Sam Goodchild Sailing

The JP Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race 2011 was a wet wild 7hours for the 6 of us onboard Artemis 23. I was joined by Paul from Pol Roger Champagne, Kirsty from Spinlock, Tom from Marlow Ropes and two other member of the Artemis Team, Carolyn and Simon.

Our start at 0630 in the morning was to say the least, a little bit crazy, with 25 knots of wind and well over 100 boats on the start line. With out realising quite how many people were aiming for the same spot as us, I quickly realised we were deep in the mix of mayhem. For the first 10 minutes, racing became less of a priority and avoiding crashes was high on the list as I think it was for most of the fleet. The beat through the western solent towards the needles calmed down a bit but, a constant watch for other boat was still necessary. By the time we reached the needles, in 3rd of the 4 figaros, the Mayday calls were all over the radio with every obscure disaster you could think of: lost rudders, people in the water, multihulls capsized and the list was endless.

Thankfully all was well for us and turning round the needles left us with a decision as to which sail to use, I decided it eer on the edge of caution and unfortunately this cost us a few places but, it is not something I regret having seen the problems around us and heard the stories afterwards. We got our self into some space and then put up the big spinnaker to have and incredibly fun blast round the southern tip of the island, in big waves and lots of spray everywhere. We turned round the most eastern end of the course and on to the ‘home strait’ in 4th out of the Artemis Figaros and unfortunately that was how it stayed till the finish. Not winning is never easy but, the most important thing for us. was to have fun and not break the boat, as its the one I will be using for La Solitaire du Figaro in 4 weeks, and we achieved this still finishing 27th of 120 in our class.

Clinging on with the big spinnaker up

The day after the race, my coach Nico Berenger came for a couple days of rig and sail tuning. With the new sails this year and the very adjustable Figaro rig, there is a lot of optimisation that can be done to get the best out of what we have. This was an extremely productive 2days with Nico, topped off with an afternoon of going through the course of the Figaro and starting to run through a few different weather scenarios so the decisions on the race course will hopefully ahve been run through and thought about already.

The boat is now having a mini re-fit and will come out the water to be painted and the mast taken out on thursday. We are back in the water in 10 days for a final 2 weeks training before arriving in Perros-Guirec for the start on the 23rd July.

All for now,

Sam

Since getting back from the La Transmanche I have been back in the solent doing a bit of training by myself and joined by Conrad Humphreys and Nigel King, the other two british entries in the Solitaire, for some of it.

It has been a mostly windy couple weeks where we have only really had a chance to get our new sails out once so, the main agenda has been maneuvers and boat handling. I spent a couple days on my own trying a few things and after a few majors in 30knots with a big spinnaker, thankfully an improvement was noticeable. While we were training over the winter, I felt pretty confident with my boat handling and have therefore spent the last couple months focussing on other things such as boat speed. I realised the down side of this meant that my maneuvers have become the rusty part but, after these couple weeks I am starting to feel a bit more confident again.

Nigel and I spent a day doing one-on-one Match racing style starts which, in 20knots and single handed can get quite busy at times, thankfully no clashes even though it was close at times as you can see from this video.

Yesterday we had a short 20mile race around the solent with the 3 of us, unfortunately Nigel had to head home early with pilot problems but, Conrad and I stayed out for a Photo-shoot with Mark Lloyd where we got some good photos that can be seen on the Artemis Offshore Academy Facebook page here.

On saturday we are competing in the annual Round the Island race but, unlike normal I will be onboard with a crew of 6 and I’m hoping it doesn’t start to feel too cramped. Our start is at 0630 in the morning and there will be updates on the race website www.roundtheisland.org.uk as well as on my twitter feed www.twitter.com/goodchildsam. After the race I have a couple more days training with coach Nico Berenger before the boat comes out the water to have some work done on it in the final preparations for La Solitaire in 5 weeks.

All for now,

Sam

© Lloyd Images

© Lloyd Images

© Lloyd Images

With 6 weeks to go to the start of the Solitaire du Figaro, the Transmanche was the last time we will get to line up with most of the fleet before it really matters. My race, despite consisting of a lot of ups and downs, saw me finish as the 3rd solo and the first ‘Bizuth’ or rookie.

The day before the start the course got changed to avoid strong winds on saturday night so, we had a 150mile course off to the west of brittany including a passage through the famous Chanel du Four. Our manic start in the narrow channel and 25 boats saw me get away form the start buried deep in the pack with a lot of catching up to do. I got around the first mark just shy of the top ten and after the initial 10miles reaching there was not too much change. We then had a 50mile upwind leg in 20knots which was a good opportunity for a speed test with the new sails.

