Vendée Globe 2020

Hugo Boss issue : it is some structural damage to a longitudinal beam at the front of the boat, currently under repair by Alex.
More details here :
News - HUGO BOSS in 'safe position' to repair. Alex Thomson Racing says 'We are confident in his ability to complete the repair." - Vendée Globe - En (vendeeglobe.org)

 

News - Update Direct From Alex Thomson on Hugo Boss this evening - Vendée Globe - En (vendeeglobe.org)

Tracking : Tracking map - Vendée Globe - En (vendeeglobe.org)

 

I just watched the video and it doesn't look good.It seems to be the main central web and it has broken the outer skins in places as well as breaking the bond to the capping.Not a particularly easy repair to deal with at sea in the confined space and it would leave me uneasy about chasing weak spots around the web as the initial damage is patched up.Not impossible,but without something like an ultrasonic tester to look for voids and delamination it will be very difficult to be sure that no more problems are lurking.I suppose the best way to find out is to attempt a repair and regard Cape Town or thereabouts as a port of refuge if necessary.

 

In this video, Alex shows where are exactly the breaks :
Actualités - Alex Thomson fait le point sur ses réparations - Vendée Globe https://www.vendeeglobe.org/fr/actualites/20510/alex-thomson-fait-le-point-sur-ses-reparations

 

Thats the video I saw and it doesn't look any less bad the second time of watching.It doesn't help him that cracks in a carbon laminate are not easy to see in a poorly lit part of the boat and tapping with a coin to check for delamination is not particularly precise.I wish him every success-but........

 

I surely hope he has a decent repirator. Its not going to be fun in that hot, humid, confined space.

 

Alex is mature to be a Boatdesign member >>> the repairs part two :
Onboard Update: Repairs Under Way Part 2 - YouTube
... and sailing once again, about 390 NM behind the 2 leaders :
Onboard Update: Sailing once again! - YouTube
Tracking : Cartographie - Vendée Globe (vendeeglobe.org)

 

Hugo Boss still moving very slowly,presumably giving the repair time to cure properly.Jean Le Cam doing a fantastic job to maintain a good place-for me the outstanding performer of the race so far.

 

I am puzzled. There were no extreme events. Weather, wave height, speed, everything was as expected. How can the boat suffer structural damage? From the video it looks not like a singular manufacturing error. The cracks are all over. It looks as if the designer did not have the right design loads. On the Alex Thomson website it says:
"The product of more than two years of painstaking design and build work, undertaken by more than 100 naval architects, designers, engineers and boat builders". They spent ₤6 million.
Isn't this an embarrassing disaster? If I were Peter Hobson, I would go back to university.

 

I don't think seeking a scapegoat is a particularly useful exercise.If the man in charge of technical matters has to check the figures of all team members then they are operating beyond their expertise and he will be overworked.I hope that the extensive data logging system the boat is equipped with is running at all times the boat is under way and the traces are being closely analysed for peak loadings so that the time and location of the damage can be pinpointed.Was it slamming or rig loads?I suppose the laminating wasn't prepreg as that would have probably left a trace of vacuum,pressure and temperature gradients that would help to determine whether a laminating process failed but with wet laminating there probably isn't a record of the parameters.

Sadly the spare material on board might more usefully have been incorporated into the layup at the outset.I would hope the data logging is undamaged and able to provide an early warning if the structure gives further trouble.I wouldn't have any criticism of Alex Thomson if he felt that pulling out before the Southern Ocean was a better idea than causing upset by requiring rescue by the Australian Navy at some remote part of the globe and annoying the taxpayers down under.

 

There are usually 2 modes of mechanical failure, either an instant rupture due a peak load , or by fatigue, i.e. microcracks initiated by some peak loads days or weeks ago and then slowly proliferating with the repetition of loads up the failure. The last load before the failure can be low, it is just that the microcrack finally extends up to a macro rupture. Here that looks like more such mode.

 

Time to strategic option for the top ten leaders in light versatile winds :
News : News - Vendée Globe - En (vendeeglobe.org)
Tracking : Cartographie - Vendée Globe (vendeeglobe.org)

 

L'Occitane is looking a bit slow in the last update-1.9 knots in a 12 knot breeze?

 

L'Occitane : Armel Tripon had received a penalty of 4 hours for having intentionally restarted his engine to escape from a bad maneuver off Cape Finisterre. He has therefore repaired this day, which explains his trajectory in the opposite direction on the mapping in the 3pm ranking.
Linkedout : serious cracks detected on the port foil, not repairable >> this foil is off duty.

 

News - Thomas Ruyant explains his foil surgery - Vendée Globe - En (vendeeglobe.org)
Reassuring news from Alex about Hugo Boss speed potential, presently flashed at 19,3 Knots, can be back in the game.
Onboard Update: Back in the race! - YouTube
Tracking : Tracking map - Vendée Globe - En (vendeeglobe.org)