Welcome to Bondchem’s series Adhesives are Cool! I know, but hear us out…
Across the world, adhesives are helping to keep the world running as we know it every single day. Not only do they keep children entertained for hours on end (who else remembers how long they would spend picking glue off their fingers at school?) But they also help to build homes, are infinitely tied to the manufacturing industry, and even have a role in medicine. When you next get into a car, bus, train, or (at some point – oh corona) a plane, you can thank the adhesives industry for ensuring that your journey doesn’t, quite literally, fall apart.
Alex Thomson’s sticky situation in the South Atlantic
Over the next few weeks Bondchem is going to discover and explain all of the different ways that adhesives are used around the world. First up is Alex Thomson, competitor in the Vendée Globe. A good introduction to Alex is through his 2014 stunt The Mast Walk, performed on his high-speed yacht, Hugo Boss, in 2014. Watch here.
Alex Thomson is one of the favourites of over thirty competitors taking part in the Vendée Globe, an around the world yacht-race that begins and ends at the Département of Vendée, in France. Thomson hit a bump or, shall we say, crack in the road when, 800 miles from Rio de Janeiro in the middle of the South Atlantic ocean, he discovered significant structural damage to his boat; the carbon fibre shell was fractured in several places.
A solo race, Thomson has to fix any damages he encounters by himself. Guided by his technical team back in the UK, he cut spare panels of carbon fibre and glued them onto the broken areas in the hull of his boat. Thanks to the adhesives he had onboard, Thomson managed to steer himself out of a rather sticky situation (pardon the puns).
Onboard Update: Repairs Under Way – YouTube
Onboard Update: Repairs nearing completion – YouTube
While Bondchem did not supply adhesives to Thomson (although we do supply a large range of private label customers, so we can’t rule it out), our M400-05 Black would be perfect for the job, and he most likely used something similar. Click here for the M400-05 datasheet, and here for our full range of 400 Series Methacrylate products.
For some Thursday entertainment, here is another of Alex’s fun stunts:
Mercedes-Benz | HUGO BOSS The SkyWalk by Alex Thomson – YouTube
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