Weather Router Jean-Yves Bernot (FRA) preps Alex Thomson (GBR) for VELUX 5 Oceans PDF Print E-mail
Copyright onEdition 2006Hugo Boss sponsored solo sailor, Alex Thomson, has chosen sailing legend Jeans-Yves Bernot as his weather strategist for the VELUX 5 Oceans. Reputed as the best by many in the sailing fraternity, Jean-Yves has worked with some of the world’s top sailors in all disciplines of the sport from single and double-handed racing, to Volvo Ocean Race and multihull campaigns. The VELUX 5 Oceans is the first of three round the world yacht races, which Thomson will compete in during the next three years culminating with the Vendée Globe in 2008.

With just three days to go until the start of the VELUX 5 Oceans, tension is building in Bilbao, Spain, as the international solo skippers make final preparations. While the HUGO BOSS shore team is fine tuning the boat, Thomson has spent the past two days completing the final stage of his weather training with Jean-Yves Bernot.
 
“I feel very privileged to be working with Jeans-Yves,” says Thomson. “He has a proven track record in the industry, having worked with Vendée Globe winner Vincent Riou and runner-up Jean Le Cam for the Vendée Globe. The plan is that we will have a long term project together, building towards my ultimate goal to be the first Briton to win the Vendée Globe 2008. Jeans-Yves’s input has been invaluable in my preparation for the VELUX 5 Oceans and I look forward to working with him in the future.”
 
Bernot was navigator on Djuice Dragons in the Volvo Ocean Race 2001-02 and before that he competed onboard Team Adventure in The Race. He worked as weather router for Ellen McArthur when she won the Route du Rhum and for Transat Jacques Vabre winner Jean-Pierre Dick and runner-up Roland Jourdain.
 
“I met Alex last summer when I was working with Paul Cayard and Pirates in the Volvo Ocean Race,” explains Bernot, who is impressed by Thomson’s determination. “Alex is a strong guy. He is very focused and determined and difficult to destabilize. He appears to have a very well organized campaign and a good team of people working around him.”
 
Bernot continues: “My job is to teach Alex to read the weather and decide upon the best possible race strategy depending on the forecast, the boat, Alex’s fitness and the placing of his competitors. There are so many parameters to take into account that it is very easy to get confused. A lot of training is required to teach sailors to keep things simple, so that they can make very quick decisions at the drop of a hat.” 
 
The VELUX 5 Oceans race begins at 13.00 CET on Sunday 22 October. It will stop in Fremantle, Australia, early December through to 7 January and again in Norfolk, USA in March, before returning to Bilbao in April 2007.

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  3. The Ultimate Solo Challenge Begins
  4. A Top Performance by Hugo Boss in Velux 5 Oceans Prologue Race
  5. Mike Golding Retires From the Velux 5 Oceans
  6. Gear Failure Forces Thomson (GBR) to Head to Shore in Velux 5 Oceans
  7. Ocean Marine to Develop Fastest Charter Yacht in the World
  8. Alex Thomson Teams up with Finot-Conq to Build New Hugo Boss Open 60
  9. Place Changing Opportunities Lie Ahead for Thomson
  10. First Night Dramas for Velux 5 Oceans Fleet
 
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