Briton Sam Goodchild takes second in 1000 Miles Des Sables

All in for the Rhum - Sam Goodchild - 1000 Miles Des Sables © Christophe Breschi

British sailor Sam Goodchild took a big, important step forward in his quest to win this Autumn's renowned Route du Rhum solo transatlantic race Thursday when he finished the qualifying 1000 Miles Des Sables race in a very close second place on his Class 40 All In For The Rhum.

Goodchild hopes his success will prove a platform to work from as he seeks to find a sponsoring partner for his Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe. Although his Class 40 has been generously loaned to him, he is funding his challenge so far himself. If he does not find a partner of partners by July he will have to withdraw his entry and miss out on the pinnacle event which is a key part of his desire to compete in the Vendee Globe in the near future.

Although the race is Goodchild's first solo race in four years, in fact since completing La Solitaire du Figaro solo race in July 2014, he showed no sign of being rusty. After Monday's start off Les Sables d'Olonne - home of the Vendee Globe solo non stop round the world race - he made a strategic choice which immediately put him in close contact with two of the pre-race favourites Aymeric Chappellier and British rival Phil Sharp, the current Class 40 champion.

From there the trio contested a remarkable 635 mile five day marathon during which they were hardly ever out of sight of each other. And on the finish line Thursday afternoon Chapellier (AINA Enfance et Avenir) was just a slender nine minutes and 10 seconds ahead of Goodchild who in turn completed his 636 nautical miles course just 2 mins and 44 secs ahead of Jersey based Sharp (IMERYS Clean Energy).

The inaugural race, set up as the main qualifier for the Route du Rhum - Destination Guadeloupe - followed a triangle shaped course across the Bay of Biscay to a mark off Gijon, N Spain and was shortened by Race Direction from the planned 1000 miles because.

An exhausted Goodchild, 28, explained: "With Aymeric (Chapellier) and Phil (Sharp) we were within sight of each other practically the whole time. At the start, I had no idea what to expect. The aim was to test the boat and see how well I measured up. It's clear that this was a light airs race and those conditions suit the boat, but I felt competitive against Phil, who was sailing on the sistership to my 40-foot boat, and I managed to keep up with Aymeric, who is sailing really well. It was great watching them and learning things. It was fantastic, but I mustn't get carried away, as the three of us did particularly well at the start, which enabled us to make our getaway. In any case, I found myself racing in close contact with Phil and Aymeric, who finished second and third in the Transat Jacques Vabre last year and that's encouraging, as I am clearly going to progress.

He adds; "Qualifying for the Rhum is important but it is great to have checked in with the fleet and to have done well."

Of the initial key strategic choice Goodchild recalled. " I felt mine was a safe option - Phil went furthest to the west, I had a plan which was a bit more of a compromise which I was happy with. The wind was changing and for the best pressure it was east and the shift west. In the west it went well and we got away and it was just the three of us."

"Second is a great result but of more relevance is that I was always up against and in sight of the benchmark boats, the best sailed and prepared. Phil Sharp is the champion and has had his boat for three years and is always up there. And racing against them so intensely your learning accelerates exponentially, what works or not. Like the pilot settings, ballast in or out, bowsprit position, you try something and immediately you can see the effect because you are so close with these guys."

He has spent the last winter with the giant multihull Spindrift Racing after being hand picked to join a crew set to challenge the Trophee Jules Verne record for sailing non stop around the world. After racing four seasons in the Figaro class, peaking with a best ever British finish of 11th, Goodchild decided to broaden his sailing horizons and since 2014 has raced fast record breaking multihulls.

"Compared with the Figaro these are much more complicated and tweaky with eight sails, the Figaro is small and simple by comparison. It's different from the Figaro because it's a six day 1000 mile race but with some similar demands to a Transatlantic. And it's good because I know where I lost it against Americ. I potentially could have won but there was one transition coming out of Gijon when the wind was going aft and he changed to the right sail and the right trim and I was too slow compared to him I screwed up and lost five miles to him over that period. But he knows his boat and he is fast, he knows the trim and his sail configurations. "Now I have to find a partner for the Route du Rhum."