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 excellent result. But his placing will have both bittersweet undertones as well as a level of immense personal satisfaction. Five days from the finish line whilst lying in the fifth place and engaged in a cutthroat duel for fourth, Goodchild’s mainsail split in two and there followed 48 intense hours of repairs which allowed him to keep going and finish his Vendée Globe.
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. He 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.
In winds of over 30 knots at times with waves washing over his deck Goodchild accomplished a substantial repair to his mainsail which was torn all the way across from luff to leech. He may have lost a few places because of the 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.
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.
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 J0 sail dropped in the water on 22nd 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.
