Alex Thomson is an international yachtsman from Great Britain and one of the most formidable young talents in sailing.

He made his first impression with on the sport in 2000 when, at the age of 25, he became the youngest skipper to win a round-the-world yacht race with victory at the Clipper Race.

In the same year, he won the Round Britain & Ireland Race in a record time of ten days while, in 2003, he set the 24-hour world speed record for solo mono-hulls at the Defi Atlantique transatlantic race.

More recently, he became the first skipper to sign up for three round-the world-races in three years, entering the 2006 Velux 5 Oceans, the Barcelona World Race that began this month and the 2008 Vendee Globe.

He will file a regular column and extended video clips as part of an exclusive Times Online diary charting his bid to win the Barcelona race, during which competitors attempt to cover 25,000 miles in three months.