Phil Sharp is back behind the helm for the Vendée Globe

Phil Sharp wins Solo La Grande Motte 2011 © Phil Sharp

After a two year break from top level solo offshore sailing Briton Phil Sharp is back behind the helm, getting his dream of competing in the Vendée Globe back on track. He is determined to use the Solitaire du Figaro as the stepping stone to an IMOCA Open 60 programme and the next Vendée Globe. Sharp, 33, is without doubt one of the most driven and talented sailors to have emerged from Britain in recent years.

A qualified mechanical engineer Sharp had already built a great track record before he took his short break from racing, tasting success in the Mini 650, Class 40 and in the Figaro. Phil worked for rig and rigging designers and builders Future Fibres in Valencia, Spain, before setting up in Lorient. Starting out in the Mini he finished fourth overall in the 2005 Mini Transat to Brazil. The following year he won Class 40 in the Route du Rhum, finishing one whole day ahead of second placed Gildas Morvan. And in the 2011 Solitaire du Figaro he was regularly in the top ten. For the Vendée Globe, his target is to put together a programme capable of winning and says it is not in his nature to compromise from the start. We met up with a sailor determined to make a name for himself.

So you are back in offshore sailing, what have you been doing?

My area of expertise is as a mechanical engineer specialising in composites. I find high performance structures more interesting simply because they go faster, Future Fibres are at the cutting edge of materials technology. It was interesting times with some very large spars projects. I have always been interested in the opportunities in offshore sailing when I was at university when I really started looking at the application of composites in yacht design when I was doing my dissertation and then did more specialist applications after my degree.

You have been off the water but still active in the drive to race the Vendée Globe...

I knew I would be back after I did the Figaro in 2011. I have been active all that time to try and find partners to launch an IMOCA programme. It takes a while to find a good fits and to start building relationships with key potential sponsors who share common objectives and prove that sailing can be very effective for them. I have definitely made some good progress, there are no signatures on the dotted line but I think there is an interesting campaign shaping up.

What is your target?

The objective is to do a new boat project to go around the world with a high performance and reliable package because these are the most important things, knowing you have something which is fast, which is reliable and which you know that you can push and know the limits.

Surely as a potential first timer in the Vendée Globe that is quite ambitious?

Yes it is an optimistic project, there is no doubts about that. But it is the most interesting. The boats are still evolving. There are some interesting evolutions in the rule which will impact over the next couple of years, although the class is more restrictive with the one design keel and one design rig. There are still plenty of parameters which you can play with and push the performance envelope hard.

And what is the fundamental appeal of solo ocean racing?

I love solo racing. Personally it is the most rewarding. I like doing things which are hard. I like pushing myself to the limits and solo sailing does that like no other sport. I thinki double handed is something I enjoy as well, enjoying sharing the experience and in fact I would not say I enjoy single handed more than double handed, but I find I am good at pushing myself in the solo environment and making the most of the tools available. I find on a fully crewed race with 10 people you are a small piece of the jigsaw, although you are an important it is difficult to have control of the situation and the outcome. The whole appeal of the Vendee Globe is the personal challenge and adventure. And really in a lot of senses you are venturing into your unknown. It is a big mission. It is a big endurance test, something which is so much more demanding mentally than physically.

But would you consider a lower budget programme for the experience?

No. No, no, no. I am way too competitive. I am only interested in doing a race if I have a chance of winning it. I could not do it for the adventure only. I am not so good at hamming it up for a sponsor's return. There are many lessons to be learned from programmes like Tanguy de Lamotte's. He created a very very successful campaign from something which was never going to be a winning package, but that is not for me. I have to be out there with the bit between my teeth, hungry for a win. If I am compromised from the outset with the boat then that turns into frustration.

What are your first memories of the Vendée Globe?

The first time I heard of the race was during the news broadcasts of Pete Goss rescuing Raphael Dinelli and when Bullimore going upside down in the Southern Ocean for a few days. I then I read Pete Goss's book and thought 'this is a horror show' but here I am. I think that was a way to put you off, but for sure then I became aware of the magnitude of the challenge. And I still think it is the biggest challenge out there today. It is one of the biggest mental and physical challenges, but there are no other competitive challenges which have such a prolonged gruelling aspect to it, and the competition level goes up all the time. That is what it is all about. The appeal is that for example you can be in huge storm but you are still racing as hard, you can have a competitor two miles behind and you just have to keep pushing the boat. You have to keep your competitive spirits to the fore. I was at the Vendee Globe start in 2008 and only then does it sink in how big the whole race, and then I was at the finish of the last race and saw Mike Golding finish and Bernard Stamm come in and you can see then what those guys have been through. They look so physically battered and mentally shattered. It dawns on you then the size of the test it really is. It is important to have been there and experienced the ambience and realise how the Vendée Globe steals the hearts of so many people. The skippers are out there alone, taking everything that is thrown at them, is something I think the French still have the best understanding of, they can relate to the test.