Sadly for British fans of sailing, last week saw the infamously tough Vendee Globe race claim yet another victim. Alex Thomson was forced to withdraw from the race after the hull of his yacht suffered severe damage.

His withdrawal makes him the fourth individual to retire from the race since it began. The previous unlucky victims of the event are Kito de Pavant, Marc Tjhiercelin and Yannick Bestaven.

At the beginning of last week, the individuals competing in the race had to endure extreme weather conditions, including 50-knot winds. Thomson’s yacht, the Open 60 Hugo Boss, was damaged in these stormy conditions and he was forced to return to Les Sables d’Olonne, a nearby French port.

Following some lengthy assessments of his yacht, it was decided, in the words of Thomson, that it would take “a matter of weeks, not days” to fix. The Open 60 Hugo Boss model sustained a five metre-long transverse crack, which punctured both the inner and the outer skin.

Although Thomson remains resolute that he will return to the race in 2012 and will never give up on his ambition of being successful in the event, being forced to retire was the last thing the skipper and his crew wanted this year.

During the race four years ago, Thomson suffered a similar fate when his previous yacht was severely damaged. Furthermore, during the 2006 Velux Five Oceans race, which aimed to take competitors around the world, his boat lost its keel and he had to be rescued by a fellow British competitor.

As a nation keen on sport, we are all looking forward to the London 2012 Olympic Games. However, a slightly sour note was struck earlier this week, as the International Sailing Federation announced that the Yngling class will not be part of the sporting event.

During the last two Olympic Games, Britain has won gold medals in this event and this latest news has not been well received by the individuals responsible for this previous success.

Sarah Webb, who, along with Sarah Ayton and Pippa Wilson, won a gold medal in the event in Beijing this year, has spoken of her intense disappointment.

The International Sailing Federation has replaced the Yngling class with the Elliot 6m for keelboat match racing. This replacement has come as no consolation to Webb, who believes that she is not “big enough to race” the “heavy, overpowered” Elliot 6ms.

The Royal Yachting Association will reconsider its 2012 programme in the light of this announcement from the International Sailing Federation. However, the racing manager and performance director of the association, John Derbyshire, has revealed that the officials are looking forward to the challenges of racing in the Elliot 6m.

Derbyshire also spoke of his desire for the ISAF to make the qualification process for the keelboat match racing event clear as quickly as possible. Only once sailors and their teams have been made aware of the exact process can “their 2012 campaigns” be finalised.

The Olympic sailing events will undoubtedly still be exciting despite this alteration. British fans of sailing who are keen to cheer on Team GB will have to make their way to Portland and Weymouth when the event begins in the summer of 2012.