Sam Goodchild and Nick Cherry 12th in La Transat AG2R La Mondiale

Sam Goodchild and Nick Cherry finish the Transat AG2R in 12th after 22 days, 15 hours, 59 mins & 26 seconds on the 14th May at sea, finishing the race at 04.59CET © Gilles Chiorri

Artemis Offshore Academy sailors Sam Goodchild and Nick Cherry finish in 12th place in the Transat AG2R La Mondiale at 04:59:26 (CET). The only British entry and the youngest team in the fleet Goodchild and Cherry sailed an average speed of 7.15knots over the 3890nm course during their 22 days 15 hours 59 minutes and 26 seconds at sea. Leaving Concarneau, France on the 21st April, the 16 strong Figaro fleet passed the Canary Islands waypoint on the 28th April, before Cercle Vert skippered by Gildas Morvan and Charlie Dalin, won the race, crossing the finish line in Gustavia finishing at 21:55:45 (CET) (13th May 2012), 22 days, 8 hours, 55 minutes and 45 seconds.

The one-design Figaro class never fails to deliver nail-biting action and this race was no exception with the 16-boat fleet of Figaros crossing the finishing line, in some cases, just minutes apart. Goodchild and Cherry, racing together in their first short-handed transatlantic race, battled to hold on to 8th place as an elated and exhausted Goodchild explains: “The last few days of the trip have been the hardest. We have had a few problems, which we have been trying to keep on top of, mainly spinnaker problems and trying to keep them in one piece whilst having to do repairs quickly and get them back up and [the boat] back up to speed. The forestay was also a problem for us, however we didn’t lose as much time as we expected due to this, perhaps only 20 – 30 minutes along the route. It was initially very worrying as the mast lost a lot of support and we had to secure it to make sure it didn’t fall off the boat.”

The youngest duo who took the most southerly route after the Canary Islands also took another breakaway decision yesterday to head East of Barbuda as Cherry reports: “We didn’t think it would be a big gain but we also knew we couldn’t get ahead of the boat without doing something different. It was a calculated risk on taking a different route, and hoping the forecast wasn’t as predicted we could gain five boats. Whilst we knew if we just followed the group we were in we would finish in the same position.”

For Goodchild one of the highlights of the race was also tied into the most challenging, the last 36 hours: “The last few days of the race, which coincided with the worst bit of the race as we had to spend loads of time fixing our spinnakers, but the times in between when we were not fixing them were the best bits of the race. Really good sailing in the trade winds with 25knots of wind in shorts and a t-shirt under a full moon and loving life!”

“Whilst we share the disappointment of Sam and Nick having dropped out of the top 10 in the last few hours of the race, it’s been a great race for the Academy to participate in, with lots of learning for all the current and future Squad, not only the two sailors that competed,” explained Academy Performance Director John Thorn. “Knowing that Sam and Nick can be competitive over a long distance race [holding 5th place for some time] and finishing just over seven hours from the podium after 22 days is confidence building for the Solitaire du Figaro which is coming up in just 30 days time. We’ll use their experience to develop our training programmes, and boost our technical knowledge to ensure race effecting downtime is limited in future. Although the damage to their forestay was less impactful on their result than the damage to the two large spinnakers, it could have been race ending and these kind of failures must be eradicated if we are to be successful."

Conditions throughout the race have been variable, with the fleet leaving France in winds of 15knots and sunshine, the fleet then rounding Cape Finistére in 45kts. After rounding the invisible mark just off the Canary Islands, the wind continued to drop while the temperatures kept soaring as the tactical decisions between south and west were made, and the race became a downwind drag race to the finish in St Barts.

The next big challenge for Sam Goodchild and Nick Cherry will be racing against each other the Solitaire du Figaro, the prestigious annual one-design Figaro race starts with the prologue on the 16th of June for the 34 solo skippers. The first leg of the race starts on the 24th June from Paimpol (FRA) to Gijon (ESP).

2012 Transat AG2R La Mondiale Results:

1. Cercle Vert / Gildas Morvan – Charlie Dalin /13th May 21:55:45 / 22day, 8 hours, 55 minutes & 45 seconds
2. Nacarat / Erwan Tabarly – Eric Peron /13th May 23:10:08 / 22days, 10 hours, 10 minutes & 8 seconds
3. Banque Populaire / Jeanne Grégoire- Gérald Véniard / 14th May 00:37:24/ 22days, 11 hours, 37 minutes & 24 seconds
4. Skipper Macif / Paul Meilhat- Fabien Delahaye / 14th May 00:39:01 / 22 days, 11 hours, 39 minutes & 1 second
5. Bretagne Crédit Mutuel Performance / Anthony Marchand – Romain Attanasio / 14th May 01:42:15 / 22days, 12 hours, 42 minutes & 15 seconds.
6. Gedimat / Thierry Chabagny – Christopher Pratt / 14th May 02:01:16 / 22 days, 13 hours, 1 minute & 16 seconds
7. Sepalumic / Frédéric Duthil – François Lebourdais / 14th May 03:09:07 / 22 days, 14 hours, 9 minutes & 7 seconds
8. EDM Pays Basque Entreprises / Amaiur Alfaro – Christophe Lebas / 14th May 03:33:35 / 22days, 14 hours, 33 minutes & 35 seconds
9. Les Recycleurs Bretons / Michel Bothuon – Simon Troel / 14th May 03:42:22 / 22days, 14hours, 42 minutes & 22 seconds
10. Cornouaille Port de Peche / Jean-Charles Monnet – Alexandre Toulorge / 14th May 03:43:21 / 22 days, 14 hours, 43minutes & 21 seconds
11. GAES / Anna Corbella – Gérard Marin / 14th May, 03:57:56 / 22 days, 14 hours, 57 minutes & 56 seconds
12. Artemis / Sam Goodchild – Nick Cherry / 14th May 04:59:26 / 22 days, 15 hours, 59 minutes & 26 seconds
13. La Solidarité Mutualiste / Damien Guillou – Ronan Treussart / 14th May 06:26:30 / 22days, 17 hours, 26 minutes & 30 seconds.
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