Although Alex Thomson is receiving most of the media attention this week, as huge repairs are made to Hugo Boss, another British skipper has his own race against the clock. Steve White (Spirit of Weymouth) has managed to complete his funding. Now he must catch up on his preparation.

Steve White reached les Sables d’Olonne last week without having found all the funding required to line up for the start of the Vendée Globe. On Tuesday he received confirmation from a last minute sponsor, which is going to allow him to line up with the 29 other solo sailors. Up until now, Steve had no assistant to help him prepare the boat apart from his family. His first job is finding the craftsmen to get going with the long list of work that needs to be done.

Thanks to some cradles from La Rochelle and the supports from Arnaud Boissières’s Akena Vérandas, Steve White was able to take his boat – Josh Hall’s former Gartmore – out of the water to repaint the hull below the waterline. He has been able to order four new sails (spinnaker, solent, staysail and mainsail) and some standing rigging for his 60-footer.