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Twenty-three year old British offshore sailor Sam Goodchild is deep in preparation for his third attempt at the iconic French solo race the 2013 Solitaire du Figaro which takes place this June.
A graduate of the British Artemis Offshore Academy which aims to help aspiring UK sailors make their mark on the grand prix offshore scene, Goodchild is now managing his own campaign and has secured financial support from a number of sources, including a private backer who has paid for the purchase of a boat for the 2013 edition of the Figaro.
We tracked him down at his training base in France’s Port La Foret to find out more about how he intends to take on the French in their own back yard. First off, we asked him to explain what the almost 2000 mile race was all about.
“It’s a four leg race and the course is different each edition,” he said. “This year it starts in Bordeaux in France, then goes to Porto in Portugal, Gijón in Spain, Roscoff in Brittany and finishes in Dieppe in France. I think they are expecting 40 or 45 boats this year.”
Goodchild told us that the Marc Lombard designed Figaro Bénéteau 2 boats which were originally designed specifically for one-design offshore sailing and the one-design ethos continued to be strictly enforced for the Figaro race.
“They all come from Bénéteau and were built between 2003 and 2006; they don’t build new ones any more,” he said.
“They are one-design down to the nth detail. For example, every rope has to be the same diameter and you are penalised if not. Every boat is weighed before the race. Water jerry cans and life rafts are sealed in and the seals are broken you get penalties. There are maximum volumes of water allowed on the boat and a maximum weight limit for the amount of your kit on the boat.”
While Goodchild ultimately has his hopes set on funding a competitive Vendee Globe campaign in the future, he told us the Figaro also holds a powerful fascination for him. So was his plan to use this race as another jumping off point for his Vendee aspirations we wondered?
He was quick to explain, however, that he viewed the Figaro as a unique challenge in itself and much more than just a stepping stone event.
“The thing about the Figaro is that people are continually coming back to it,” he said. “For example, Armel Le Cléac’h is going to be competing this year after just finishing second in the Vendee Globe.
“We have been training with him recently and there are quite a few Vendee Globe competitors who previously did well in the Figaro and are now coming back again; Jérémie Beyou and Yann Elies [last year's Figaro winner] are also competing this year.
“So it’s not really a stepping stone race as everyone keeps on coming back to it and that keeps the level really high.”
Goodchild’s results from his last two Figaro’s show an upward trend which he said he hoped would continue this year, despite the additional pressure of running his own programme.
“I was 34th in the first year and then 24th the second time – hopefully this year I will come 14th! This year though, the level is going to be pretty high and when I look at my preparation compared to last year, there are some things which have gone better and some worse.
“But I am hoping I can still improve on my result from last year and not be too hampered by the amount of effort I am having to put in off the water to try and secure the campaign.”
He also confessed that an additional incentive was to become the highest placed British sailor in the race’s history.
“The best English result in recent years has been seventeenth, so my aim is to top that,” he said. “Most recently that was Phil Sharp but I think Sam Davies got seventeenth as well.”
So having competed twice already, what does Goodchild believe it takes to win the Figaro?
“A lot of things have to go right!” he replied with a dry laugh. “I asked that question of Jérémie Beyou who won it first in 2005 and then again in 2011. He told me for that whole time his sole focus was on how to win the Figaro. He said he did nothing but eat, live and breathe the race, nonstop for seven years.
“I think it is about immaculately preparing the boat and yourself; making sure you have no distractions. Then once you have got yourself in the perfect situation to get to the startline, it’s then about doing the right thing on the water.
“There is so much to come together and the level is so high that you are not going to beat these guys with a half funded campaign thrown together six months before the start.”
We will be checking back with Goodchild closer to the start of the 2012 Solitaire du Figaro which takes place on June 2.
Plus, a longer version of our conversation will appear in the May iPad and tablet issue of Sail Racing Magazine, out around April 22.
Meanwhile, you can download the April 2013 issue from the Apple App Store here:
Image credit: Lloyd Images
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