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• Yachting World
• Digital Edition

Onboard communication: Pip Hare’s guide

• October 18, 2021

Professional sailor, Pip Hare takes us through the key issues and dos and don'ts of proper onboard communication

Earlier this year I was lucky enough to join the French crew of the IMOCA 60 Bureau Vallée 3 for the Ocean Race Europe . Their new boat had been launched just one week before the start of the race and we had no time to train together as a team.

When I arrived in Lisbon for leg two we went straight afloat for the coastal race. Managing the bow on a new boat, in a language which is not my native tongue and when the remaining crew are behind a solid coachroof was a huge challenge. It made me think about the importance of communication to sailors at all levels and how it’s a skill we don’t always practice or value enough.

Communication between crew members is essential to safety, performance and maintaining a harmonious atmosphere on board. Yet operating big boats, particularly with small crew numbers in harsh weather, can make it almost impossible to hear conventional speech. Here are some of the skills I practice to make sure communication on board is slick.

Brief it out

Talk through any manoeuvre before it happens; bring the crew together in a place where everyone can hear, ask questions and do not feel at risk. Agree the sequence of events and how you will communicate with each other, including what words or actions you will use to initiate actions, confirm they are done or indicate a possible problem.

Photo: James Mitchell

Use your knowledge and past experience to discuss things that could go wrong and how they can be mitigated. Allow the information to flow in both directions. It is especially important that crew who are going to the bow in a heavy sea or being hoisted up the mast know that they will be understood from their position of vulnerability. Let the person doing the work tell you what they need and how they will communicate it to you.

Adapt your style

As skipper there is never any need to bark at your crew but in tense or challenging situations there is no room for extra words and niceties. Being firm and short with your language can feel uncomfortable but in times of intense concentration clean concise language is essential.

It may also be important to raise the level of your voice so it can be heard, but remembering there is a difference between shouting ‘to’ and shouting ‘at’ someone.

Choose words and commands that are easy to distinguish from one another and are precise. For example, if I am asking for a mooring line to be slipped I will say ‘let go’. If I want a sheet to be eased I will say, ‘ease sheet half a metre’.

When working with novice crew don’t forget to tell them when to stop an action as well as when start it. If you are performing a task remotely don’t forget to communicate your success as well as problems.

Remove barriers

There are many factors that can make communication on board difficult: wind and engine noise, line of sight, doghouses or sprayhoods, clothing and light conditions. Try to create an environment that will make it easy to see and hear what others are saying.

Turn VHF radios down or off if they are not essential to what you’re doing – if you need to listen to the VHF then allocate a crew member to listen below decks. Fold large collars down so they are not covering your ears, try to face the people who are speaking to you, use deck floodlights to help see crew hand signals, open a window on the doghouse if conditions allow.

Velsheda Bowman Jeff Reynolds onboard Lionheart. Photo: Graham Snook

Also give your crew time to communicate with you. If there is a problem it sometimes takes a few minutes to understand what needs to be done and being constantly asked for information can be distracting and stressful. If you need time to sort something out then ask for time.

Hand signals

• Hand signals are well worth learning and using. They allow communication in extreme environments, over long distances and when crew members are not facing each other. Signals could include:
• One finger extended and rotating: wind the rope in or up Fist to open palm with spread fingers repeatedly: Ease rope out or down
• Extended arm with closed fist: hold One arm extended with a number of fingers showing: boat lengths to the start line or metres to a dock or mooring buoy One arm extended finger pointing: direction of anchor or mooring buoy

Using technology

Headsets are commonplace technology on large racing yachts, and essential on fast designs like the Ultimes where the apparent wind makes communication near impossible even with crew who are very nearby.

Communication by headset is commonplace – and often essential – on large racing yachts. Photo: Yann Riou/Volvo Ocean Race

They might seem like overkill for the average cruising boat but with an increasing number of bluewater cruisers offering fully enclosed cockpits a waterproof closed loop headset might not be such a crazy idea.

A good quality waterproof set of two hands-free headsets will cost around £400, but even a non-specific short range devices could make life easier for a double-handed team managing a big boat and could be a sound investment both for safety and relationships. Increasing numbers of couples use them for mooring and berthing.

Mobile phones are not practical for use all of the time but they can help a lot in the right circumstances. I always take my phone up the mast with me – I can then take and share photos of problems and if I need some specific support I can call the crew on the deck and let them know exactly what help is required.

