2001 - a yachting odyssey pt1

James Boyd looks back on the first quarter of what was a top year on the water

On 28 February Mike Golding finished the Vendee Globe in seventh place. Team Group 4 was dismasted 24 hours into the race and it had taken considerable willpower for Golding to get back into the race, particularly when he nearly lost the rig again in the Indian Ocean. In the end his efforts were paid off by beating Josh Hall's Gartmore, who finished eighth.

Finally on 4 March Club Med arrived in Marseilles to win The Race, taking just 62 days, 6 hours and 56 minutes to make their tour of the globe. Surprisingly she was in a lot worse shape than any of the reports back from the boat had indicated, much of which the wily Dalts had kept quiet about. There were other issues as well such as the Barcelona to Marseilles tour not being recognised as an official world record by the World Speed Sailing Record committee. Grant Dalton spoke to madforsailing about this amazing trip.

Club Med was followed into Marseilles 2 days 15 hours and 36 minutes later by Innovation Explorer.

Back in the UK foot and mouth was having devasting effects on dinghy sailing with the enforced closure of many key reservoirs. There was also a lot of debate about the future of the Admiral's Cup with several teams threatening to pull out. Rumours were rife that the Admiral's Cup might be replaced by a one design regatta.

After their success in the Sydney Olympics the Team GBR squad were moving their focus to the next games in Athens. Peter Bentley also gave madforsailing his thoughts on the future of the Soling.