Mike Golding’s 60-foot boat, Gamesa is back in Southampton (GB) after twelve weeks in the Atlantic. The British skipper completed the Transat Jacques Vabre with Bruno Dubois as his co-skipper before sailing his boat home alone in the Transat BtoB. He left with a storm in the Atlantic and came back under threat from a big, bad one. In all his years of sailing, he believes he has never seen weather in the North Atlantic quite like it. However, the main goal was to gain experience on board Gamesa as he prepares for the 2012-2013 Vendée Globe.
Mission accomplished for Mike Golding. The skipper of Gamesa completed both races with everything intact and was able to learn a lot about Gamesa as he looks forward to next year and the build up to the Vendée Globe. Having competed in three previous editions of solo ocean racing’s pinnacle event, he knows only too well how quickly time runs by and so getting back to England with no major problems and nothing significant to do, was a huge relief. This means he will be able to focus on the next stage of preparations, fine tuning from what he has learnt over the back to back transatlantic races.
Golding is now much more confident in his monohull and believes the boat is really competitive, while admitting “the younger generation boats, and perhaps skippers, have their edge on us at different times but we really do know that the Vendée Globe is often not won by the fastest boat in the race. There is a whole range of skill sets and experience tested, and so validating all that we hoped to – learning about the new rig configuration, the lighter all up weight and the small changes in sail plan – are a relief to the whole team who have worked so hard since the spring to get Gamesa race ready.”
The ability of the skipper to sail his boat alone is a key factor in ocean racing and here too, Mike Golding believes that the two transatlantic races have enabled him to learn more and train for the round the world race. “When Bruno and I started from Le Havre we were both a bit rusty, just as I was when I took off from St Barts on the first solo race I had competed in since December 2008 (the last Vendée Globe). Yes, it’s like riding a bike, and you don’t forget or miss out on the basics and all those things that come with experience, but it does take time to get back into race mode, the routine and intensity and to a degree the constant stress. You get used to it and that is what I love and thrive on, but in both directions – west with two and east alone – it was a bit of a rude awakening!”
For Golding, the Transat B to B was a test of speed rather than tactical or strategic racing. That is why finishing fourth just a few hours behind some of the top French boats like PRB is seen an encouraging result. After these transatlantic races, the British skipper is taking some time off to rest during the Christmas and New Year break. 2012 will be a busy year, with a World Tour, visiting some of Gamesa’s offices, plants and factories around the globe, before heading into the Europa Race starting on 5th May from Istanbul and then it will be nose to the grindstone to prepare the boat for the pinnacle of his campaign: the 2012-2013 Vendée Globe.
