Justin Chisholm’s guest is British solo racing skipper Alex Thomson. Thomson is a veteran of no less than five editions of the Vendée Globe solo around the world race. He made his first attempt in 2004 but damage to his boat put him out of that race and the following edition in 2008-09, but he went on to finish third in the 2012-13 edition and second in the 2016-17. Despite starting the 2020-21 edition as a firm favourite to become the first ever non-French Vendée Globe winner, Thomson was again forced out of the race after first having to effect running repairs to the bow of his state of the art ultra high tech IMOCA 60 and then suffering catastrophic damage to one of his rudders in a collision with floating ocean debris. The British skipper shocked the sailing world recently with the announcement that he would not be competing in the 2024-25 Vendée Globe. **