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Pip Hare started sailing competitively late in life by participating, in the Mini-Transat in 2011. In 2018, the British skipper chose to turn her dreams into reality by being the skipper of Superbigou, the IMOCA built in 2000. At the helm of the veteran of the fleet, the Briton could finally savor the happiness of being at the start line of the Vendée Globe on November 2020, the happy conclusion of two years of hard work. The skipper left Les Sables d'Olonne with several objectives: to finish, to tell the best story and to withstand all the trials of the race. This she did in abundance. Now, let's head for 2024! 

Achievements

New York Vendée - Les Sables d'Olonne

Retour à la Base

Transat Jacques Vabre

Route du Rhum

Vendée Arctique - Les Sables d'Olonne

Guyader Bermudes 1000 Race

Vendée Globe

Rolex Fastnet Race

• Former names : Banque Populaire VIII, Bureau Vallée II
• Architect : VPLP – Verdier
• Construction : 2015, CDK Technologies, Port-La-Forêt
• Launch date : 09 Juin 2015
• Lenght : 18,28 m
• Beam : 5,80 m
• Draught : 4,5 m
• Weight : 6,5 t
• Mast height : 29 m
• Upwind sail area : 300 m2
• Downwind sail area : 600 m2

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‘The ride is so violent that helmet and body armour is becoming the norm’ – Pete Goss

• September 3, 2024

Pete Goss shares how impressed he is by British Boudica of the seas, Pip Hare and shares how you can help in her Vendée Globe quest

Sailing with Pip Hare last week reminded me of my father’s sailing mantra: ‘It’s all about drag.’ I have many memories of fine-sanding the bottom of my dinghies and the excitement of discovering graphite paint.

As crew on my Mirror dinghy, my father was incredibly patient in demonstrating its effect, from lifting the centreboard where we could, healing the boat to reduce wetted area and lying in the bottom during light airs to reduce windage.

During last week’s trip with Pip, her yacht Medallia suddenly came to life and erupted into another dimension. She had reached that sweet spot where the foils lift her nose and she enters an upward speed spiral of diminishing drag and increasing apparent wind.

The grin-inducing power surge is remarkable and I’m mesmerised by the foil tip as it slices through the wave tops. There are five of us on board including my long-time friend and speed sailor Paul Larsen. A major refit, introducing the latest foil package to Medallia , has lifted Pip’s ambitions from a Corinthian entry in the last Vendée to the professional league.

There is a lot to learn and so it was fascinating to join this explorative sail. Pip is small of stature but you can see from her thousand-yard stare that a long, burning streak resides within. This, coupled with a life-long passion for sailing, is a potent combination.

Article continues below…

She will need it for, as Medallia comes to life, spray immediately starts to machine gun down the deck. Pictures would have the boat gracefully gliding on its foils but the images belie a brutal ride. In its insatiable hunger for speed the romantic relationship between sailor and craft is dulled. The skipper is there to serve and suffer the god of speed’s many whims.

Life is lived, much like in the trenches, sheltered under a cockpit canopy to avoid the spray and bone-breaking waves that sweep the deck. The ride is so violent that helmet and body armour is becoming the norm.

A voracious appetite for miles means that life is either humping heavy sails or hunched over a screen in search of the best route to take as weather rather than land mass dictates the course.

It takes a rare person to measure up to this and last year presented Pip with a moment of truth from which there was no hiding. Would Pip be able to pick up the reigns of this new steed during a single-handed transatlantic qualifier? Great things weren’t expected at this early stage but green shoots of potential were certainly required.

Pip ticked all the boxes, her moon shot for the Vendée is on the right trajectory. Unfortunately a couple of hefty sponsors were forced to withdraw due the financial downturn. Completely committed and trapped between the immovable anvil of the start and the ugly hammer of cash flow things are tough. She will start the race but faces the prospect of crossing the line with old sails.

The thought of this British Boudica of the seas hamstrung from the start is unconscionable and I hope you will join me in supporting her in by putting your name on the boat at: piphare.com

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Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia

The capital city of Krasnoyarsk krai: Krasnoyarsk .

Krasnoyarsk Krai - Overview

Krasnoyarsk Krai is a federal subject of Russia located in Central and Eastern Siberia, part of the Siberian Federal District. Krasnoyarsk is the capital city of the region.

