20/01/2017 South Today

He narrowly failed to realise his goal of becoming the first British

sailor to win the gruelling Vendee Globe round the world race,

But Alex Thomson from Gosport was still greeted as a returning

hero, met by thousands of cheering supporters as he crossed the finish

He hasn't seen a soul for 74 days, he lost his starboard foil after

just two weeks and slept five hours in the past three days.

At dawn Alex Thompson arrived into France a hero.

Sometimes you think, I say to myself, why am I doing this?

But you don't have a choice, that point you

To finish in second place, I am chuffed.

His journey started at Haslam Marina in

1999, he had become the youngest sailor to win the

around the world yacht race and wanted a new adventure.

Usually there are around 30 people working

here, but today there is no-one here because they are all in France.

We respect him so much for what he has

done but we see the four-year build-up

naval architects, the marketing, the PR, everything that goes

into this, it is a phenomenal effort saw Alex

is quite right with the star man but we are also

aware of the 20, 30 or

more people who are working tirelessly to get him

Here they hope Alex's achievements will

He is probably not in too much danger of being stopped on the high

street, that is the difference, whereas in France he is

What is it like for Alex being back on shore?

He sealed nine times around the world.

He will switch straight back into normal mode very

quickly, but physically the race will have drawn from him and it

will take two or three months to get himself back to his normal shoreside

physique so it does have a tremendous effect, it is three

Mike saved Alex's life as they raced each other

in the Southern Ocean in

Think they have unfinished business, if

I haven't asked yet, but it would be difficult not to.

The third, the second, there is only one thing to

I think I have to say yes because he will do it anyway!

Celebrate, sleep and back to Gosport to plot the path to 2020.

Changes which make it harder to get a UK Visa are being blamed

for a significant drop in the number of foreign students coming

It's down by nearly 20%, which in turn has knocked

Here's our Business Correspondent, Alastair Fee.

Giuseppe is in Bournemouth for six months, he is to learn English.

As an Italian student he can work, too, but that may not be the case if

In the morning I have school and in the afternoon I

go to work and also I learn quickly because at the shop I speak every

If the rules change of course I will choose

The Anglo Continental is Bournemouth's biggest

language school and last year they were down 800 students.

Brexit has not helped but the fall in numbers

is also down to the UK Visa process, seen as overly difficult compared

Now students around the world have the opinion

that the United Kingdom is very unwelcoming to international

students so a lot of students don't even consider the UK any more if

they are going to get an unfriendly reception at the point of obtaining

This man left the job as a furniture designer in Thailand to

Many of his friends have chosen other English speaking countries.

If I stay in Australia or New Zealand, I can

live in England for eight months but I can stay in Australia

Yes, I can work in New Zealand or Australia but in England I can't.

The sector has been hit by other challenges,

an existing level of English first and is coming to study

There were subsequently a Home Office crackdown.

Some employers rely on seasonal staff form the EU.

Some are going home because they do not feel welcome,

People go where the work is so if they can

work and study then they will go elsewhere.

Last year the fall in students what job losses, there will

be more to come if the UK continues to lose out

Tonnes of aid donated to a Hampshire based

charity started its journey to Syria tonight.

The Portsmouth group "Don't hate, donate" got a huge response

to its appeal for blankets, clothes, food and medicines.

It's filled a container with 20 tons of supplies.

It'll be shipped to Turkey and will complete the journey by road.

The charity says it's received enough donations

Football - and a big game in the championship tonight.

Second-placed Brighton took the lead against Sheffield Wednesday half

an hour in, but cancelled that out ten minutes later with an awkward

Both sides saw red in a tense and testy second half before a late

and welcome winner for the Seagulls ten minutes from the end.

Brighton staying laser focussed on automatic promotion.

The Saints captain Joe is a font is leaving Southampton for West Ham in

an ?8 million deal. That's all from the South Today

news team this evening. We're back tomorrow

at 5:20pm here on BBC1. Next up, Sarah Farmer

with the weekend weather forecast. The cold theme continues in the

coming days. Tonight is no exception. Frosty conditions on the

cards. Clear skies in the region. Maybe some pockets of mist and

freezing fog here and there. Temperatures in towns and cities -2

or three. A couple of degrees cooler out in the countryside. A cold but

fresh start first thing tomorrow morning. Good bright conditions

early on. A bit of here and there but it should clear in the morning.

We will start to see the cloud creeping north. But still some

brighter skies at times. Temperature is not struggling much beyond five

or 6 degrees. Sunday is a foggy start to the day. We will have one

or two brighter skies at times. More widespread fog on the way come

feel cooler. Can we keep it going until the start of the new week? I

suspect we can. Unconfirmed about -- concerned about the fog around. Here

is Helen with the national picture. Good evening. The weather is upon

us. The cloud has made all the difference this week in particular.

We