Sam Goodchild’s Vendée: British Skipper’s First Circumnavigation

The 2024/25 Vendée Globe is upon us… Here’s an exclusive with British first-time around-the-world racer Sam Goodchild on his challenge ahead.

Of the 40 skippers racing around the world in the 2024/25 Vendée Globe, there are three British sailors. Two are women aged 50 – Pip Hare, taking on this challenge on for the 2nd time, and Samantha Davies, heading into her fourth race – and they are joined by the 34 year-old first time Vendée Glober Sam Goodchild. Competing in this ultimate and historic sailing marathon, spending around 80 days alone at sea, this group of elite offshore sailors at the top of their game are entering into a battle against the ocean, the weather, and each other. Sam Goodchild, the 2023 IMOCA Champion, will be racing on Vulnerable, campaigning to change our perception of vulnerability, and as a part of Thomas Ruyant’s Racing team. I caught up with Goodchild ahead of the race.

Tell me about your team and how it’s developed

So we’re a bit of a unique team, we’re a two boat team, with Thomas Ruyant and myself, so we’re 30 people full time, so quite a big unit of people. It’s probably 20-25 of us down here in Les Sables, so it’s quite a big team to kind of get your head round, but for me it’s great to be surrounded by such good people. For most of them it’s not their first Vendée Globe, it’s probably even their third or forth doing their role, and preparing what they’re preparing. So yeah, it’s a good team, and it’s reassuring to have those people around you for a first Vendées Globe for sure. 

How do they support you when you’re out on the water?

It’s basically defined by the rules. The racing rules are we’re allowed technical assistance to fix a problem so we cant have any other assistance. They can’t help us manage our race, they cant help us with weather or tactics or strategy, even if that’s sails or fixing stuff. If we have a technical problem, we can call and ask to help how to fix it. So obviously they’re all specialists in their subject, whether it’s rigging, whether it’s hydraulics, motors, sails, whatever… So it’s great to have them on the end of a phone. 

I was just reading the rules on it, just to refresh my mind, because it’s a bit of a fine line to find the balance. It’s basically technical assistance to fix problems. 

What are the key moments in the last few years that’s lead to you doing this race? 

It’s the team setup but with Thomas Ruyant, who had his old boat that he was looking for a skipper for, and I guess kind of being on the outside circuits [being] fairly vocal about my desire to do the Vendée Globe helped. 

It was probably in the Ocean Fifty circuit and the Figaro in 2020 being able to give the good guys a hard time that kind of probably made myself noticed, and then when Tom was looking for a skipper, I was kind of in the right place at the right time. 

What are your biggest challenges heading into it? 

I’m going into the unknown to be honest. Spending two and half months by myself is something I haven’t done before. Obviously I’ve felt like I’ve prepared as well as I can do, with the team I’ve got around me, with the boat I’ve got, with the training we’ve done, but there is still quite a large element of unknown sailing around the world singlehanded… It’s not something which I’ve done before so I guess the mental side of things is something I’m concerned about, I don’t know how… The longest time I’ve spent on my own is 12 days, and I’m heading out for 80, so it’s quite a big step. I mean that’s going to be the difficult one and then it’s technical issues – what technical issues come up, and you obviously try and avoid them, but they will happen. How big will they be, how small will they be, and what will be the solutions… and find the right solutions at the right time to make sure you manage your risks of having to abandon the race basically. 

Are there any new technologies that you are working with, or learning to use? 

Yeah most of the technical bits on board are kind of evolutions of what we’ve had, whether it’s the electronics and autopilots and stuff, or hydraulics. I’ve spend quite a lot of time in the last three years trying to go over the systems with the people that work on them full time. So at the moment there is something that scares me the most, apart from electronics where it is so complicated and so never-ending that it’s not very easy to find the balance. 

Sam then looked away from the video call camera and smiled, telling me his two-year-old child had just come into the room… Finding his place again, he continued: 

So yeah no, probably electronics is the most concerning part, but likewise it’s the one i’ve spent the most time trying to get used to, and how it all works, but it’s still very complicated. 

