Sam Goodchild Sailing

Oxford Mail Press Release:

HIGH HOPES: Sam Goodchild, from Brize Norton is to take the helm for an international sailing competition in New Zealand

Three young sailors will be swapping the freezing waters of Farmoor Reservoir for the balmy climes of New Zealand to take part in an international competition, writes Fran Bardsley.

Sam Goodchild, Nick Wilkinson and Tom Altmann will be racing against about 10 other teams from all over the world in the invitation only National Bank Youth International Match Racing Championships in Auckland.

The team, led by 19-year-old Sam Goodchild from Brize Norton, last year were crowned youth national match racing champions without losing a single match in the championship.

Goodchild, a former Burford School pupil, said: “It is unofficially considered to be the youth world match racing championship.

“It will be our first international competition and we are really, really excited to get out there, see what we can do and hopefully come back with a good result.”

Since Goodchild left school last summer, he has set his sights on making a career in yacht racing and is hoping to eventually compete in solo off-shore racing.

Altmann, 18, is a former Abingdon School pupil while Wilkinson, 17, is still a pupil at the prestigious school.

The trio flew out last week and will have until Thursday to acclimatise themselves to the conditions and the boats which they will be racing.

They will then take part in about 30 races in four days before the winner is decided.

Goodchild said: “We have been trying to do as much training as we can in lots of places in Oxford, particularly Farmoor Reservoir, but Auckland is going to be quite different with the tides and the winds and the harbour, so it will feel a bit different.

“The main challenge to begin with will be getting used to the boats, which are supplied to competitors, because we have never sailed them, then it’s making sure that we work together as we know we can to get the best results we can.”

He added: “It has been freezing training over the winter, so we are looking forward to a bit of sun.”

The team will also be competing in a similar event in California, the Governors Cup at the Balboa Yacht Club near Los Angeles.

Last day of Training before New Zealand

We have now completed our last day of training before we leave for New Zealand on Wednesday. This weekend, we had another match racing team come to Oxford Sailing Club for some training. We mainly focused on our Pre-start but also did some other general tactics on situations that may come up. With this final productive weekend, we are now ready to go to New Zealand and give it our best shot and hopefully return with an acceptable result.

Also in the last couple weeks, we got some more training on the SB3’s at Farmoor Reservoir to improve our crew work. Also, after doing my sextant sightings on my last Atlantic crossing I did my Yachtmaster Ocean exam and fortunately passed.

The whole crew will have arrived in Auckland by the morning of Saturday 7th February, and then have the weekend to acclimatise and recover from the flight as much as possible. We are going to go sail the Elliot 6’s on Monday and Tuesday, on Wednesday there is a pre-event training day and then the event runs from Thursday 12th February to Sunday 15th February.

Once in New Zealand I will up date this Blog as regularly as possible and keep you updated on our training and results.

Sam

Sam Goodchild Sailing Press Release

A team of young Oxfordshire sailors are heading for New Zealand this week to compete in ‘The National Bank Youth International Match Racing Championships’.

They will be competing against other youth teams from all over the world in the five-day event in Auckland.

Last year, the team led by 19 year-old former Burford schoolboy, Sam Goodchild, won the title ‘Youth National Match Racing Champions’ after competing against youth teams from all over the country. The Oxfordshire team of five won the title without losing a single match! They won the ‘National Schools’ title in the same year.

Three of the original winning team are competing in New Zealand: Sam Goodchild, Nick Wilkinson aged 17, and Tom Altmann aged 18, (Rory Spriggs aged 17 and Jonty Cook aged 16 are staying behind).

The team have raised the money for flights and competition entry from OYSTC (Oxford Youth Sail Training Centre) and private sponsors.

Sam, Nick and Tom will be racing ‘Elliott 6 keel boats’ (which have just been selected as a women’s class for the Olympics 2012, but unfortunately not yet for men’s events).

Sam said, “Match racing is a very tactical form of sailing. Each team races all the other competitors once, ending in a final of the top two. The three of us need to work really well together because we all have identical boats and advantages you gain to win are purely down to the skill of the crew.

“We are the only UK team competing in New Zealand so the pressure’s on. We have been training on the reservoir at Farmoor and on the south coast all winter. It’s been freezing and we are looking forward to a bit of sun!”

In July the Oxfordshire team are competing in a similar event in California - the ‘Governors Cup’ at the Balboa Yacht Club near Los Angeles.

Sam is hoping to make yacht racing his career. He said: “I have delayed going to University in the hope of making a career yacht racing. My ambition is to compete in solo off-shore racing starting with the mini-transat race from France to French Guiana in 2010. It takes about three weeks to complete.”

The mini-transat is a 6.5 metre long racing yacht. If Sam can do the race next year he will be one of the youngest sailors ever to compete in the mini-transat event. He has already had a taste of yacht racing, including sailing with Alex Thompson’s Hugo Boss Volvo 60 across both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. “For most people the thought of spending weeks alone on a yacht in the middle of the ocean is a terrifying prospect, but for me, it would be a dream come true. It’s a tough challenge and one I can’t wait to take on.”

Ends.