Then he either set the teak deck on fire or cut an intake hose, filling the boat with water and sinking it. If he did any of these things, it was because sleep deprivation had driven him mad, making him believe that suicide was the only way to escape the pirates he’d conjured, the only way to prevent them from killing him. He didn’t have a gun on board, as far as we know, so he would have died either by fire or in the sea. Did he stay on deck as flames rose around him? Tim doubts it. He thinks Dad started a blaze, dove off the side, and swam straight down. I picture mottled moonlight reflecting on his pale skin as he descends into darkness. Read on....