What are your objectives for placement? 

I honestly haven’t really thought of it like that, it’s such a big challenge just trying to sail around the world! I’m obviously a competitor and driven by wanting to do well, but I figure if I try and put a target on it, it’s probably going to dis-serve me rather than serve me. I’m more trying to concentrate on just – how do I finish the race, and go from there. 

I just think, who knows how many times I do the Vendée Globe. It could be the only time, and it would be a shame to break the boat trying to shoot for the stars. 

What are you most looking forward to, other than getting round in one piece? 

The challenge… and the competition as well. I’m not aiming for something but it doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy racing against the other people. I had some good advice from a friend of mine who’s already done the race – he said the Vendée Globe is about looking after yourself, then looking after the boat, then looking after the race… in that order! 

So yeah, it’s kind of just making sure I enjoy it because, one, if you don’t enjoy it for 80 days, it’s going to feel even longer than 80 days, and two, it’s going to be… I mean what’s the point if you’re not going to enjoy it? So yeah, trying to put a lot of effort into actually enjoying the race will be important. 

Are there any other skippers in this year’s Vendée Globe who you’re looking forward to seeing or tracking along the way? 

Well yeah we end up being quite a close knit community, it’s a bit odd, we do all the training races together, all the lead up races together… there’s a few people I’ve sailed with, Conrad Colman saved my life about 10 years ago, or 13 years ago, so I’ll be following him closely. Éric Bellion I did a transat with and helped him prepare for his first Vendée Globe 8 years ago… Thomas Ruyant obviously is in the same team as I am, so I’ll be following him closely, so yeah I have a relationship with almost everyone in the fleet, so it will be nice to follow the race as a spectator as well as a racer. 

I’ve spoken to Pip Hare recently, what do you think the atmosphere is like for women in the Vendée Globe? 

I mean the atmosphere is definitely inclusive, I mean I don’t think there’s anyone against it, and there’s no… I think we’ve got past that at least. But for sure, we’re not at the numbers. It’s good to have women in the race – there could be more. I guess the big thing with those sorts of changes is they’re not going to happen over night. I said I wanted to do the Vendée Globe 20 years ago, it took me 20 years to get here. Pip’s 50 now I think… It’s obviously taken her a while to get here as well, and she’s worked really hard for it and deserves her spot, but it’s not something like… oh we need more women in the Vendée Globe, so next year we have it 50/50, it’s not quite as straightforward as that. I mean it’s definitely progress in the right direction, if you start listening to sponsors there is more and more that are asking for women on board, and women skippers, so yeah it’s definitely going in the right direction. Whether that’s the Ocean Race with crew on board… for sure it’s not perfect, but it’s got to start somewhere.  

What would you say to youth who want to get involved? 

Living on a boat I didn’t really have much choice, so that was kind of lifestyle… I guess it’s the challenge and adventure side of it that kind of dragged me into it in the first place, and then the competition as well… you can sail around the world on your own, thats incredible. And, doing it as a race, it’s even more fun. So yeah, it’s kind of the ultimately challenge in a sport that I love really. 

I guess the best advice I could have is never give up, it’s a bit exaggerating, but 15 years of trying to get here, there’s ups and downs, bits that have been easier and bits that have been harder, but I’ve had in the corner of my mind – I want to do the Vendée Globe. So when I have a choice to make, whether it’s this one, or this one, which one is going to put in the better position to be in the Vendée Globe… Sometimes that was sailing trimarans fully crewed, or sometimes that was going to do a delivery on a cruising yacht, but it was all experience. It was all kind of getting into the right place to be in a better position today. So I guess thats how I’ve worked about it, I mean I’ve seen other people in my position like Jack Bouttell for example who hasn’t made it yet, and he’s done all the right things as well, so it’s not a given. But yeah, if you don’t give up then there’s a higher chance for sure. 

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