Videocast: Arriving in Barcelona

Barring late problems, Alex Thomson and Andrew Cape were expected to arrive in Barcelona in the early hours of this morning after 94 days at sea. Thomson, from Hampshire, and his Australian co-skipper were due to finish the Barcelona World Race in second place on Hugo Boss, two days behind Jean-Pierre Dick and Damian Foxall, on Paprec Virbac 2.

“I’m planning to have a beer, a shower and then sleep,” Thomson said yesterday as he counted down the final miles under bright, blue skies. “That said, I’ll probably be on the floor after one beer. All we’ve had to drink is a bottle of Johnnie Walker for special occasions, such as crossing the equator and Christmas Day, and there’s even some of that left.” Thomson and Cape had seen their hopes of victory disappear shortly after Christmas when they had to make a stop in Wellington, New Zealand, for repairs to the rudders, but the boat has survived well, particularly in very testing conditions north of the equator in the past week.

“The weather has been terrible the past few days, with the wind blowing hard,” Thomson said. “As we approached the Straits of Gibraltar the wind began to build. At its most extreme the wind reached 55 knots, which is seriously hairy and forces you into survival mode.”

The skippers slept in short shifts as Hugo Boss approached Gibraltar on Monday. “The constant slamming of the boat as it launches itself off the waves can be boat-breaking and it would be a disaster to break anything this close to the finish,” Thomson wrote on his website.

After the boat crashed into one wave, the fitting holding down a corner of the storm jib was ripped out of the deck and the sail got tangled in the rigging, forcing Thomson to climb the mast to free it.

“In addition, Capey had to dodge the cargo ships travelling in and out of the Mediterranean,” Thomson said. “It was probably the worst conditions we have experienced all race.”

Once through the Straits of Gibraltar, conditions improved and in lighter breezes Cape and Thomson have been clearing up their equipment and preparing to part. “We’ve had a real laugh together,” Thomson said.

Unlike Foxall and Dick, who spent the final five days of their journey living only on freeze-dried mushroom soup, Thomson said that he had enough provisions to last another three weeks but added that he was looking forward to visiting McDon-ald’s for a cheeseburger.

Thomson said that he would immediately start planning with his designers and shore team for the Vendée Globe, the nonstop single-handed circumnavigation race, which begins on November 9 and has never been won by a non-Frenchman.