Sam Goodchild Sailing

Farmoor Reservoir.

The second half of our transat went a lot better then the forecast had predicted and we finished with fuel to spare after 4 final days surfing in the trade winds with impressive night skies and sea life.

Returning back to England was a bit of a shock to the system mainly because of the weather but i think i’ve acclimatized now. For the past week i have been in Oxford attempting to repair the Beneteau first class 8’s for us to do some training on in the new year. There are a few major jobs but, the majority is just general maintenance. Also. there is a possibility of the boats being replaced which would be fantastic for our teams training next year as we work up to the Governors Cup in California and the youth match racing championships in New Zealand which, today our entry was finally confirmed.

Over the Christmas/ New year period, most of the team are heading off on family holidays but, come January we will be training at every possible opportunity to get our crew work and match racing fine tuned again. Also, since the Elliot 6m in New Zealand are hiking boats we have all already started improving our fitness. If we manage to accomplish all the training we have planned, we should get to New Zealand with the capability of performing at our absolute best and hopefully returning with a good result.

Sam

Having spent the last Month in Les Sables d’Olonne, the 30 strong fleet of the Vendee Glode finally set off yesterday. The most impressive part of the day was as all the boats left the harbour, with the thousands of people crouding everywhere possible to get a glimpse of the boats as they left. It’s a big shame that such an appearance would not happen in the UK.

Due to the tides, we had a long wait(4 hours) out in the bay off Les Sables which seemed to pass much quicker than expected, with all the entertainment of the boats sailing past, never mind the mass of spectator boats.

Apart from Mike having to return to the start line, the day went quite smoothly for the team, which left everyone happy. Hopefully it stays that way over the next few months. The Fleet have bit of a rough weather for first couple days which has shown with a few returning already but, it should ease of after that. We now only to have pack up the container/workshop, make sure Mike gets away safely and then we are all off to our separate places.

My next stop is going to be the Canaries, after a few days in England, form there, i am going to join a crew to do a delivery to Antigua aboard a old ketch rigged Swan 65. It should be a fairly peaceful crossing in comparison to my one last year where we went the northerly route. I am also going to take my sextant in the aim of teaching my self to use it and, then completing the appropriate procedures to make it the qualifying passage for my Yachtmaster Ocean exam.

I will try and update you on our progress as we go…

Sam