Star studded launch

The Barcelona World Race is a new two-handed, non-stop round the world race for Open 60 class yachts starting on the 11th November, 2007 [and to be held every four years]. Alex Thomson has recently been testing his new HUGO BOSS, but when you are sponsored by a high-end German fashion house, your “official launch” parties can get high-end too. We’ll let Alex tell the story:

“We brought the boat up the Elbe right into the centre of Hamburg early on Tuesday morning where a 400 tonne crane was waiting to lift her out of the water. The weather forecast was 'changeable' and so we were all keeping our fingers crossed that the rain would stop and the wind wouldn't pick up. We had been liaising for months with the event organizers and crane company to try and ensure that everything would run smoothly and that the pressure new from the new boat could be hoisted safely 30m into the air. As with all big jobs, there were one or two last minute challenges to overcome, but after lots of initiative, head scratching and careful translation, everyone was finally ready.

“At 9pm the guests started to arrive, including legions of 6ft tall blond supermodels and German TV celebrities. I was quite overwhelmed by all the photographers and camera crews when I arrived accompanied by Lady Maureen Mills and my girlfriend Kate Denham, but it was great to see so many familiar faces. By 10pm almost 1000 guests and VIPs were ushered out to the riverside, and given gold blankets (more usually sported by marathon runners at the end of their races!) to keep everyone warm. And then the show started. Hugo Boss had employed one of Germany's top lighting companies to lend some glitz to the event and it really worked. The HUGO BOSS yacht looked extraordinary, suspended 30m in the air, lit by more than 40 enormous searchlights and lasers and then she glided slowly towards a raised platform to some haunting classic music. I was joined on the platform by Ukrainian boxing world champions Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko who were invited to officially christen the boat. Sadly, no doubt due to the McLaren F1 team's recent fining of £46 million for alleged spying, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, also recipients of Hugo Boss sponsorship, were no shows.

“And then it was time to party!”