Sam Goodchild says he feels ready for the Route du Rhum, which is scheduled to start on Sunday, November 1. The Franco-British skipper of Macif-Santé-Prévoyance will set off from Saint-Malo, in Brittany, for the four-yearly race to Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe.
Goodchild enters the race as a favorite after an impressive season in the Imoca class, which features 18-metre monohulls. Sailing solo, he won the 1,000 Race, an Atlantic circuit, and the 48H Azimut, a 560-nautical-mile course off the French coast.
The Vendée Arctique was the only major event to elude him. Goodchild finished second in the race from Les Sables-d’Olonne and back via the Arctic Circle, narrowly losing to Italy’s Ambrogio Beccaria of Allagrande-Mapei.
Goodchild led the Vendée Arctique for five or six of its nine days, but acknowledged that he struggled with sleep management near the end and made poor decisions. Despite the disappointment, he said the experience taught him valuable lessons ahead of the Route du Rhum.
Sources: Le Monde Sport.