Vendée Globe

If the competitive advantage over their French rivals proved to be English made food, how would that make a country feel which takes pride in its prowess in solo ocean racing and its haute cuisine?

An army may march on its stomach, but with a calorific requirement in the Southern Ocean which is reckoned to be the equivalent of running a marathon each day, making sure that freeze dried food is not only palatable but actually enjoyable is a huge step forward in the rarefied world of the Vendée Globe racer.

In fact it was a chance conversation with a skipper of a very large and well known English racing yacht which lead a small husband and wife catering company on the south coast of England to learn more about high quality freeze dried meals.
Now they have been worked to capacity to satisfy the needs of four British Vendée Globe skippers, Mike Golding, Alex Thomson, Brian Thompson and Jonny Malbon.

In fact it was Sean Biddulph, Alex’s trainer, who worked with Fuizion’s Alison Simmonds on some of the specific nutritional values and calorific needs of the solo skipper, but when Brian Thompson’s office in Gosport is next door to Alex’s, Brian reportedly followed his nose, catching a whiff of the aroma when Alex was doing a tasting session, and made sure that he too was a convert to the company’s high quality freeze dried food.
“To be honest we did not even know what freeze dried food was until we were asked, and so we bought some in from different manufacturers around the world, and it was pretty disgusting, unpalatable stuff.” Explains Alison Simmonds of Fuizion.
“So it prompted us to do a lot more investigation and we found a man who makes freeze drying machines, and he made a special machine for us.”
“ In simple terms we make the food as if were for any other function, though it does tend to be dishes which have a ‘stew’ kind of base, because of it is more on the home cooked meals, as you would cook for yourself. It is in effect blast chilled, down to minus 30 degrees, you put the vacuum and the heater on at the same time. The vacuum and the heat pulls all the moisture particles from the food and then all that collects as a gas at the back in a condensing chamber, so particle by particle it takes every drop of water out of the food. The machine has been adapted for us. Uses generally are medical and freezing flowers. We put a lot of research and so the machine is unique to us. We got the machine in June and made a couple of big orders for different boats. Because we cannot produce en masse then we have been limited to producing for the four guys we are doing for, Mike, Alex, Brian and Jonny.”
Each has their tastes:
“They are all different. Alex likes his very traditional English style food. Not too many spices, good wholesome meaty stews. Nothing too exotic. Calorofically they are all looking for as much as possible. So we really cook to their specific requirements. We put in as much meat as possible. And we have said from the outset that it would be more expensive, because we are using high quality meat from an excellent local butcher. It is not from a supermarket or wholesaler. We use enough of it and it is proper pieces of meat. It looks like a piece of chicken, tastes like a piece of chicken and by god it is a piece of chicken. And so we are able to produce meals which really are high in the required calorific and protein contents. It takes us a week on average to produce one batch of food from the one freeze dried machine. That batch will be 60 meals.”

Simmonds continues: “Mike is very easy. He did not want any pasta, because I think he likes to take his own. He likes Thai Green Curry, the Dansak, and the Balti. Certainly Brian and Mike liked the spicier foods. Alex has Sean who he works with and I send him all the different values for each mean and then Sean works from there to decide what Alex needs each day.”
“It has been a really interesting thing to do, and so nice to be making the difference.”
“I did have a plan to speak to some of the French teams, but really we have been at capacity, so there has been no need or opportunity.”
“I went to do a tasting with Alex and Brian came through, anything for a free lunch. I called up Mike’s team and we did a tasting.”
“They would have liked bigger portions, but they have gone with 110grammes portions, but the time constraints mean they have gone with what we were making.”
“So far they have spaghetti bolognaise, chilli con carne, mashed potatoes, chicken pie with mashed potatoes, chicken balti, chicken bhuna, chicken chasseur, thai green curry, beef and ale stew, beef in red wine sauce, lamb stew, chicken dansak, if it can be mixed in a bag it can be done. So far there has not been much call for desserts!”
“I had no concept what the conditions were like until I went on to Alex and Brian’s boats. And it is amazing. Even keeping the bag upright is a feat. How these guys do it I just don’t know.”
It is a small company, chef Tony has cooked all over the south coast of England with hotels, restaurants, companies and institutions. Alison Simmonds concludes:
“For us it is about offering a personal service, and who knows it might even give them an edge. At the end of the day it about mental attitude. If you are slogging your guts out in the Southern Ocean and you have not seen anyone for two months and you have to sit down and eat absolutely horrible stuff just because you have to. I am hoping with our stuff they won’t need to add tomato sauce or mayonnaise.”
They have also developed a small range of very high energy, packed flapjacks, which may yet prove the secret weapon.

“Mike has made a few changes this time, and is at once more demanding but more laid back about what he wants. So while before he was probably not that interested and ate what was there, or left it, this time he has been more enthusiastic. I looked a lot of the usual suppliers and was a bit shocked at the E numbers and different things that went in to them, and the nice thing with the Fuizion food is that it looks like, and has the real constitution of as well as actually tasting good. And so a bit of courgette, say, not only looks like it but it tastes like it.”
Mike Golding Yacht Racing’s Ali Foord has victualled her skipper for many ocean races as well as two Vendée Globes: “We really leave it to him what he eats and when. Usually he will have one big meal a day, and will snack in the morning and afternoon. He is not as scientific as Alex. This time he has taken many more SIS sports drinks because he needs the fluids but otherwise he takes sugar and likes chocolate for energy. And he always likes his porridge which is a good super-food, slow release carbs. He likes his simple, long life Tesco white bread which he says lasts up to six weeks, and we have known him still find the odd loaf after months and scrape the mould off. He has a little camping toaster. Otherwise he has things like Westler ready meals which are good when you just want some easy comfort food which can be eaten cold. He hates noodles.”

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