The population of Krasnoyarsk Krai is about 2,849,000 (2022), the area - 2,366,797 sq. km.

Krasnoyarsk krai flag

Krasnoyarsk krai coat of arms.

Krasnoyarsk krai map, Russia

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History of Krasnoyarsk Krai

The first state in the territory of southern Siberia appeared in the 4th-3rd centuries BC. Ancient Chinese chronicles called it Dinlin. Around 201 BC, Dinlin state was defeated by the Hunnu (the ancestors of the Huns) - an ancient Turkic nomadic people who inhabited the steppes to the north of China from 220 BC until the 2nd century AD. To protect the country against their raids Qin Shi Huang built the Great Wall of China.

After the defeat of Dinlin, the Turkic tribe of the Kyrgyz settled in Khakass-Minusinsk depression. In 840, Kyrgyz state destroyed Uighur Khanate and extended its power in Tuva and Mongolia. At the beginning of the 13th century, the Kyrgyz were conquered by the Mongols.

Since that time, the Kyrgyz ceased to play an independent role in the Asian international politics. But in the Minusinsk Hollow, the surrounding area of Krasnoyarsk and other northern territories, the Kyrgyz were the most powerful force and resisted the Russian Cossacks who were engaged in the conquest of Siberia. In the end they could not prevent the incorporation of these territories into Russia.

More historical facts…

Until 1629, the territory of present Krasnoyarsk krai was part of a vast region with its center in the town of Tobolsk. In the 1760s-1780s, Siberia began to be used as the main place of exile. In 1822, Yenisei gubernia (province) was established after the separation of Siberia into Western and Eastern. In 1863, 44,994 exiles lived in the Yenisei province representing 1/7 of the total population of the province. According to the 1897 census, 570,200 people lived in the province.

On December 7, 1934, Krasnoyarsk Krai was formed. The borders of the region were almost the same as of Yenisei gubernia of the Russian Empire. In 1991, Khakassia Autonomous Oblast being originally part of the region became a separate subject of Russia - the Republic of Khakassia.

On January 1, 2007, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenetsky) Autonomous Okrug and Evenky Autonomous Okrug were united in a single region called Krasnoyarsk Krai, the autonomous okrugs became Taimyr (Dolgano-Nenetsky) and Evenky districts.

Nature of Krasnoyarsk Krai

Forest in the Krasnoyarsk region

Author: Dmitry Schegolev

Mountain stream in Krasnoyarskiy Krai

Author: Nikolay Alexandrov

Krasnoyarsk Krai scenery

Author: Sergeev Vitaliy

Krasnoyarsk Krai - Features

Krasnoyarsk Krai occupies 13.86% of the territory of Russia. It is the second largest region of the country after the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) that occupies 18% of the territory. It is located in the basin of the Yenisei River. In the north, the region is washed by two seas of the Arctic Ocean - the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea.

The length of Krasnoyarsk Krai from the north to the mountains of Southern Siberia is about 3,000 km. Cape Chelyuskin, located on the territory of the region, is the extreme northern point of the mainland of Russia and Asia.

On the coat of arms of Krasnoyarsk Krai you can see a lion with a sickle and spade reflecting the main occupation of the locals in the past - agriculture and mining (gold in the first place).

The climate varies from sharply continental to temperate continental. It is characterized by strong temperature fluctuations during the year.

On the territory of the region there are three climatic zones: arctic, sub-arctic and temperate. Winters are long, summers are short. The average temperature in January is minus 36 degrees Celsius in the north and minus 18 degrees Celsius in the south, in July - plus 13-20 degrees Celsius respectively.

The main rivers are the Yenisei, Angara, Nizhnyaya Tunguska, Khatanga, Pyasina, Podkamennaya Tunguska. The Yenisei, flowing from south to north, is one of the largest rivers in the world.

There are about 323,000 lakes that are more than 300 meters in length. About 85% of them are located in the Arctic Circle. Lake Taimyr is the largest lakes in the region (4,560 sq. km.). Other major lakes: Bolshoye Khantayskoye, Pyasino, Keta, Lama.

The largest cities of Krasnoyarsk Krai are Krasnoyarsk (1,103,000), Norilsk (184,100) Achinsk (104,300), Kansk (87,600), Zheleznogorsk (80,300), Minusinsk (66,200), Zelenogorsk (61,100), Lesosibirsk (58,400), Nazarovo (48,900).

