Mike Golding - Sailor in the Spotlight

There are good sailors, and then there are great sailors. The ability to overcome adversity is key to ocean sailing, and often absolutely critical in ocean racing, and you have to be good to make it out there. "Greatness," however, is only apparent when things are at their worst. If, for instance, you can lose your keel, and still finish a race, you're a damned good sailor. If you can do that in the Vendée Globe 'round the world race, and actually make it to the podium, you're a Great sailor, and your name is Mike Golding.

 

On the Velux 5 ocean race, Mike heroically turned into a storm and sailed back 90nm to rescue fellow sailor Alex Thomson, putting himself in harm's way and causing enough damage to take him out of the race as well. On the last Vendée Globe, he placed third despite having no keel on his IMOCA Open 60 (risking constant capsize). Now on a brand new boat (Ecover 3), and with two Vendée Globe races behind him, Mike is one of the favorites to win this year's event, and he spent some time this week giving YachtPals the inside scoop on the race.

 

When not solo sailing at breakneck speeds across oceans, Mike lives with his wife and young son near Southampton in the UK. Nearly fearless, patient, self-sufficient, passionate about sailing and the ocean, and with a great sense of humor, Mike Golding loves the brutal challenges of racing sailboats on the open sea, and embodies the true spirit of the solo ocean racer in every way. YachtPals is proud to feature Mike Golding as our latest Sailor in the Spotlight.

 

 

 

We caught up with Mike Golding on his yacht Ecover 3

 

YP: It's a pleasure to speak with you, Mike. I know you must be really busy. What are you up to right now?

Mike: Right now, I'm on the boat and we've just come back in from a sail - testing various things. [...] Basically getting everything ready to go off for three months.

 

YP: How does your family feel about you racing in another Vendée Globe, and leaving home for so long?

Mike: Well, I've got one son, and last time around, he was just one. So this time around it's a lot harder because he's five years old, and he's very well aware that daddy's going away, but still lacks a total conception of what three months means. So I'm sure my wife is going to have to put up with Soren continuously asking when Daddy's getting home. I mean, obviously my wife's been through it all before, so she's an experienced hand at it, and she's an around-the-world sailor herself [Andrea Golding], having been a crew member on Group 4 in an around the world race. So, she's been there before, but for Soren it's going to be clearly alot tougher, and I suppose in a way it makes it tougher on me as well. Because he's at an age where he's just learned to ride his bike without his training wheels, and all that sort of thing is going on. So you're pretty sure you're going to miss something in three months in the development of a young child like that.

 

 

YP: Speaking of childhood development, when did you first start sailing?

Mike: I started sailing when I was about nine - I call that a late starter [laughing]. But in terms of professional sailing, I didn't really start professional sailing until I was in my early 30's. I was sailing at high levels doing transatlantics and stuff, but as a privateer, with no sponsorship backing throughout the 80's, and then it was only in the early 90's when I got the breaks and backing to do larger things.

 

 

YP: So, without a sponsor, you obviously didn't do it for any other reason than loving to sail. Why do you sail? What do you enjoy about it?

Mike: Sailing was a passion since childhood. At nine it was the first thing that really captured my attention as a child, and became something more than just one of those things you do, and from then I've always been a passionate sailor. I've always enjoyed sailing, I enjoy traveling, I enjoy being on the ocean, I enjoy the technical side of the sport, and you know the whole thing is really brought together in one big bite in a race like this [Vendée Globe].

 

 

YP: It's a big race, even for ocean racers. What do you think are the qualities of a good Vendée Globe sailor?

Mike: I mean, obviously, self-reliance, patience, a degree of fearlessness [laughing], and the ability to operate very efficiently day and night, in extreme conditions. Most of the solo sailors would be lying if they said they didn't enjoy some of that - I mean, it's masochistic, that's for sure [laughing], but there are days when it is absolutely fabulous.