Le Phare du Four (on a good day)

Unfortunately, a small abnormality with my electrics (which was easily fixed and not serious) allowed me to get distracted from the rest of the race and mentally I was very unhappy with the first half of the race, spending the whole thing with no definite plan. The upwind mark then arrived a lot quicker than I expected it and I rounded in a little mess just behind Nigel and Conrad.

We hoisted the spinnakers and started on the leg that turned out to be the decider for the race. There was complete shut down of wind that left the majority of the fleet parked and waiting for the new wind. 4 of us, including Nigel, chose to go west of route looking for the new breeze that filled in 5 hours later. Despite our progress being slow, we managed to find the wind before everyone else and put a 2 mile gap between us and the rest of the fleet.

There was a moment of worry when we split from the rest of the fleet going through the Chanel du Four but, thankfully being guided by the local Michel Bothuon through very narrow gaps in the rocks, we managed to hold them off and hold our lead to the Finish. Michel was double handed so I thought Nigel and I had finished 1st and 2nd solo sailors but, was a little surprised to find Jermie Beyou on the dock waiting for us. After making an early break from the fleet he had escaped the worst of the wind shut down and then made a tidal gate and finished an hour and a half before everyone. Considering everyone else finished within 50minutes, this was pretty incredible.

I am very happy with my result but, am under no deceptions that the solitaire is going to be easy as there will be many more sailors and a lot of talent. I have got a list of things away from this event to go work on over the next 6 weeks so that on the 31st July, I can hit the start-line as competitively as possible and give myself a good chance of making the best of the opportunity i’ve been given. The boat is on the way back to cowes at the moment and I will join it on Tuesday to continue training from there. The next race will be the Round the Island race on the 25th June.

All for now,

Sam

The last day of preparations for the final practise event of the season has gone pretty well for the 3 brits. Conrad Humphreys, Nigel Kind and myself have had nothing but small jobs to do on the boats, leaving plenty of time to look at weather and the racecourse.

20 solo figaros in the 2011 Transmanche

The weather for the first 24hours of the race looks fairly kind but, from saturday night we will expect some strong southerly winds of over 30knots. This forecast has made the race committee think about the course to Plymouth and back and there are rumours going around that the course maybe shortened to keep us from having to go up wind in potential boat breaking conditions. The new course would keep us closer to the French coast and probably have us finishing before the worst of the weather comes through.

Despite the weather, I think the most exciting part of the race will be the start which, is in a very narrow channel with no where near enough space to fit all the boats and the penalty for pushing the limits will be running aground. The start line can only possibly be about 100metres long and there are 21boats in our fleet alone plus 25 other boats competing of which we are all single or double handed. So, interesting I think to say the least and ironically the french called this a depart anglais(English Start). Hopefully not too much carnage.

The first part of La Transmanche out through the rocks

Ill keep updates to course changes on twitter and an update after the race.

All for now,

Sam

Following the UK Figaro nationals a couple weeks ago, we took the boat back to Cowes(fun sailing on the delivery) and then spent a week there continuing to tweak some of the boats systems and install some new electronics. During the week work we also got a chance to head a out sailing a few times including taking Yachting World’s Elaine Bunting out for a quick spin – here is her blog from the days sailing.

I also got a chance to meet up with Sports Psychologist, Niel Weston at Portsmouth University and Nutritionist Di Johnson. In Portsmouth we had a very productive session making sure that my plans for the season are all staying on track and also coming up with plans of trying to avoid myself getting distracted by the smaller less important things while preparing and racing. Nutrition is also something I am very inexperienced in so, to meet Di and get some of her advice was invaluable. We are now coming up with a diet plan mainly for the Solitaire du Figaro where we will have 3-4 days racing with minimal sleep, followed by 3-4 days recovery for the next leg, going on for 4 weeks. What you eat and how quickly you recover here I think will have a big impact on how you approach the next leg.

Enjoying an easterly on the way to Plymouth

Following that, I have brought the boat down to Plymouth for a couple days 2-boat testing with Conrad Humphreys before the last training event prior to the Solitaire. Yesterday we did some upwind speed testing with the help of Dick Parker from North Sails UK and tonight we are heading off on our delivery to L’aber wach for La Transmanche race starting on Friday.

Heading out training with Conrad

The race start on the North coast of Brittany is 220miles around Plymouth breakwater and back. The tactics behind this race are much different to that of the Basse Normandie where tide will have a much lesser effect and raw boat speed is likely to make the gains and loses.

All for now,

Sam

The day after the finish of the Solo Basse Normandie, we started UK Figaro Nationals this consisted of a 100mile leg across the channel to the needles, then west and finishing in cowes. The following day was a set of inshore races followed by a coastal race on the last day. It was a double handed event that I did it with Nick Cherry and we hope for this to be the first of many double handed events together.