Krasnoyarsk Krai - Natural Resources

This region has more than 95% of Russian reserves of nickel and platinum group metals, more than 20% of gold, significant reserves of cobalt, nepheline ore, magnesite, Iceland spar, fine quartz sand, refractory clay, graphite, 63 industrial metals, and other minerals, as well as about 70% of Russian coal, which makes 20% of the world’s coal.

Intensive coal mining is conducted in Kansko-Achinsky basin, Tungussky basin. More than two dozen oil and gas fields have been found. Gorevskoye deposit of lead (42% of all Russian lead), one of the largest deposits in the world, is located here. About 21% of apatite raw in Russia is located in Maymecha-Kotuyskaya apatite area.

In 2009, industrial exploitation of Vankor oil and gas field began. Oil reserves in the field exceed 260 million tons, natural gas - about 90 billion cubic meters.

The area of the forest fund of the Krasnoyarsk region is 168 million hectares. Forests cover 71% of the territory. The total timber reserves are estimated at 14.4 billion cubic meters, 18% of Russian reserves of timber.

Such animals as sable, squirrel, arctic fox, fox, ermine, and reindeer are found in large numbers. The population of wild reindeer is estimated at 600 thousand heads.

Krasnoyarsk Krai - Economy

Due to significant reserves of mineral resources, power resources and heavy industry, the Krasnoyarsk region plays an important role in the Russian economy.

Significant power resources helped to create such large plants as Krasnoyarsk Aluminum Plant, Krasnoyarsk Metallurgical Plant, Achinsk Aluminum Plant. The regional plants produce about 27% of Russian aluminum. Norilsk Nickel, the Russian mining and metallurgical company, produces over 70% of Russian copper, 80% of nickel, 70% of cobalt, and over 90% of platinum group metals.

Krasnoyarsk Krai possesses the largest in Russia potential for hydropower development. Sayano-Shushenskaya, Krasnoyarsk, Boguchany hydroelectric power plants are among the largest in the world.

Machine-building plants in the region produce civil and military goods. Woodworking, pulp and paper industries are also developed as well as chemical industry.

The climate of Minusinsk Hollow is considered the best in Siberia - vegetables and fruits of the best quality are grown here. Over 50% of agricultural output is produced in the central and southwestern parts of the province.

Krasnoyarsk Krai is a large transport hub of Siberia. The railways include the Trans-Siberian Railway with its branches, South Siberian Railway, Norilsk Railway.

The largest highways are M53 Baikal (Novosibirsk - Irkutsk) and M54 Yenisei (Krasnoyarsk - Kyzyl - Mongolia). Yemelyanovo International Airport located near Krasnoyarsk is the largest international airport of the region.

Rural life in Krasnoyarsk Krai

Village in Krasnoyarsk Krai

Author: Hans K.R.

Winter in Krasnoyarsk Krai

Author: Aleksey Yaruta

Summer in Krasnoyarsk Krai

Author: Shushkevich Nina

Attractions of Krasnoyarsk Krai

In the Krasnoyarsk region there are more than 4,500 historical and cultural monuments, objects of archaeological heritage. Shalobolinskaya rock paintings, Paleolithic sites on Afontova mountain in Krasnoyarsk, mounds in Minusinsk Hollow, remnants of fortifications are evidence of the life of ancient people on the territory of the region.

The town of Yeniseysk is a unique monument of town-planning art of the 18th - early 20th centuries. In 2019, Yeniseysk will celebrate the 400th anniversary. The town is included in the preliminary list of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. Architectural monuments are also concentrated in Krasnoyarsk, Achinsk, Kansk, Minusinsk, Shushenskoye, the villages of Taseevo and Ermakovskoye.

Krasnoyarsk Krai has several unique museum complexes: “Shushenskoye” - a historical and ethnographic museum-reserve, which retains part of an old Siberian village; Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum - one of the oldest museums in Siberia and the Far East; Minusinsk Museum named after Martyanov - the oldest museum in Siberia; Museum of Permafrost in Igarka - the only museum in the world with a unique dungeon deep in the permafrost soil.

