Sam Goodsild, most “French” of English sailors

The sea is its medium. Sam Goodzild fell into the boat from birth. Baptized in salt water, he was only a few months old when his parents took him on a family sailing boat, a wooden monohall about 10 meters long. The space for four people is cramped. The card table converts the bed into a spare bed for Sam at bed time, with nets on the sides to prevent it from falling off. They traveled in the West Indies for seven years and returned to their native England. A short-term experience. The family first settled on the Skilly Islands, an archipelago in the Celtic Sea known for its many storms. It takes them six months to reach Falmouth, a port city south of Cornwall.

The call of the sea is felt even after living on land for a year and a half. Goodchilds boarded a new boat about 13 meters this time. They are anchored in Grenada, less than 150 kilometers off the coast of Venezuela. On September 7, 2004, Hurricane Ivan devastated the island. His school was hit by a hurricane at 215km / h. After a brief stay in Antigua, Sam leaves for England. On his return, he found a magazine in Wendy’s Globe in his father’s possession. He reads the epic of the fifth edition of “The Everest of the Seas”, starring Conrad Humphreys, a British navigator. He was 14 years old and found the captaincy career. Expression. “I told my parents what I wanted to do later, and he was excited. They asked me to finish my studies before I got involved in sea racing. This curiosity arises from the discovery of traveling on a family boat. This big guy, who is 1.90 meters tall by 90kg, starts the race late, but talented No less.He joined the British Keelboat Academy and thus meets Alex Thompson.The Welshman offers him the opportunity to do transposice on his VOR 60, 19.50 meter raft sailing boat.

This species, which explores the Bay of Biscay in all directions, touches the pebbles of Brittany and Galicia and is considered the best in the system. At the age of 18, the young sailor renewed his experience with Alex Thompson for his Vendée Globe 2008 production. He later joined the project of another marine legend, Mike Golding, at the same event. An opportunity for this newcomer to multiply ungrateful tasks, thus allowing him to pick up the legendary channel of Les Sables-d’Olonne. Looking at the crowd, he recalled his voyage to the West Indies three years ago, when he dreamed of one day enlisting the “Champs-Elysees of Sailors” as captain of his own project.

“I slowly learned business”

Little by little in the navigation, Sam makes a hole for himself in this small environment where the sea is racing. Founded in Britain for his love of boats, the Englishman came to France in 2011 thanks to the Artemis Offshore Academy. “They selected eight inexperienced captains. And I have selected all the profiles, he explains in almost perfect French. In the beginning, they gave me a budget, a boat, new boats, etc., with the aim that I should succeed in switching to autonomy. He tries Solitaire du Picaro. No results. This passionate jack-of-all-trades wants to learn and change supports. In 2014, Michel Desjoyeaux asked him to be part of the Volvo Ocean Race team. So he took advantage of the opportunity of this team to get around the world race. Still, the adventure was reduced. Sam lands at the end of the first phase in Cape Town. The young navigator is skeptical with a loving smile.

In 2018, during the eleventh edition of Route Rum, his boat wrecked after a three-day voyage. “I’m not so well prepared for a race. I did everything I could to win. If I had to do it again, I would do the same. It’s life, it’s sport.” Future Dad puts forward. Sam Multihull multiplies the sail and he’s trying to break the Jules Verne Trophy record in the Maxi-Trimeron spindleft. And I have a lot more to learn, ”he added. Sam moves from one pontoon to another. He joined the Leighton team in 2019 and finished second in the 40th class at Transat Jack Wapray. He then sets out again to build his weapons in Figaro. “My 2020 season was very good, he explains. It gave me hope again. I needed it after my boat was wrecked.

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What happens after this ad

“I’m lucky to be surrounded by a team that is so involved and passionate.”

With the lead motif for “Better Never Stops”, “Better Never Stop”, Sam launches a new form and a new circuit in the Ocean Fifty – a trimmer about 15 meters long. Now at the age of 32 as the captain of his boat, he continues the adventure with Leiden with his crew. “I’m lucky to be surrounded by a team that is very dedicated and passionate. We all need five people and all of us for the team to function properly. The first episode of took place at the mouth of Bonifacio in mid-May, clear water surrounded by steep white limestone cliffs, the old city, guarded by its castle, unnoticed by seven racing boats, and Leyton finished second in the provisional rankings.

The next meeting was on June 22 in Brest, about a hundred miles[100 km]from Sam’s port. In Bloomore, Morbihan, with his partner Julie, there are no holidays or weekends when the navigator does not think of his interest. In the water 150 to 200 days a year, Julie follows him wherever she goes. For now, Sam has already competed in Atlantic Ocean races and has never been around alone. In his view, a new Odyssey: the Wendy Globe, the race of all domination. Definitely much needed on the planet. But before the roar hits the forties, Sam will depart from Saint-Malo on November 6 for the most famous route to rum in solo Atlantic races.