Alex is out.

Sad news as Alex Thomson bites the bullet and pulls out of the Vendee Globe race.

What an unbelievable disappointment for him, the team and all their sponsors and supporters. This attempt had been 4 years in the planning, even building a new boat for the race. No doubt he will be back but he must be feeling 'pig sick' today.

But isn't that sailing for you! Life even! just when you think everything is right it goes horribly wrong........

November 13. 2008

“Repairs would take weeks rather than days.” Thomson told vendeeglobe.org, “It is a much more complex and time consuming repair than the one we had to do before the start.”

“I am gutted, absolutely gutted. To have put everything into this for the last four years, and battling to get away like we had to do, this just feels so unjust.”

“Obviously we need to now sit down and look at the things we did and plan for the next one, but I think we were certainly one of the best prepared teams with one of the best prepared boats until what happened with the fishing boat.”

“It is a cruel game, but you look at what happened to Bernard Stamm in his third race ,out twice and fighting again after re-starting this time, and Bilou in the past with his mast track. It can be a cruel game, but you have to think that it brings you back stronger for the next time.”
“I will go home now, have some rest and then starting looking at what I do.”

As we regularly tell our kids (and remind ourselves too) its not how you deal with success that moulds your character but how you respond to disappointment and failure. Alex is without doubt a fighter and will no doubt battle on but he must be really gutted right now.