The region is rich in recreational resources that allow to develop almost all types of tourism: safaris on reindeer and dog sledding, ecotourism, horse riding, cross-country skiing and hiking, spa treatment. The most famous spa complexes are “Sosnoviy Bor” on Lake Tagarskoye, “Shushenskiy” on the shore of the mountain river Oja, “Lake Uchum”, “Krasnoyarsk Zagoriye” in the foothills of the Western Sayan.

Krasnoyarsk Krai also offers great opportunities for hunting and fishing, cultural, educational and pilgrimage tourism, business and event tourism (All-Russian festival of national culture “Siberian maslenitsa”, Kansk Video Festival, the festival “Yenisei ukha (fish soup)”, Yenisei August Fair, Day of the Minusinsk tomato, National Festival “Vysotsky and Siberia “, the International festival of ethnic music and crafts” MIR Siberia “).

Reserves and Natural Parks

• Bolshoy Arctic Nature Reserve - the largest nature reserve in Eurasia,
• State Nature Biosphere Reserve “Sayano-Shushenskiy” located in the south of the region on the left bank of the Yenisei River, in the area of influence of the Sayano-Shushenskoye reservoir,
• Putoransky State Nature Reserve located within the plateau Putoran, in the north-western part of the Central Siberian Plateau, to the south of the Taimyr Peninsula,
• Stolby Nature Reserve, from the north-east this reserve borders on Krasnoyarsk,
• Taimyr Reserve - one of the largest reserves in Russia located in the north of Krasnoyarsk krai, on the Taimyr Peninsula,
• Tunguska Reserve located in the central part of the Central Siberian Plateau in the territory of Evenk district,
• Central Siberian Reserve located on the western edge of the central part of the Central Siberian Plateau, in the valley of the middle reaches of the Yenisei River,
• National Park “Shushensky Bor”,
• Natural Park “Ergaki”.

Krasnoyarsk krai of Russia photos

Krasnoyarsk krai - the land of lakes and rivers.

River in Krasnoyarsk Krai

Author: Oleg Potantsev

Krasnoyarsk Krai landscape

Author: Sergey Shitov

Krasnoyarsk Krai views

Helicopter - a great way to explore Krasnoyarsk Krai

Author: Alexander Tokarev

Church in the Krasnoyarsk region

Author: Zheleznov Nikita

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The International contenders hoping to make their mark in the 2024 Vendée Globe

• September 17, 2024

Is French dominance in the IMOCA 60 class about to be challenged? Andi Robertson and Helen Fretter report on the latest international contenders

The Vendée Globe is one of the most quintessentially French sporting phenomena. Fans who make the four-yearly pilgrimage to Les Sables d’Olonne – rising long before dawn to secure their spot on the town’s Atlantic-swept sea walls so they may wave their heroes off at the start – are probably only rivalled in passion by the obsessive Tour de France followers who spend summers camping roadside on mountain passes.

A whole infrastructure is built in France around the Vendée race and the IMOCA class. In Lorient and Les Sables armies of specialists handle the complex rigging, electronics and sails maintenance needs. There are the famed training camps out of Port-la-Forêt, where the best sailors in the world push each other harder and harder in the hunt for marginal gains.

For many it’s near impossible to break into this world without becoming a ‘French’ team ( Alex Thomson and Mike Golding being rare exceptions who were based out of the UK). However, the current crop of IMOCA 60 skippers includes a good proportion of international skippers, many based in France – though not all. And this summer’s back-to-back transatlantic races have seen some of these skippers come to the fore.

May’s westbound Transat CIC, swiftly followed by the return New York Vendée Les Sables d’Olonne finishing in June, presented a dilemma for some teams: if qualifying miles were needed, the races had to be completed – perhaps more cautiously than usual. For some the schedule was too punishing, or the time and budget demands too arduous at this stage. Sam Goodchild and Pip Hare were among the skippers who opted to deliver their boat to New York instead.

For others the races represented an opportunity to truly test their boats and themselves in one last ‘big race’ scenario, albeit the North Atlantic in early summer offered very different conditions compared to what skippers can expect on this November’s Vendée Globe course.

Photo: Jean-Louis Carli/Alea

Boris Herrmann

After a career best 2nd place on the outbound Transat CIC, finishing just 2h 19m behind winner Yoann Richomme, Germany’s Boris Herrmann ( Malizia SeaExplorer ) scored another 2nd place on the return New York Vendée Les Sables d’Olonne race.

