Thomas Rouxel / Team Brunel

gender Male
Bouwe trims the mainsheet on the stern. He looks astern. "It's the little French/Chinese bus [?]. The red bus. Dongfeng." Bouwe talks about Thomas: "He's an old Dongfeng team member, and I'm sure he'd like to beat Charles very badly." Thomas, on the helm: "Yes. I'm 100% 120%. To beat my old friends." Slomo spray.Brunel sails downwind. Crew in the cockpit, at the mast. Abby comes below, inspects the steering hardware in the stern. Kyle, below: Talks about receiving the news about the loss of John Fisher. Absolutely devastating for everyone on board. Naturally morale is down. Thoughts are first and foremost with those guys; racing is secondary. Nina talks about it: Makes everything out here very real; all the risks involved. On deck, crew working in the cockpit. Below, Someone (Thomas?) grimacing as he works on something involving his hand, and blood. Abby, below: Movement of the boat is heinous. So just trying to take care of yourself, bit of an eye infection (she indicates her swollen, red eyelids) gets lower down on the priority list. Looking forward to flat water. Nina, Kyle eating. Kyle talks about how hazardous it is: Yann (OBR) fell and hurt his back. Nina fell and hit her head. Abby took a runner block to the head. "These boats are dangerous and this is a dangerous part of the world." Abby: Nina was in the head area, and we nosedived, and the boat comes to a sudden stop, and I watched her go from the head to the forward bulkhead and landed on her head. Looked awful, and I thought there was going to be serious injury. Nina: I tried to move my fingers and toes... Went straight into her bunk. Thnks she was really lucky. It's really dangerous for smaller people; ther'es nothing to hold onto. Dusk shots in the cockpit as they sail fast with the moon ahead of them.Kyle, on deck, says there's a squall coming so they've just put a reef in. "Probably got some snow on the way." Angry clouds. Snow on the main. Nina explains that it snowed; she and Kyle joke. Nina: "Kyle's decided this isn't where you should be." Kyle: "It's a place for seals, and whales, and penguins. And not for us." Nina: "It's too cold." Bouwe eating below. He explains the tactical situation. 1500 miles to the Horn. They're in the lead, which is the good news. Big front coming from behind. Gybe for the ice gate. And then big breeze tomorrow. "I think we can be pretty happy, eh?" We see a handoff on the helm: Thomas to Alberto. Below, Bouwe explains that they have 5 drivers: Albi (Alberto), Kyle, Peter, Thomas, and myself. Peter, below, explains that there's a lot of steering required in the Southern Ocean. A lot of load. On the swells. If you've had a peel, your arms are pretty sore after an hour or so. Can't drive that long. Drone shot. Thomas: Objective is to keep a good average speed. What is most complicated is when you surf a big wave you hit the wave ahead of you and slow down a lot. Peter: "You nosedive on every wave to a certain degree. Had some good ones where they went from mid-30s to 12 or so; had no way to get off the wave without broaching, so you just kind of planted it at the bottom. Held on. Not the nicest. But it's all part of it." Epic drone shot from alongside as they nosedive off a big wave and slow down.Slomo washing machine in the cockpit. Mark, below, talks about how they're approaching Point Nemo. Halfway between New Zealand and Cape Horn, closest humans on the space station, yada yada. (Sorry. I've heard that bit a lot.) Compass. Washing machine. Hannah: I thought it would feel more remote... Pretty cool that all the boats are so close together. SiFi at the nav station. "Probably one of the world's most remote and inhospitable places. Except that at the moment there's the 10 of us on a 65-foot boat and 6 other boats." Epic drone shots of Vestas surfing in big waves; way high/distant drone shot emphasizing how tiny they are. Mark, below: Talks about how the other boats will come to their aid in an emergency, and that's comforting. Sunset slomo washing machine shots. TJ: "I don't know about Point Nemo; sounds like a long way away from Cape Horn. I want to get there right now." Nick: "The fish named Nemo could not live there, because it's too cold." Favoriting mostly for those drone shots.Drone shots of Brunel sailing under FR0 and full main. Crew gearing up below. Abby sorting through some gear, putting drops in her eyes. She talks about how everything is wet below, with condensation dripping. "Everything is a challenge." Nina in her bunk with a headlamp. Condensation close up. Thomas takes his gloves off, flexes his hand. At the nav station, Bouwe talks about the dangers of the boat making a sudden stop. He talks about how it's easier for the boys to have a peeing bottle; "for the girls every time they have to go to the toilet. Take their gear off. We just take our willy out and it's easy." Sunset on deck. Peter eating below. Bouwe talks about all the layers of clothing you need to put on.Slomo washing machine in the cockpit. Mark, below, talks about how they're approaching Point Nemo. Halfway between New Zealand and Cape Horn, closest humans on the space station, yada yada. (Sorry. I've heard that bit a lot.) Compass. Washing machine. Hannah: I thought it would feel more remote... Pretty cool that all the boats are so close together. SiFi at the nav station. "Probably one of the world's most remote and inhospitable places. Except that at the moment there's the 10 of us on a 65-foot boat and 6 other boats." Epic drone shots of Vestas surfing in big waves; way high/distant drone shot emphasizing how tiny they are. Mark, below: Talks about how the other boats will come to their aid in an emergency, and that's comforting. Sunset slomo washing machine shots. TJ: "I don't know about Point Nemo; sounds like a long way away from Cape Horn. I want to get there right now." Nick: "The fish named Nemo could not live there, because it's too cold." Favoriting mostly for those drone shots.Drone shots of Brunel sailing under FR0 and full main. Crew gearing up below. Abby sorting through some gear, putting drops in her eyes. She talks about how everything is wet below, with condensation dripping. "Everything is a challenge." Nina in her bunk with a headlamp. Condensation close up. Thomas takes his gloves off, flexes his hand. At the nav station, Bouwe talks about the dangers of the boat making a sudden stop. He talks about how it's easier for the boys to have a peeing bottle; "for the girls every time they have to go to the toilet. Take their gear off. We just take our willy out and it's easy." Sunset on deck. Peter eating below. Bouwe talks about all the layers of clothing you need to put on.Kyle works on the clew of the MH0 (leech line?) while Alberto helps him. Alberto: Strange feeling now that the next land will be Cape Horn. Talks about going south; cold, big breeze. Abby, with windswept hair, talks about making the most of the sun and warmth while they can. "After a pretty heinous 24 hours of bouncing around." Kyle, in the dusk: Saying good bye to New Zealand. Going to a very remote part of the world. Compass rose closeup. Crew below getting undressed, workin on something in a headlamp. Abby getting doused in the pit. Slomo washing machine. Crash cam from the stern of Thomas being washed off the aft pedestal. Thomas, below, talks in French.