Looking surprisingly relaxed given the slow light winds which had slowed them through their final miles, Mike Golding and Javier Sanso fin ished the Transat Jacques Vabre on a perfect Caribbean morning, arriving into Costa Rica’s historic Puerto Limon – where in 1502 Christopher Columbus landed – to secure a hard won third place in race which winner Marc Guillemot had described as the toughest of his career.
Sailing upwind through the gentle, long swell in just a gentle breeze Golding and Sanso eased the IMOCA Open 60 Mike Golding Yacht Racing through the finish line in the early morning to be greeted by a large, colourful and noisy crowd. Mike Golding Yacht Racing finished at 8:59 in the morning, Costa Rica time, 14:59h GMT. Their time for the course from Le Havre is 17 days, 1 hour, 29 minutes and 38 seconds, finishing 1 day, 6 hours, 7 minutes and 28 seconds after the first placed IMOCA Open 60 monohull Safran.
The duo played their stealth card for the final stage of the race, a spoiler just in case there was any unexpected, major slow down in the final hours of the race, but in the end it was not needed as they never stopped moving through the last hours, trimming hard until the finish gun confirmed their success.
For Golding’s sixth Transat Jacques Vabre, it is the fourth time he has been in the top three, sailing three different IMOCA Open 60’s. But this was one of the toughest races, he explained on the dock. As well as two big storms which battered them through the second part of the first week, the duo struggled with a debilitating sequence of small problems which affected their ability to stay with the electric pace set by the leading pair, Safran and G roupe Bel.
But, given that their partnership was only forged a couple of weeks before the start, both were openly happy with their third placed finish.
” It is a good result for Javier and I. We were literally thrown together in the last weeks for the preparation before the race. So for both of us it is a good result. We had no training time. The boat has not sailed this summer, the shore time did a great job in the preparation in the time scale, but we just had not put the time in on the water. So you lok at Groupe Bel and Safran and you see two good boats, which are rightful first and second. They are well sailed, great teams and good boats. But we know in another world we could have done better but third for us is a good result,” commented Golding.
He added: ” In the scheme of things it was a pretty tough race, obviously we were going to be challenged from the outset. We looked at the southerly option and we came to the conclusion it was not a go-er in terms of competitiveness. The reality is it was downgraded but the reality was it was pretty horrible, but after that it was pretty fast and furious. We had some technical problems which hindered us a little bit more, but overall very pleased to be here, pleased to be third.”
They proved their tenacity, durability and experience when they weathered the second big storm, during which they had to constantly tend to the boat’s course due to limitations with their autopilot. They emerged from the storm in good shape and lay second for three days, but having lost both sets of wind indicators of f the top of their mast, they were compromised from there on in.
But, having lost his mast while leading the Vendée Globe which has then lead to a long re-fit for his IMOCA Open 60 which included updating the head of the keel, Golding has not sailed many miles with the re-fitted boat this summer.
For Sanso’s perspective he was delighted with the result especially after the storm shortly after the start and the electrical issues in the closing stages: “It was a pretty tough race and we are happy with the result. Certainly when I look back and remember being in Le Havre and looking around at the standard of the fleet, and all the rock-stars of the IMOCA Open 60 world, I am very pleased to be in here with this result. Yes, it is a little frustrating that we had our problems which held us back, our electrics, battery and engine problems, but in the end it is a good result to be proud of. It was tough in the big storm. I don’t mind telling you we were down bel ow for a time just ready for whatever was going to happen, lifejackets on, harnesses on, but the thing is it was so bad outside I don’t know what we would have done.”
