HAMPSHIRE ocean racer Alex Thomson has vowed to do all he can to be on the start line of the Vendée Globe after his yacht was holed by a French fishing boat.

Thomson’s Open 60 Hugo Boss II had been moored two miles from the entrance to Les Sables d’Olonne when the fishing boat smashed into the yacht’s starboard side at 2.30am on Friday.

The yacht had been waiting for daylight outside the harbour with its radar, navigation lights, trim lights and a strobe light on so members of Thomson’s team could be transferred to the shore.

The mast was brought down in the collision, and the yacht was left with a severe hole in its bow.

Both the mast and sails were cut away from the boat before they motored into Les Sables d’Olonne to have the damage assessed.

Thomson said: “My team and I have been preparing for this Vendée Globe for the last four years and we’re not about to give up now.

“We have three weeks and two days until the start of the race, and I’m hoping that it’ll either be a long time or a short time, hopefully a long time.

“I’m fortunately surrounded by a fantastic team of people.

“We’ve had other disasters before, and each time we’ve been able to recover from it.

“Until somebody tells me we cannot start the race we will start.

“We have many possibilities with the mast - one is to repair, another one to build.

“I’ve been offered a mast from Yann Elies, and the sailing world is a very close one, so it’s been very supportive.”

In 2004, Thomson had to retire from the Vendée Globe when his previous boat sustained severe damage to the boom during a 36-hour storm in the Southern Ocean.

Two years later, his boat suffered keel failure in the same ocean during the Velux 5 Oceans Race and had to be abandoned, with Thomson rescued by fellow Hampshire sailor Mike Golding.