Vendée Globe – I sail best when I’m alone (Mike Golding)
The November edition of Yachting Monthly (which I subscribe to in electronic form) has a page dedicated to the answers British competitors gave to various questions.
Rivalry and Competition. Skippers all agree that they are not agressive about their competitors. They feel kinship and empathy.
Fear. Again, a unanimous verdict: doing something stupid or having gear failure.
Most skippers felt that having a competitor in sight drove them to sail faster, but Mike Golding disagreed strongly:
“One of my strengths is that when there are no boats in sight I can still go. I don’t need that boat there. I always imagine they’re doing better than me and everyone’s going faster than I am. That drives me on. When I can see someone there it sort of disproves the theory,”
Mike is now in 7th place and consistently sailing faster than Loïc Peyron. He and his powerful new boat are turning out to be very fast upwind now, too. Place your bets.
