Mike Golding Friends and Family – November 2011 01.12.11
Mike Golding Friends and Family – November 2011
Dear Supporters
It is recovery time for me, an all too short interlude in Saint Barthélemy in the Caribbean after a pretty tough Transat Jacques Vabre from Le Havre to Costa Rica. It’s also our opportunity to prepare for the imminent Transat B to B, the solo race back from here, St Barts, home to the European winter and a finish in Lorient in Brittany, France 12 days or so after the start on 5 December 2011.
Looking back …. and forward
In every respect the Transat Jacques Vabre was a tough race. The result was clearly not what we had hoped for and it is a new experience for me to come in at the back of the fleet. I am a competitive animal and don’t like to lose, so I don’t plan to get used to it.
I left the dock in Le Havre saying that I wasn’t focused on the result, that the Transat Jacques Vabre was an opportunity to test the 3 months worth of modifications we’ve made to Gamesa, but as soon as I was back on the race course, the red mist dropped and we fought all the way to the finish.
I then came ashore in Costa Rica saying we were not going to beat ourselves up about the result, but that is rather easier said than done.
However the reality is that there are many positives to be taken from the race. We probably went into this event with expectations which were coloured by our past results rather than with the cold hard fact that I have not raced 60s for two years and that Bruno and I had next to no training time on the newly configured and re-fitted Gamesa.
On the other hand we still proved to be competitive and were in 3rd place (and in the right tactical position) at the halfway stage, when we were really just getting into our sailing stride.
Unfortunately at this point, we were facing the worst storm of the race and I made the decision to head south. This was prompted in part by having no high resolution or far reaching weather data (due to our Fleet Broadband failure) and also the loss of our onboard wind instruments.
Above all I wanted to complete the event without a major failure and the media speculation that reached the boat following the dismasting of the VOR 70 Abu Dhabi, intimating that our mast/rigging of similar design and same supplier may also be in question, did nothing to boost my confidence.
It is easy now to see how I managed to convince myself that a more southerly route was favourable. However, it is a shame as we were sailing much, much better than we had been at the start – so who knows how well we might have done if we had made the right routing choice
Physically I am still aching all over. It takes time to recover from this sort of physical onslaught which is like doing 10 or 12 gym sessions a day for the best part of three weeks. But the good thing is that you do build up your race fitness and I know I will be in much better shape for the race back.
The next steps …
The Gamesa Sailing Team shore crew are in the final stages of sailing Gamesa back up through the Caribbean to St Barts and have had a tough journey themselves, with some stormy weather: Caribbean sailing isn’t all picture postcard …. unfortunately!
The focus is now on getting her ready for the Transat B to B race back. The job list isn’t massive – only 3 priority jobs – replacing the fleet broadband system, fixing the wind instruments and repairing the daggerboard.
Naturally we will be checking the mast and rigging and the whole boat but from our inspection in Costa Rica we expect no serious problems. We have a new Fleet Broadband arriving in a day or so, the wind gear was changed in Costa Rica and is all working and Ian MaCabe (Mucky) has arrived with all the gear to repair our port daggerboard which was damaged through collision with a UFO (unidentified floating object).
Back to basics …
And so on Monday 5 December, it will be back to solo sailing for the first time since the Vendée Globe in 2008. The Transat B to B is another big challenge but right now I am relishing the prospect. It is a different rhythm and routine on your own. I have breakfast when the sun comes up, dinner when the sun is setting and a meal in the middle of the day, and beyond that it is snacking to make sure I am eating and drinking enough. Thereafter I sleep when I am tired and there is the opportunity to do so, but the days are longer, harder and no 24 hours is the same as the last one, or the next.
The course out of here could be a bit doldrums-y to begin with but quite quickly we should join the Altantic circulation which will speed us back towards the much colder weather as you get back to Europe and the winter….brrrrrrr!
Thank you again for your continued support: it is great to receive messages from people following the race: the team send them on to the boat and they are a great morale boost.
If you have any questions you would like to ask whilst I am racing, please don’t hesitate to send them to info@mikegolding.com.
You can also follow the racing as it develops hour by hour
by downloading the following apps:
iPhone/iPad app: http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/gamesa-sailing/id474489616?mt=8
Android app: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mikegolding.www.ios
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/mikegoldingyachtracing
You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/mikegoldingyr
Online: http://www.mikegolding.com or http://www.gamesasailingteam.com
Thank you once again for your support.
Yours faithfully
Mike Golding