Non-stop around the world. 74 days alone on his boat. Coming in a close second. ALEX THOMSON was the hero of the Vendée Globe sailing race.How did he cope with the solitude, the fear, and the setbacks?
Have you caught up on your lost sleep yet?
More or less. But I am still tired. More tired than usual.
Really? You’ve been back on land for six weeks now.
Yes, well. Throughout the 74 days that I spent at sea, I never slept for more than an hour at a stretch. In fact, most days I slept just 20 to 40 minutes every two to four hours. Certainly not more. It takes a while for your sleeping routine to return to normal.
That sounds unbearable.
That’s just how it is in a race like this. You’re on your own in the middle of the ocean on an 18-metre yacht that’s cranking along at 60 km/h. There’s always something to do.
Isn’t sleep critical under those circumstances?
You do sleep – it’s just a different routine. I trained before the race with two researchers on sleep. I called them the Sleep Police. I started training three weeks before the race so that I could get by with just 20 minutes of sleep every two hours.
Sleep deprivation is considered a form of torture.You have to train your body to cope without deep sleep. And it can. But sure – you’re constantly battling with fatigue in a race like this. Every day you’re sailing just this side of complete exhaustion. It’s like the raptures of the deep that divers experience. Faced with a simple arithmetical problem – say, 45 divided by nine – your brain just shuts down and you can’t do it. Everything is a blur.
Did you lose weight?
After an earlier race, I had lost 10 per cent of my body weight. So I took along more food this time. Dry rations mainly.
How do you cook on board?
This story is from the July-September 2017 edition of Mercedes-Benz India.
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This story is from the July-September 2017 edition of Mercedes-Benz India.
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