Barcelona World Race: Hugo Boss forced to make pit stop

[Source: Barcelona World Race] Hugo Boss will make a stop in Wellington to bring their boat up to 100% before tackling the second half of the race. On the video conference today, skipper Alex Thomson said, "We are going to stop in Wellington." The team has been having rudder issues which see the rudders "pointing to the sky, instead of the seabed," as Alex Thomson described it. Having the rudders pop up if they hit a submerged object is a safety feature, but if they come up at other times, the result can be a dangerous broach...in the worst case it could result in serious damage to the boat.

"By doing this, we are not going to lose our second place position in the race," said Thomson. And he says the team will come out from Wellington guns blazing with a more competitive boat that they can push to the limit during the second half.


Onboard race leader Paprec-Virbac 2. Cook Strait, 25 December 2007. Video Copyright Paprec-Virbac 2