Brian Thompson (born 5 March 1962) is a British yachtsman. He was the first Briton to twice break the speed record for sailing around the world, and the first to sail non-stop around the world four times. He is highly successful offshore racer on all types of high-performance yachts, from 21-foot Mini Transat racers to 140-foot Maxi Trimarans.

Biography

He started his career in the

OSTAR The Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race (STAR) is an east-to-west yacht race across the North Atlantic. When inaugurated in 1960, it was the first single-handed ocean yacht race; it is run from Plymouth in England to Newport, Rhode Island in ...

in 1992 with his own yacht. He sailed a lot on multihulls with

Steve Fosset James Stephen Fossett (April 22, 1944 – September 3, 2007) was an American businessman and a record-setting aviator, sailor, and adventurer. He was the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world in a balloon and in a fixed-wing aircraf ...

with whom he set several records, mainly the

around the world sailing record The first around the world sailing record for circumnavigation of the world was Juan Sebastián Elcano and the remaining members of Ferdinand Magellan's crew who completed their journey in 1522. The first solo record was set by Joshua Slocum in t ...

in 2004. In 2005, he won the

Oryx Quest Oryx Quest was the name of the first round-the-world yacht race to start and finish in the Middle East and was held in February 2005 in Qatar. The race, organised by British sailor Tracy Edwards, was regarded as a follow-up to The Race of 2000 an ...

, round the world crewed race, on ''

Doha 2006 Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

'', ex-''Club Med''. In 2006, he won the

Volvo Ocean Race The Ocean Race is a yacht race around the world, held every three or four years since 1973. Originally named the Whitbread Round the World Race after its initiating sponsor, British brewing company Whitbread, in 2001 it became the Volvo Ocean Ra ...

on ''ABN AMRO One'' as a crewmember of Mike Sanderson. The same year, he finished 6th in the

Route du Rhum The Route du Rhum is a transatlantic single-handed yacht race, which takes place every four years in November. The course is between Saint Malo, Brittany, Metropolitan France Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Mé ...

, in IMOCA class. He finished 5th of the

Vendée Globe --> The Vendée Globe is a single-handed (solo) non-stop round the world yacht race. The race was founded by Philippe Jeantot in 1989, and since 1992 has taken place every four years. It is named after the Département of Vendée, in France ...

2008–2009 on a 60 feet

IMOCA IMOCA or iMOCA may refer to: * Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art * International Monohull Open Class Association * IMOCA 50, a former 50ft racing yacht class * IMOCA 60 The IMOCA ("Open 60"), is a 60ft development class monohull sailing ...

class '. In 2012, he won the

Jules Verne Trophy The Jules Verne Trophy is a prize for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by any type of yacht with no restrictions on the size of the crew provided the vessel has registered with the organization and paid an entry fee. A vessel holding th ...

as helmsman and trimmer for

Loïck Peyron Loïck Peyron (born 1 December 1959 in Nantes) is a French yachtsman, younger brother of the yachtsman Bruno Peyron. He is particularly famous for winning many races in the 1990s on board his trimaran ''Fujicolor''. Among his notable achievemen ...

, on the maxi-multihull ''

Banque Populaire V ''Banque Populaire V'', (now renamed ''Spindrift 2'') is an offshore-racing trimaran which was originally run by Team Banque Populaire. It was Team Banque Populaire's fifth boat designed to set oceanic records. She was launched on 4 October 20 ...

''. He then became the first British sailor with four non-stop laps of the world. File:Banque populaire5-003.jpg, ''Banque Populaire V''

Caterham Challenge

Following the announcement in April that Brian had joined MGI in the role as sailing director, MGI announced on 15 May 2013 that Caterham Technology and Caterham Composites, part of the

Caterham Group Caterham Group is the parent company for a range of automotive and motor racing businesses. Management team Businesses *Caterham Cars *Caterham Bike Vehicles *2014 Caterham Aero Seven *2013 Caterham Duo Cali Former * Caterham F1 Team so ...

, have joined with MGI CEO Mike Gascoyne and MGI Sailing Director Brian Thompson to run a Class40 offshore racing campaign under the banner of "Caterham Challenge". This two-year campaign follows on from Mike's successful 2012 solo transatlantic aboard a "Caterham Challenge" branded Class40. The Campaign objectives are to bring F1 standards of technology and logistics to off-shore racing, to encourage green, sustainable and reusable energy technologies in the marine, automotive and aerospace sectors and to utilize Caterham's extensive experience in F1, R&D, engineering, competitive sailing and sports marketing. MGI built an Akilara RC3 Class40 and launched the racing boat in late August. Caterham Challenge was first on public display during the Southampton boat show 2013 followed by sailing and training in The Solent and the English Channel. The racing calendar for "Caterham Challenge" includes the

Transat Jacques Vabre The Transat Jacques Vabre is a yachting race that follows the historic coffee trading route between France and Brazil. It is named after (and sponsored by) a French brand of coffee. The course was drawn up back in 1993 to follow in the wake of ...

2013, the Grenada sailing week and the Caribbean 600 in early 2014, together with the Global Ocean Race, leaving from the Southampton Boatshow in September 2014 around the world. Caterham Challenge started at the Transat Jacques Vabre on 7 November 2013 with Mike Gascoyne as skipper and Brian Thompson as co-skipper, leaving Le Havre, France for Itajai, Brazil.

References

External links

*
Maxi Trimaran Banque Populaire VMGIconsultancy.comCaterhamChallenge.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Brian British male sailors (sport) English male sailors (sport) Living people 1962 births Volvo Ocean Race sailors Volvo Open 70 class sailors IMOCA 60 class sailors Vendée Globe finishers British Vendee Globe sailors 2008 Vendee Globe sailors