Herrmann took an extreme northerly option, climbing over the dominant high pressure system to benefit from fast downwind conditions – at one point he was over 700 miles north-west of eventual winner Charlie Dalin and 1,100 miles away from the main peloton of top boats, which passed south of the Azores. The careful gamble at one stage looked like it might reward Herrmann with his first major solo race win.

Herrmann, who bases his campaign out of Monaco, has done much to raise the profile of offshore racing in Germany, following his 5th place in the 2020 Vendée. The Ocean Race , in which he finished third, also won many fans. But despite those successes, and his notably different IMOCA design, Herrmann has a reputation for perhaps being a little conservative. With two 2nd places under his belt, is he now going to be challenging for the front of the Vendée fleet?

‘I’d expect to be starting full throttle. I think now my boat is indestructible’. Photo: Jean-Louis Carli/Alea

“I think it may make me a bit more confident,” Herrmann agrees. “I’d expect to be starting full throttle, but with a little bit of expectation to stay or to reclaim a good position wherever possible.

“I may also be more likely to be more in race-mode as sometimes I’m a little on my own planet and doing my own thing!”

After 29,000 miles he has high confidence in Malizia-SeaExplorer. “I think now my boat is indestructible – we have half a tonne more carbon than some other people.

“A strength of my boat is when it’s very irregular and unstable, because it is more tolerant [of those conditions]. Its particular strength is probably downwind in sea state, I have the best boat in the fleet for that. Obviously you pay for that when it’s upwind in medium conditions.

“In the light I’m quite good, but in everything pre-foiling – when some of the Verdier designs might just pop on the foil – then we struggle a bit. I need 1-2 knots more.”

To be at the front of the fleet brings its own intensity. “[The New York race] was a very unusual, extreme situation. It’s unlikely we’d ever have such a big split in the Vendée. Quite often it’s more about small optimisations of basically the same trajectory with some boats around you.

Article continues below…

Forty solo skippers taking part in the Vendée Globe race 2024

IMOCA teams have been anxiously counting the qualification miles for this year’s around the world race after 44 skippers initially…

Two new IMOCA skippers who will be fighting at the front of the next Vendée Globe

One year before the 2024 Vendée Globe, two back to back transatlantic races – the classic double-handed Transat Jacques Vabre…

“That is normally quite relaxing for me, as long as I have other people around. In the Transat CIC I had Sam Davies on the AIS all the way until the finish. That was super relaxing, I could lie on my bunk and have a big percentage number [displayed] and see how much distance I was gaining or losing. It’s a bit like having a pacemaker.”

Managing stress is a huge element of the Vendée Globe. What does Herrmann find most challenging? “My main focus now is on recovering better after having gone through stressful situations. For example, during the last Vendée I had the stress of needing to climb the mast with a fear of heights. And I needed to look for Kevin [Escoffier, four skippers were diverted to assist in a search and rescue]. And those situations I remember for days, it took me a while [to get over them].

“This could be quicker if I pay more attention to telling my subconscious ‘it’s fine, it’s all good, don’t worry’. That’s what I mainly want to learn, the attitude of not worrying so much, as I always worry too much about everything.”

Photo: Richard Langdon/Pip Hare Ocean Racing

The New York to Les Sables race was also a career best for British-based Pip Hare , who finished ninth.

The real success story for Hare and her team is how closely she and Medallia were matching some of the front-runners in the fleet for speed – at times racing within range of Goodchild and Thomas Ruyant , alongside Justine Mettreaux on Teamwork, Sam Davies, and Yoann Richomme on Arkea Paprec. “I am so, so pleased as it is next level for me and the boat. And it is a validation that as a team we really needed,” she said after finishing.

“I have learned a lot about my comparative speed. I have always said it is difficult to be the lone team in the UK. We are very much in isolation. I have learned now about my pace compared to different generations of boat and I have been impressed with Medallia’s performance. It has some holes – as you would expect from a 2016 generation boat – but I was impressed in the conditions that it can hold its own.

“And I just love sailing this boat, I flipping love it!

“I hope this sets the bar high and I won’t go back – that comes with a certain pressure. I have always aspired to be in the top 10. But you can’t click your fingers and get there. It’s a hard, hard journey.”

Photo: Vincent Olivaud

British skipper Sam Davies has long been part of the French IMOCA world, but she’s also long established as one of the top international skippers, finishing fourth on her debut Vendée with Roxy in 2008. She was dismasted in 2012 (on Savéol), then had to retire in 2020 after her previous Initiatives Coeur hit an underwater object. But for 2024 she has her first custom-designed IMOCA, a 2022 Manuard design.