They are amazing boats, [...] hugely powerful boats, very very sophisticated, and for their size, very very fast. It is a joy to behold when one of them is at full tilt in the Southern Ocean.

 

 

YP: If I'm remembering correctly, in the last Vendée Globe, you lost the keel on your old boat during the race and still took third, is that right?

Mike: That's right, yeah. Um...

 

 

YP: Right. So... Now you have a new Open 60 yacht... What's the difference between this boat [Ecover 3, launched 2007] and your last Vendée Globe boat?

Mike: Apart from the fact that it's still got a keel? [laughing] Well, the big difference is, that it's really a step change. We've got more power, more sail area, heavier bulb. The boat is about the same weight in fact, so basically power to weight ratio has gone up significantly. Ultimately it's a very powerful hull form. So all around, it's a faster boat than the old boat. I think the point with open class is it's a liberated rule, so people choose technically really quite different solutions, and we've kind of honed our last boat into something better, rather than starting from an absolute blank sheet of paper. So, this boat is very much like the last boat, very much like the boat that I did the 2004 Vendée Globe with, except it's got power commensurate with all the new boats. So, we're hoping were not going to get any massive surprises, but you just never can tell, it's a long way around the world.

 

 

YP: That it is. So speaking of the older boats, Sam Davies told me recently that she's racing in what she calls the "Classics Class" in the Vendée Globe. She said "the new boats are theoretically unbeatable." Would you agree that the sailors competing in the older boats are at a disadvantage?

Mike: I think that's probably fair. Though Sam is sailing the boat that won the last race, and also won the race before, so her own boat disproves that theory [laughing]. I mean, an old boat, in theory could not have won the last race, but it did. It just does go to show, you cannot date boats - you can make boats lighter, add more sail area, change various internal structures (to give yourself different ballast ratio), so there are things you can do to an old boat, but... She probably is right, I mean her boat is by now, a good couple of generations old, so you could call it a classic. But I don't think Sam is going to be too far off the pace, she's a very good sailor, much more experienced than her looks would give you the feeling for. So I think she's going to do just fine. I'm sure she'll do well.

 

YP: Michel [Desjoyeaux - who won the 2000 Vendée Globe on the 'classic' now named ROXY] told me he was giving Sam some tips on the boat. He said he wanted to give her some advice on how to sail "his baby," as he called it.

Mike: [laughing] Well, I'm sure he's got fond feelings for it, 'cause I know he's having an awful lot more trouble with his new boat. You know, one of the problems of course is, the new boats are great, and theoretically faster, but they are also technically more complex. We are pushing the boundaries of what is possible with these boats. Some of us, maybe many of us, will have got it wrong, and things will break.

I think you'll see some carnage in this edition of the race, because there are such a lot of new boats competing. [laughing] When I say carnage, I mean technical breakdown.

I think the reality is, the quality of sailors is very very high. So I'm not... One obviously has to keep one's fingers crossed, but it's been a long time since we've lost a sailor in one of these races, and that's because the safety standards have risen, and the skippers are more experienced these days. But I mean, I do think that there will be dropouts from the race, people retiring for technical problems, and so on and so forth, and that's kind of normal. It is actually quite normal for between a third and a half of the competitors to not finish the race.

 

 

YP: You have a bit of experience yourself with the trials of completing an ocean race. During the Velux 5 Oceans yacht race in 2006 you rescued Alex Thompson in the Southern Ocean, only to be dismasted, forcing you to drop out of the race yourself, is that right?

Mike: Yeah that's right, that's about the size of it. Yeah, you know, that's exactly proves my point. His [Alex Thomson] boat had a keel failure - the top of the keel snapped - and he was in a pretty serious situation in the Southern Ocean. I was the nearest guy there to help him. I was some 90 miles away, and had to make my way back upwind to get him, and fortunately we got him aboard. But then subsequently we dismasted in the same storm that was potentially threatening his life. So yeah, I have some experience with that.

