Alex Thomson has been forced to withdraw from the VELUX 5 OCEANS
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MAVERICK - THE TOP GUN FROM GOSPORT WITH A FAST BOAT AND A SEXY SPONSOR
Alex Thomson, a 32 year-old professional skipper, is a major talent in international yachting.
A sailing passage between UK and Majorca in 1991 revealed that there was more to life than London bar work and a job as packer in a plastics factory for 17 year-old Alex Thomson. It would be a further seven years before Sir Robin Knox-Johnston spotted this prodigious sailing talent and Thomson lead a crew of amateur sailors to victory in the 1998-99 Clipper Round The World Race. Aged 24 at the time Thomson remains the youngest skipper to have ever won a round the world race.
At 21, Alex found himself working in a factory in Gosport, packing plastic straws for McDonalds, but Alex’s determination and drive made him strive for more. After taking a job as deck hand in a boat yard, it wasn’t long before Alex’s exceptional boat handling skills were spotted by his mentor Sir Robin Knox-Johnson, and from then on his career moved onwards and upwards.
Thomson’s skills both as a seaman and a gifted communicator have culminated in an enduring sponsorship deal with stylish fashion house Hugo Boss. In October 2005, he vowed to be the first skipper to race three grueling round the world races in three years; the VELUX 5 OCEANS 2006-07, followed by the inaugural two-handed Barcelona World Race 2007 and culminating with the Vendée Globe 2008.