The British yachtsman Sam Goodchild says passing Cape Horn for the first time as a solo sailor in the Vendée Globe was a “pretty special” moment as he exited the Southern Ocean and began the long climb north in the Atlantic.
Goodchild passed the most iconic and feared headland in world sailing at the helm of VULNERABLE on Saturday in ninth place out of the 36 still racing, and after sailing 17,000 nautical miles since the start of the race in early November.
The famous headland at the southern tip of South America was 70 miles to his north as he swept past, powered by strong northwesterly winds.
“Yeah, it’s pretty special,” said the 35-year-old skipper originally from Falmouth who is now based in Brittany. “I’ve left the dock five times to try and get to Cape Horn and I’ve only made it once (during The Ocean Race last year). So this is the second time – so I guess you could say it has made me work for it. And it makes you appreciate it more when you’ve had a few failures as well.”
One of two entries in the race by the TR Racing stable based in Lorient – alongside fourth-placed Thomas Ruyant, also at the helm of VULNERABLE – Goodchild was keen to share the credit for passing this major milestone with his broader team.
“I’m happy and I’m proud to have made it this far, proud of the team to have made it this far, because obviously this is a team effort and you realise that when you see the technical issues that can put roadblocks in your way,” he said. “This is not just about myself, it’s the team as well that have prepared a good boat and we’re in good condition; we’ve still got all our sails…and the boat is pretty much as it should be – there are a few little things to sort out – but nothing major.”
Goodchild has had an impressive Southern Ocean since passing the Cape of Good Hope in late November in seventh place. He may have lost a couple of places, but all the boats currently ahead of him are newer designs than his own. The biggest setback he had came when a headsail ended up in the water, but the sailor who dominated the IMOCA Class in his debut season in 2023, managed to get it back on board without damaging it or his boat.
“It’s been frustrating,” summarised the ever-competitive Goodchild. “Because I started off the Southern Ocean just outside the top-five and I’m finishing it in ninth, so that has not put too many smiles on too many faces. But on the whole, I mean, yes, I’ve come out as I aimed to do, which is still in the pack and I can still gain places from here basically, and I haven’t broken anything major, so that ticks a lot of boxes for sure.”
Right now Goodchild’s situation on the racecourse is fascinating. Unlike all but one of the boats ahead of him, he has chosen to leave the Falkland Islands to starboard and has been the first skipper in the top-10 to sail between Staten Island and the tip of Tierra Del Fuego. While the boats ahead of him head out to sea, the skipper of VULNERABLE is now sailing up the Argentinian coast on a north-northwesterly heading.
He explained his options as he passed Cape Horn. Asked what his plans were in terms of the Falkland Islands, and whether he would be leaving them to port like everybody else, Goodchild said: “It’s less clear to me. For the boats ahead, they haven’t got much choice. I’ve got one weather file that says go one way, and another that says go the other. It depends on how we get out of the light spot behind Cape Horn. But yes, there is the potential to cut a corner. But just north of the Falklands we are looking at 30-40 knots upwind, so there might be a point where you end up not taking the optimal route to try and save the boat.”
Goodchild always aimed to be in the top-10 as he tackled the last section of this race, and he has spoken before about trying to make gains during the long climb north on a boat that he knows will perform at its best in the Atlantic. This morning he was just 20 miles ahead of Justine Mettraux of Switzerland in 10th place, but he had four boats ahead of him – those of Paul Meilhat, Boris Herrmann, Nico Lunven and Jérémie Beyou – that were within 85 miles of him.
But the skipper of VULNERABLE said he was not thinking of launching an attack to get past them. It would be more a case of sailing his own race and seeing how things panned out. “I want to carry on with what I have been doing up until now, which is to sail tidy and keep the boat in one piece and go from there. I’m not going to go on a specific attack to try and gain places. The south Atlantic is quite technical and tactical and there is a lot to be lost there. It’s not well forecasted, the weather changes quickly and you can bank on something and then it changes to something else, so you can have too much confidence in the forecasts.”
Goodchild says both his body and mind are in good shape after nearly 49 days at sea, by far his longest solo passage to date. On the physical side, he says his boat was slamming a lot during the final depression of the Southern Ocean as he approached Cape Horn, causing stress to his back and he was looking forward to some calmer weather.
On the psychological side, he underlined that he was not thinking of the finish and was fully focused on the challenges to come. “I’m happy to be here,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve got too carried away with the idea that this is the finish line – there’s actually four weeks of this race left and 7,000 miles to sail, so yeah, the mind is in a good state.”
He has been enjoying battle with Mettraux and saw her boat a few days ago, as they crossed gybes hundreds of miles off the Chilean coast. The two skippers have also chatted on WhatsApp, comparing notes on their debuts in the greatest solo race of them all. Goodchild knows he is up against a formidable sailor in Mettraux on a boat that, like his own, is not from the very latest generation of IMOCA foilers. “I’ve probably got a slightly better hull shape and she’s got slightly better foils,” he said, “so there are times when she’s got the advantage and times when I’ve got it.”
Like many of his male rivals in this race, Goodchild has stopped shaving and grown a Vendée Globe beard over the last few weeks, but he says it’s something he plans to get rid of once the race is over. “It’s definitely not staying on, on land,” he joked. “Whether I shave it off before the finish or not is a different question. Every now and again it gets really itchy and, if it was calm weather now, I’d take it all off because it’s been annoying me. I’ve got a shaver on board, so let’s wait and see!”