 

 

YP: Do you find comfort in knowing the other Vendée Globe sailors are out there with you, and that they also live by that same sailors' code - to watch out for each other?

Mike: Yeah, I think it is important. I mean, one of the things about a race with so many competitors is that there are so many competitors who are able to help each other - it is definitely a reassurance.

 

 

YP: So, then are you excited about the upcoming Vendée Globe, or nervous?

Mike: A bit of both really. You couldn't do it and not be a little nervous. Although in many respects, I'm more nervous about gear failure than anything else, because of the unknowns of it.

 

 

YP: Speaking of gear failure. Ocean racers always have to decide just how far they will push their boat in order to win. Loïck Peyron told us about two ways of racing that seem to sum things up: The oak way, where you sail the boat hard basically till she breaks, and the bamboo way, where you bend to the situation to ensure a finish. How would you describe your style of ocean racing?

Mike: I've got a pretty good track record of not breaking stuff, so I must be more the bamboo way. But having said that, on both previous editions of the Vendée [Globe], and it is still true today, that I'm the current record holder for the Southern Ocean. So, the fastest outright crossing of the Indian and the Pacific ocean. So, I can't be going that slow [laughing].

 

 

YP: I guess not! So, who do you think is your biggest competition in the upcoming Vendée Globe around the world race?

Mike: I think Loïck [Peyron] is probably the strongest favorite based on recent record. You know, he's won the last two events he's competed in, he seems to have a very reliable fast boat [Gitana 80], and he's a talented sailor. He's a sailor everyone enjoys to see win, because he's a good character. I think he's in with a good chance.

I think Michel [Michel Desjoyeaux, sailing Foncia] is in with a good chance. I think Sébastien Josse [sailing BT] is in with a very good chance. Any of those three, and obviously Vincent Riou [sailing PRB] as well. All good prospects.

From the UK, I think Alex [Thomson] is a strong contender. If he can get around without breaking, he's a strong contender. [We spoke with Mike Golding prior to Alex's yacht Hugo Boss being hit by the fishing boat, with luck Alex will still compete]. And an outsider, maybe Brian Thompson [sailing Pindar]; the boat is a bit of an unknown quantity, but it could be very fast. So, Brian could be good.

But... It's very difficult, because it's a long list of very good sailors, and very good boats. And there are a bunch of new guys that come from Figaro - one or two of them are going to shine through. The rest of them might struggle a bit - just on the experience basis. On the experience side of things: knowing how hard to push, when to push, and how to make a boat go around the world nonstop... I mean, that's the really tricky thing about this race. It's not the sailing, it's doing it nonstop - that is the difficult bit that most people fall foul of.

 

YP: What do you see as your own greatest challenges in the upcoming Vendée Globe?

Mike: Avoiding gear failure [laughing]. Seriously, I mean, for me that is a bigger fear than... I mean, of course, people are always going to say storms, and icebergs, and all of that is a big fear, but unnecessary gear failure is just devastatingly frustrating - particularly when you're doing well in a race. So that's probably my biggest fear, but naturally you're apprehensive of the Southern Ocean in such powerful boats; it's always an interesting mix!

 

 

YP: Most of the Vendée Globe skippers are telling me gear failure is a huge concern. It seems to be at the forefront of everyone's thoughts during these final preparations. Do you have any other strategy for winning the Vendée Globe?

Mike: My strategy last time was pretty cock on, I think. You know, I played a relatively safe game until Cape Horn, and so long as you're in the play in Cape Horn, I think you can win the race on that last leg. So, the goal is to arrive at Cape Horn in contention, then I think I have a very good boat for that last section. So that's really my goal. That's what I did last time, and it seemed to work. I think you have to treat each day as it comes, and go from being oak to bamboo [laughing], and back again.

 

 

YP: You said something earlier which seems to be a theme among solo ocean racers. You said Loïck is "a sailor everyone enjoys to see win, because he's a good character." I agree, there are sailors like Loïck who, since you know they are really nice people, you truly enjoy helping, and seeing up on the podium. There are others in the sailing community that are not known as such "nice guys," and there seems to be a real slice down the middle between skippers that help each other, and the um... other guys. Are you feeling that now?

