Securing ninth place British solo skipper Sam Goodchild (VULNERABLE) realised his long held dream when he crossed the finish line of the Vendée Globe.
His huge smile as he took the finish illuminated his moment of triumph. His solid finish inside the top ten from a record fleet of 40 starters is an outstanding result, following on his loss of his mainsail with less than 1200 miles left to the Les Sables d’Olonne finish line.
Five days from the finish line whilst lying in the fifth place and engaged in a cutthroat duel for fourth, Goodchild’s autopilot gave out down a wave and the mainsail went from one side to the other breaking battens and exploding into two pieces.
There followed 48 intense hours of repairs which allowed him to keep going and finish his Vendée Globe as he recounts . . . I glued the two pieces back together, fixed some plates with screws to secure the areas under tension. The hardest part was the weather conditions. The waves were filling the cockpit with water and, at times, the boat went into big surf with seas going over the deck.
I persevered with little sleep and with some advice from land, I succeeded. I am super proud of the repair, because it held up in extreme conditions, such as rounding Cape Finisterre with 50 knots of wind and violent gybes. It was a real big test but it held up fine!

Goodchild, who grew up on a boat in the Caribbean before settling in Falmouth Cornwall, took the lead of the race on the second day after the start and led the rankings 24 times.
His technical problems which he solved mainly included his pilot and rudder system which hampered him early in the race and entering the Indian Ocean. His Jzero sail dropped in the water on 22 December and it took him hours to successfully recover it intact which proved to be a ‘win’. He rounded Cape Horn in ninth place but climbed to fourth north of Rio and in fifth was just 3mins 39 seconds behind Beyou at the Equator on the return north.
All the way around his course Goodchild has highlighted a remarkable maturity, consistency and outstanding talent. As well as showing how he can maintain high average speeds, pacing the top newer generation boats on a 2019 design, he is accomplished at setting his own level and looking after his boat which has had no major problems.

But, against the best sailors in the world, the English skipper has earmarked himself as an excellent weather strategist, one who is happy to back his own choices. His strategic option after the start, slightly to the east of his usual main rivals, saw him lead the Vendée Globe on his 35th birthday off the Portuguese coast on the way down the Atlantic and he was third across the Equator.
And on the climb back up the South Atlantic he, again, made his own choice at the Cabo Frio cold front where he climbed to fourth place, sharing the ‘peloton’ lead with French rival Jérémie Beyou (Charal) for more than a week until his mainsail failed spectacularly in big winds and seas when his autopilot let go momentarily.
He may have lost a few places because of the mainsail episode but his race had already proven how complete and talented an ocean racer he is. Many seasoned observers in France – where he lives – are highlighting his performance as one of the race’s most outstanding and talk of him being an even more exciting prospect over the coming years and indeed on the next Vendée Globe in 2028.
Sam Goodchild Finish time: 14:03:45 UTC Saturday 25 January
Race time: 76d 02h 01min 45s
Gap to first: 11d 06h 38min 56s
Gap to previous: 24min 53s
Distance actually covered: 28 557.07 nautical miles
Actual average speed: 15.64 knots
Before he started the Vendée Globe which has been a target since he was a young sailor, Goodchild made sure he had built himself into the complete ocean racer.
After formative years training and racing in the Figaro class with Britain’s Artemis Academy he raced Class 40s, was handpicked by top Ultim multihull campaigns such as Sodebo and Spindrift and for The Volvo Ocean Race. Returning to La Solitaire du Figaro in 2020 on the last leg he was one adverse windshift away from winning overall. He led a team to win Ocean Fifty Pro Sailing Tour in 2021 before moving to TR Racing’s IMOCA on which he last year won The IMOCA Ocean Globe series.
After the finish he described the race in his boat, which was not the latest generation, and known for being hard and uncomfortable . . . ‘My boat is far from simple or comfortable. There are few places where you can really settle down. Until the last week, with the breakage and the weather conditions, I was able to hold on, but now, I’m in a funny state. I think I need an osteopath… and to do a bit of yoga!’