The joy Davies still finds in solo sailing, 21 years after her first Figaro, is evident. In all her videos from this summer’s transats Davies seemed to be perpetually smiling, a grin which was at its widest on the dock in Brooklyn where she sprayed champagne over her team to celebrate a hard won third place in the Transat CIC. That result – Davies’ best ever IMOCA in the foiling era – was backed up by a strong sixth on the return race.

She and Initiatives Coeur were clearly flourishing at the pace being set by Jérémie Beyou , Justine Mettraux, Thomas Ruyant, and Yoann Richomme. All might be considered Vendée Globe podium contenders – as Davies also clearly now is.

“It was so important for the Vendée Globe to have done those races and to get good results in both of them is a big confidence builder,” Davies says. “For me it was important for the testing factor because I still judge my boat as quite new.

“Last year we just got it up and running so it was really important for me to ‘send it’ across the Atlantic and really push both ways. Now I know I can send it in the middle of the Southern Ocean when there is no shelter nearby.

‘I am on top of the miles table – it’s reassuring to know I could not have done more in preparation’. Photo: Alea/Initiatives Coeur

“This has proven that I’m capable of sailing my boat to its potential. These boats are so powerful and can be violent and a handful to live on – and to keep pushing over a prolonged period of time. So now I feel I’m at the same level as my boat, but I also learned, ‘Whoah, I am in the match!’ I’m up there with the front group and that’s what I, and my team, have always wanted. Those are our ambitions. We want to be in that lead peloton. I’ve proven to myself I can do that, and that it’s really good fun. That makes me want to do that more.

“Maybe there is that little bit of extra pressure now as I have proven I can be on the podium once. But I have done the best things I could have leading into the Vendée Globe, and there is nothing better than being up there among the ‘favourites’ because for the project it keeps us up at the front in the pre-race build up.

“We have a bit to do to refit and reinforce the boat this summer but there are no performance changes. That’s nice to know. I have all the sheets marked and my little ‘bible’ of how to sail this boat is pretty good now.

“I have some new sails. For my sail choices the fact I did the Southern Ocean leg with Biotherm was a big help. You easily forget what it’s like in the Southern Ocean and what it’s like there on your own, and what a huge percentage of the Vendée Globe that is. [That was] one of the big gains to having done that and lived in such an extreme way with the issues we had.

“I am on top of the miles table – that in itself is reassuring, to know I could not have done more in preparation. Some people see it as wearing the boat out or it being too tiring but it’s really important to have done the training. Now I’m in such a good place.”

Photo: Pierre Bouras/TR Racing

Sam Goodchild

Sam Goodchild marked his card early on as a likely Vendée Globe podium contender going into his first attempt – though the modest British sailor is unlikely to say as much.

After spending much of his childhood in the Caribbean on his family’s cruising yacht, Goodchild returned to the UK for school and went through the Artemis Academy in Cowes before moving to France. After impressive results in the Figaro, Class 40 and Ocean Multi 50, he signed his first IMOCA deal in early 2023.

His Vendée campaign hit the ground running with a string of thirds in the double-handed Guyader Bermudes 1000, Rolex Fastnet, Défi Azimut and Transat Jacques Vabre in 2023, before also taking third in his first ever solo IMOCA race, last year’s Retour à La Base.

He elected not to do the outbound Transat CIC this spring, but to focus instead on the New York-Les Sables as the race likely to be more representative of Vendée Globe conditions. But while lying fourth with 1,100 miles to the finish line, Goodchild‘s IMOCA Vulnerable lost its mast. He sailed under jury rig to the Azores, before the IMOCA was repatriated to Lorient under tow.

He is determined the accident won’t compromise his build up to his first Vendée Globe. “We planned to put the boat in for a summer refit, so in theory we might lose no time at all. The refit is just a post-race check – screw everything on a bit tighter and add some more knots to things, make sure we don’t take any risks!

“We can reassure ourselves that the boat’s done eight years and we are going to put a rig on it that is better than the rig which was put on originally – and trust that the 100,000 miles before it broke all went fine. You definitely wouldn’t choose to be in this situation five months out of the Vendée Globe, but you make the best of the scenario.”

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