Mike: [laughing] I think that's fair enough, that's probably about right, but I think it's true in any professional sport. You know, sailing is very unusual in that it still has that element of camaraderie attached to it. Other professional sports, particularly ones with millions of pounds being spent, as it is in sailing, you wouldn't imagine people sharing ideas and technology. Even the idea of Michel [Desjoyeaux] helping Sam [Davies], it wouldn't necessarily happen in F1 for instance, or motor racing, you know. So there is a nice element still attached to sailing, born of the difficulties of the environment that we all share. You know, everyone knows when we go out sailing we are in a hostile environment, and our best lifeboat is another competitor. So, you'd better be nice to everyone, or they might not come and get you [laughing].

 

 

YP: Good advice, Mike! So many ocean sailors look up to you, who do you look up to in the sport of sailing?

Mike: I'm a huge fan of Chay Blyth [first person to sail non-stop westwards around the world]. He was, in a very big part, responsible for introducing me to my sponsors, and give me the opportunity to sail professionally at a high-level. And the other thing is, forget all that, I just love his story, it's a really good story. So, Chay would be my sort of old-time hero, and my new-time hero would have to be Ben Ainslie. If I could sail a quarter as good as that guy, I'd be happy I think [laughing].

 

 

YP: I agree, Ben's amazing!

Mike: A few weeks ago myself, Alex [Thomson], and Ben were at Silverstone, at the F1 Grand Prix, so we know each other quite well, but I'm still a big fan [laughing]! Don't tell him though, 'cause I'll have to buy him a beer or something!

 

 

YP: No chance Mike, you're on record! I'm sure Ben will love to hear it, and you can put the beer on my tab. So, what are your plans after the Vendée Globe?

Mike: No strong plans. After the Vendée, I'm going to take stock really. I've got a contract renewal coming up in July next year, and if Ecover extends, then we'll probably carry on with this program for a little while. Longer-term, I don't really plan to come back and do the Vendée. I'd like to move into other areas, possibly the Volvo, possibly other things. I don't have a strong plan. I mean, for me I'm just concentrating and focusing on what I'm doing right now, and we'll see what that brings.

 

 

YP: Are you doing these yacht races for personal fulfillment, or for the fame, riches and immortality of history books?

Mike: I didn't start out like that. I started out just doing it because I loved it, and I guess I still am. You don't do this sort of thing unless you really deeply have a passion for it. You just couldn't - you couldn't force yourself to go out and do it. It's not a job, it's a vocation. Nothing on earth - no amount of money - would pay for some of the suffering. Some of the pain and frustration - nothing on earth would pay for that. People wouldn't put up with it! So, you have to have a passion for it, and if you don't, then you shouldn't be there.

 

 

YP: So passion for the sport of sailing is one of the secrets to your success. What other advice would you give sailors who would like to become a world class solo ocean racer like yourself?

Mike: The thing about the life is, you just do what you're good at. And if you're good at it - if you're really good at it - and keep getting better at it, eventually someone will pay you to do it! [laughing...]

 

 

- Kim Hampton exclusively for YachtPals.com

READ MORE ABOUT THE Vendee Globe:

• Vendee Globe (all news, blogs, and photos about the Vendee Globe)
• In a Familiar Town - Mike Golding Blog
  
• Vendee Globe Skipper in the Spotlight Interview - Steve White
• Vendee Globe Skipper in the Spotlight Interview - Dee Caffari
  
• Vendee Globe Skipper in the Spotlight Interview - Loïck Peyron
• Vendee Globe Skipper in the Spotlight Interview - Sam Davies

Video : Mike Golding and Dee Caffari testing Ecover and Aviva in preparation for the Vendée Globe

Submitted By YachtPals on 19 Oct

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