 Soon after it became a tropical storm on October 9 near Madeira , with a ragged eye already present , the NHC officially named it Tropical Storm Vince and began to issue advisories . At the time there was some uncertainty as to whether Vince was tropical or subtropical but , in his post @-@ season analysis , forecaster James L. Franklin of the NHC conceded that Vince had formed as a subtropical storm and had evolved into a tropical storm before it was named . The storm 's ragged eye quickly solidified and contracted into a " bona fide " eye with a diameter of 15 mi ( 25 km ) . This increase in organization was accompanied by strengthening , and Vince reached its peak strength as a hurricane with 75 mph ( 120 km / h ) winds later that day . The NHC forecaster decided that " if it looks like a hurricane , it probably is , despite its environment and unusual location " . 