The wind for the start of the race was a lively 25knots from the west and the angle to Cherbourg made it ideal for fast and very wet tight reach with the small spinnaker to the needles. We started well and left Cherbourg leading the fleet. But, after having a bad hoist we were back to 4th and chasing. We were still in touch with the leaders until a few more spinnaker troubles pushed us back to 2 miles off the leaders.  By 20 miles to the finish we were about 1 mile off the leaders but, unfortunately that was as close as we could get.

Leading out of Cherbourg

As the offshore race was double points, this left us with a lot of catching up to do. And, after we won the first inshore race, things were looking up. However, it didn’t go so smoothly after that and struggling a bit to in tune with the conditions on the race course we finished the day with a scoreline of 1,3,5,3. This meant we needed a good the final coastal race to be in with a chance of getting into the top 3.

Close starts in the inshore racing

We woke up to 40knots on the last day so, spent the morning hanging around waiting for the wind to moderate before the race organizers decided to call it a day. So, we finished a dissappointing 4th overall but had some good fun sailing a long the way. After racing was cancelled for too much wind we saw in perfect for our 50mile downwind delivery back to cowes where we are based for the following week. On the trip we saw upto 35knots and had some great sailing with some good videos too.

This week we are continuing to work on the boat and then some training towards the end of the week before heading before to L’aber wach for the Transmanche with is the next race starting on the 9th June.

All for now,

Sam

Yesterday morning I crossed the finish line of the Solo Basse Normandie 2011 in 2nd place, this was a good moral boost and my qualification for the Solitaire du Figaro in August. The 200mile course took us north through the Channel Islands then east over the Cherbourg peninsular before turning round just before Caen and finishing in Cherbourg.

The 4 British Skippers the start

The 17 of us started of Granville with a short windward leg before reaching to St.Malo and then turning North. On the start line, I didn’t manage to start on the line where I wanted to but, I had clean wind and space to tack. I had a good windward leg and just squeezed around infront of David Sineau to go around the windward mark in 1st.

Leading around the windward mark

By St.Malo I had frustrating lost a few places and went around the mark in 4th. The fleet then spilt into two groups of which, I was leading the group heading west. The westerly option unfortunately made earlier bigger early loses than intended initially intended. Even though I managed to make a tidal break that saw me split from the rest of my group, I still arrived at Jersey In 8th at the back of the other group. My new sails helped me with some good reaching speed that by Casquets saw me pull back into 3rd, where we all parked against the tide and waited for the top ten boats to re start again.

Cutting things fine through some rocks

Here fellow Artemis sailor managed to get him self free earlier than everyone else and pull out a 1 mile over the rest of he fleet. I broke away with a few other boats fighting for 2nd place. Going slightly further offshore around Alderney saw me split from the group and settle in to 2nd place. From here we had a few reaching legs with less tactical options, the fleet compressing and extending as the tides came and went. Phil had a mistake free and managed to keep him self in sight but out of touch of the chasing pack.

A front with 25knots came through just before the finish which saw us beating into the harbour overpowered and the top 3 finishing with in 12 minutes of each other. On a whole I am happy with my result and despite it being hard coming second to one of my training partners, It had made happy that in the Solitaire this year I will be able to be competitive with in the Rookie fleet.

We now have the UK Figaro Nationals starting this afternoon. This is a double handed event starting with a cross channel race to weymouth followed by a few inshore races and then a coastal race on Thursday. I am doing it with fellow Artemis Academy member Nick Cherry and we are hoping to push hard in the 7 boat fleet.

All for now,

Sam

We have just had a weather briefing with Nico for the Solo Basse Normandie that starts at 1300 tomorrow afternoon.  Light winds on saturday have made the race committee shorten the course from 260 miles to 200. At the moment it looks like we will spend the first 24hours it quite light winds and playing with the tides, which could mean a lot of anchoring or just very very slow progress. However, by sunday morning a front is coming through that could see us with up to 30knots off some of the headlands so, this race seems to have everything covered.

Unlike the Solo Concarneau the last day of preparation was a lot more relaxed. Out new sails arrived just after lunch so, most of the afternoon was spent getting those ready for sailing tomorrow. Otherwise at the moment everything is working well, my biggest concern is that we have not had a enough time to install a spare autopilot so hopefully, my new one will work with no issues. It has had a couple days testing on the delivery with no blips so, fingers crossed on that one.

