Sam Goodchild & Nick Cherry gear up for 10th edition of La Transat AG2R

On Saturday 21st April, Artemis Offshore Academy sailors Nick Cherry and Sam Goodchild will embark on their first double-handed transatlantic crossing together. Artemis is the only British entry in the French dominated 18-strong Figaro fleet competing in the 10th edition of the biannual, 3890-mile La Transat AG2R La Mondiale from Concarneau, France to Saint Barthelemy in the Caribbean. The race sponsored by AG2R La Mondiale is expected to take around 23-25 days and is the only double-handed, one design race of it’s kind, attracting the elite of the Figaro class.

2012 celebrates the 10th edition of the bi-annual race which since its inception has inspired a generation of Figaro sailors. In 1992, after 24 days, 8 hours, 40 minutes and 34 seconds at sea, Michel Desjoyeaux (two-time Vendée Globe solo round the world race winner) and Jacques Caraes won the first edition of La Transat AG2R La Mondiale. The French skippers cast off the limitations of the impossible, racing two-up in a 30’ boat across the Atlantic, and started a new chapter of the transatlantic race.

This year, flying the flag for Great Britain, Goodchild and Cherry will go head to head with many of France’s top Figaro competitors: “Obviously as the only British boat it would be nice to beat as many French sailors as possible. It does make us proud to be representing our country in a race where there aren’t typically many British entries.”

The La Transat AG2R La Mondiale will be a new and challenging experience for the Artemis Offshore Academy skippers as performance director, John Thorn explains- “The standard of the fleet is high and it is going to be tough to stay focused over such a long period in order to get a good result. However, Sam and Nick are now in their second season in the Figaro and they have the ability to do well. Not only that but also the self confidence and self belief that will ultimately make all the difference.” Having previously crossed the Atlantic and recently raced double-handed alongside Conrad Coleman, winning the Southern Ocean leg of the Global Ocean Race 2011, Goodchild will be a little more prepared in terms of what to expect, however for Cherry the race will be a new and challenging experience: “For me it’s a bit of an unknown, as I haven’t done a race like this before. So I guess the initial objective will be just making sure we can keep up the tempo and keep pushing forward as much as we can for every minute of every day.”

The race is famous for it’s varying and challenging weather conditions and the claustrophobic living conditions will add to the pressure. Rollercoaster emotions and sleep deprivation will pose additional challenges for the skippers on top of the daily toil of racing. When asked how he was feeling about the intensity of sharing his small living space with Nick, Goodchild jokingly replied: “It would be alright, if it wasn’t with Nick! It is a pretty small space but we’ve lived together for quite a while now in training so we know how to irritate each other and how not too. Hopefully we can get on, as long as we’ve both got a common goal beneath it all then I think we can get through any disagreements.”

The Artemis co-skippers are among 12 confirmed new skippers to the AG2R, who will test their metal against the more experienced members of the Figaro fleet, including 2010 Transat AG2R La Mondiale winner and French offshore sailing champion, Fabien Delahaye. After taking top podium position alongside Armel Le Cleac’h onboard ‘Brit Air’ in the last edition, Delahaye is this year back to retain his title in a formidable pairing with Paul Meilheit, an exciting new talent who took 6th place in the 2011 Solitaire du Figaro. Also favorites for the podium, Banque Populaire have finished in the top five since 2006 before taking 2nd in 2010, Jeanne Gregoire and Gerald Véniard are hungry for overall victory. “I think everyone’s got a chance of winning,” said Nick. “We’d certainly be happy to finish in the top half, that’s quite a challenge to do but it’s not out of the question. If we sailed our best and got some lucky breaks, there is no reason why we couldn’t potentially do well. ” Goodchild added: “I don’t really want to put too much pressure on it. You’ll finish the race knowing whether you’ve had a good race or a bad race. It would be nice to finish in the top ten, I think that would be an acceptable result.”

With the race start now just under a week away, Artemis are in the final details of preparation in Concarneau as John Thorn reports: “Sam and Nick are very confident that their preparation is on track and not withstanding a few last minute hiccups that have cropped up, all is looking good. The sailing instructions and course have been released and are being digested and now it’s up to the weather en route to determine their strategy and tactics as far as routing is concerned.” However with such close one design racing, the very essence of Figaro racing, it is only the brave who stray far from the other boats and racing remains close right through to the finish – last year the first four boats crossed the finish line within two hours of each other – after just under 23 days.

The 3890nm La Transat AG2R La Mondiale will leave, Concarneau at 13.00 CET on Saturday 21st April, the fleet will cross the Atlantic, passing the Canary Islands before arriving at the St Barths finish line between the 11th-13th May, depending on the conditions.

For daily updates visit www.artemisoffshoreacademy.com
For more information on the race visit the official website: www.transat.ag2rlamondiale.fr