Here he comes again!
As if to celebrate in style the 76th birthday of King Charles of England yesterday, Sam Goodchild has once again taken the lead in the very provisional Vendée Globe overall rankings.
After Charlie Dalin, Yoann Richomme, Nicolas Lunven, and Paul Meilhat, Justine Metraux and Sébastien Simon at the start of the race, he is the 7th leader of this 10th edition of the Vendée Globe. After more than 1,500 miles since Les Sables d’Olonne, the skipper of VULNERABLE, the 2019 Verdier design, is more than ever holding his rank against his more recent rivals. For a moment, and a moment only, he may have recorded a slight speed deficit during the breathtaking cavalcade of foilers along the coast of Portugal, but Sam has since once again displayed that astonishing ability to maintain high speeds for long periods, coupled with faultless placement on the Atlantic chessboard, which earned him this morning’s new leadership. He slipped along to leeward of the pack of favourites, no fewer than 10 state of the art foiler yachts. Like all of them, he’ll be spending the day trying to decipher the best route around the Cape Verde islands, in anticipation of crossing the doldrums early next week. There are a number of small, High pressure centers in his path, and Sam has been preparing for a meticulous navigation since he took over the race leadership last night.
The Briton continues to display a particularly refreshing joy of being at sea. He’s taking his first Vendée Globe mile by mile, maneuver by maneuver, diligent, vigilant and in perfect control of his physical and sporting management, with always that “so British” touch of phlegmatic humor.