There are 17 sailors competing in this event of which 4 of us are English, which I believe has got to be pretty close to a record for most English at one figaro event for a while, in recent years definitely. The four of us are Conrad Humphreys, Nigel King, Phil Sharp and myself. The main aim for me is to finish which means I will carry on getting a much better gauge of where I am in the fleet and also tick the qualification box for the Solitaire. Despite on the dock and weather briefings we are all working together, I am sure that when it gets to the race course none of us will want to be the 4th brit to finish.

Time now for a good nights sleep then tomorrow morning an update of the latest weather files before heading out to the start around midday.

I don’t think there is a tracker for this race but, the race website is: http://www.solo-bassenormandie.fr/ where there may be some updates and following http://twitter.com/#!/OffshoreAcademy will have any updates available too.

All for now

Sam

After the disappointingly having to pull out of the Solo Concarneau last week, I came back to Lorient to carry on working on the boat and to join two of the other Artemis figaros and Conrad Humphreys for some training with Nico Berenger.

Big distractions while trying to work with the new volvo 70 being put together next door.

The main aim was to fix the auto pilot and carry on with our Jobs list on the boat of making sure everything is in tip top condition for the Solitaire in July. We are constantly tweaking things, adding things and removing things to try and make sure we have systems on board working well. It is a very simple boat but, there are many small personalisations that we make just to make everything a little bit easier. Around this Nico was down coaching and we were all also looking at some of the new sail designs for this year. Mid-week we also had a photo-shoot with Musto to get some photos of some clothes from their new range.

Good training and good weather.

Unfortunately, while out training with Nico, we noticed that there was a bit of asymmetry in my rig. It ended up that the rig had to come out and we are now waiting for a new piece to get it fixed and hopefully back sailing by tomorrow morning. As soon as the boats is ready to go I will set off on the 230mile delivery to the start port for the Solo Basse-Normandie starting on Friday 20th May.

This is a 250mile course around the very tidal North coast of France, starting in Granville and finishing in Cherbourg. Strait after the finish is the UK Figaro nationals which is a double handed event with a combination of Cross Channel, Inshore and Coastal Races.

I will keep the updates here and on Twitter as to how the next couple weeks go with all the prep, racing and a delivery.

All for now,

Sam

I sit here in an Internet cafe looking out the window at the finish line of the Solo Concarneau, feeling highly disappointed that I havent just crossed it like the rest of the fleet. Unfortunately after 36hours of racing, last night my Auto pilot decided to pack it in. I spent 2 hours, half racing, going backwards, drifting and pirouetting around the race course, trying everything I could think of to fix it but, had no luck in getting any life out of it. Then the arrival of a big thunder squall brought me to reality and I realised that to finish the 110miles of the race with out a pilot in 25 knots of wind and thunder storms would be a bit silly, especially since it is just a training event. There were 7 other sailors who dropped out  too of which most of them also had electrical problems. Despite this big disappointment, I have taken a lot away from this race as to my strengths and weaknesses and what I would like to work on with my coaches.

We had fairly ideal sailing conditions for the start and I managed to get away cleanly, heading to the right side of the course and got to the first mark in 3rd position along side a few experienced sailors on the Figaro circuit. Feeling a little surprised with myself, I held this position for the first 20 miles of the course which saw us wiggle through the Iles de Glenan heading west to the Point of Penmarch. There we turned and started going up wind. Having missed out this winter on much training in waves and having a new sail I had never used before, I took a bit longer than the others to get into the groove of the conditions, by which time I had dropped back in the fleet a bit.

Crossing with fellow Brit skipper Conrad Humphreys just after the Start.

The slow start and a couple tactical errors meant that by the end of that 70mile leg upwind I was in 20th and an hour and a half behind the leaders. I was then playing catch up. By the end of the next 65 mile downwind, I had managed to over take a couple people and close the gap to the leaders to under an hour with only 25mins to the middle of the ‘pack’. We then started on the second lap with the 70miles upwind again. This time I settled in much more quickly and just after I had over taken the back marker of the pack and thought I’d go have a quick sleep, I clicked the auto button and nothing happened… The erratic courses and imaginative thinking to try and steer the boat began, while I checked everything I could think of to fix the pilot…nothing. Initially I continued racing but, I wasn’t long before I realised it wasn’t realistic to reach with the spinnaker for 60 miles with no pilot in the weather we had.

So, I motored back to Lorient, where we are training next week. It was on the way into the harbour that I realised how tired I was, having not slept for a long time by this stage. I fell asleep standing on the side of the boat and caught my self about to fall while steering. This was after only 2 hours motoring as apposed to the 12+ if I had continued racing.

I now have two weeks of sailing and coaching with Nico to try and make myself a bit happier with the boat(especially the auto pilot) and the different conditions of the Atlantic before the Basse Normandie on the 20th May.

All for now

Sam