Damage for Goodchild in Vendée Globe
Published on January 20th, 2025
(January 20, 2025; Day 72) – Since French skipper Sébastien Simon completed the Vendée Globe podium three days ago, the race for fourth has been an incredibly close duel between Sam Goodchild (GBR) and French rival Jérémie Beyou for more than a week.
However, bad news today from the battlefield revealed how Goodchild ripped his mainsail from front to back at the level of the third reef. With less than 1200 miles or about three days of racing left to the Les Sables d’Olonne finish line of his first Vendée Globe, Goodchild (VULNERABLE) endured a pair of involuntary gybes on a wave which caused the mainsail damage.
It was at just before midday (UTC) this morning, some 120 miles SE of the Azores, when the 35 year Goodchild had just been through the worst of the winds in a big low pressure system when his autopilot let go. He immediately dropped the mainsail and as quickly and set up his J3 and J4 in doubleheaded wing-on-wing formation and took a more easterly course than his rivals.
Now the five-times Vendée Globe racer Beyou should normally have the pressure off and be able to deliver on his own strategy to deal with Cape Finisterre and his route to the finish where he should finish early on January 22.
“I was passing the low off the Azores, we were getting through the strongest wind and sea when we suffered a little ‘woop woop’, with a reef with the mainsail well sheeted with pilot giving out down a wave,” explained Goodchild. “The mainsail went from one side to the other breaking battens and exploding into two pieces.
“The tear is quite high. I can’t take a 3rd reef, but a repair is possible. At the moment, we’ve got heavy seas and 30 knots of wind, which isn’t ideal for a repair. I’m going to go as far east as I can and try to get out of the northerly wind, to repair a little later.
“It does not mean the Vendée Globe is over but it is not going to be the same end I had hoped for. It’s damage limitation now. I’m just trying to get my boat back home in one piece. It is pretty disappointing but we knew the risks were there, and unfortunately it bit me this time. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!”
Final Results
1. Charlie Dalin (FRA): 64 days, 19 hours, 22 minutes, 49 seconds
2. Yoann Richomme (FRA): 65 days, 18 hours, 10 minutes, 2 seconds
3. Sébastien Simon (FRA): 67 days, 12 hours, 25 minutes, 37 seconds
Race updates – Tracker – Ranking – Arrival times – Facebook
Attrition:
Nov. 15: Maxime Sorel (FRA), V and B – Monbana – Mayenne, ankle injury, mast damage
Dec. 4: Louis Burton (FRA), Bureau Vallée, rigging failure
Dec. 15: Pip Hare (GBR), Medallia, dismasted
Dec. 16: Szabolcs Weöres (HUN), New Europe, broken D2 shroud
Dec. 30: Yannick Bestaven (FRA), Maître CoQ V, steerage damage
Jan. 12: Éric Bellion (FRA), STAND AS ONE – Altavia, broken J2 forestay pin
The Vendée Globe, raced in the 60-foot IMOCA, is the elite race round the world, solo, non-stop, and without assistance. On November 10, 40 skippers started the 2024-25 edition which begins and ends in Les Sables d’Olonne, France.
Armel Le Cléac’h, winning in 2017, previously held the record for the 24,300 nm course of 74 days 03 hours 35 minutes 46 seconds. Only one sailor has won it twice: Michel Desjoyeaux in 2001 and 2009. This is tenth running of the race.
Source: VG2024, SSN