2006

We speak to Mike Golding about his Open 60 plans and the China Cup

Press day at London Boat Show saw Mike Golding awarded the FICO Championship prize for the 2004-5 season. Little known outside of France, this award has been awarded intermittently since 1984 and is these days presented every year to the ORMA or IMOCA 60 skipper scoring top cumulative points in races over a two year period. Many of the top French offshore racing stars have won it including Philippe Poupon, Mike Birch, Titouan Lamazou (1990), Laurent Bourgnon (1993-7), Loick Peyron (1998-1999). This century it has been won by Franck Cammas (2000 and 2004), Ellen (2001), Roland Jourdain (2002) and Bernard Stamm (2003).

"Most of us don’t track it on a day to day basis but repeatedly over the years you look to see who has won the FICO championship and the list of names attached to the trophy is awesome, so I feel very good about having my name tacked on to that," says Golding.

At present the IMOCA Open 60 class calendar for 2006 is up in the air following the demise of the China Cup, an event Golding's company Extreme Sailing Ltd, had won the contract from IMOCA to organise. "There were not enough entries," admits Golding. "We were still prepared to go forward with it up until the deadline but we over estimated the ability to get a fleet for it. I was surprised that the Anglo-Saxon reaction was less positive because it was an event designed to appeal to the Anglo-Saxon market. Perhaps we needed more time. The concept of running a race out to China from London is good and we want to pursue it."

The main issue at present in the IMOCA class is that there are too many long distance races. For example over three consecutive years it is now possible to do three round the world races: the Velux 5-Oceans this year, Mark Turner's double-handed Barcelona World Race in 2007 and the Vendee Globe in 2008. While these are all good events, this is more than the world needs and is probably more than the class can sustain. A few keen, well funded skippers such as Alex Thomson have signed up to all three, but we suspect he will very much be in the minority - so which event or events will lose out? Surely IMOCA should be directing their members, or their members should be moving en masse towards specific events so race organisers can to some extent guarantee participation? It is odd for example that IMOCA put the organisation of the China Cup out to tender but then when crunch time came, its own membership couldn't muster a fleet. This leads to a considerable waste of money on the part of organisers not to mention a lowering of their credibility as well as IMOCA's.

"The fact that we couldn’t inspire sufficient entries this time is a worry and we need to talk about that with IMOCA," says Golding. "I think it is a worry for Mark’s race too but that has a longer lead in. It is a worry when you think you have three back to back round the world races in terms of budgeting, because the budgets of the boats over the last 10 years have gone up but they have gone up proportionally with inflation rather than going through the roof. If you have three back to back round the world races suddenly you are looking for almost 40% more budget [annually]." Golding says that the annual budget for a top Open 60 team is around £1 million per year, or around half this for a lower end team (these figures include the 'devaluation' of the boat over a set period). In a round the world race year this figure goes up to £1.3-1.4 million or more if the event includes stopovers.

One interesting aspect to come out of the China Cup organisation has been investigating ways to hold Open 60 races around the world. The final idea Golding's organisation proposed for the China Cup for example was to have all the Open 60 shipped out to Shanghai and raced only in Chinese waters, shipping from and back to Europe carried out at the organisation's expense. "On this basis you could race anywhere," says Golding. "San Francisco, for example - it is not such a big deal to do that and you get some great sailing and you encourage a more global outlook. We will see."

Having the IMOCA program up in the air is also affecting the refit plans for Golding's Open 60, Ecover, currently out of the water in the recently sold former Camper & Nicholsons yard in Gosport. With the China Cup kicked into touch, the main event for Golding this season is likely to be November's singlehanded Route du Rhum. He could be tempted by the Velux 5 Oceans, but once again this is dependent upon the quality of the fleet. A majority of Open 60s are still French and because of this the Route du Rhum, with which the Velux 5 Oceans continues to clash, remains the event of choice. Surely this is another example of where IMOCA as the supposedly all-powerful class association should be laying down the law, shifting dates around so that it would be possible to sail in both events?

Longer term Golding is still deeply in partnership with Ecover and another attempt on the Vendee Globe in 2008 for him seems most likely. At present he and his team are looking at the implications of modifying their existing boat versus building new once again.

Surely Golding is sick to death of round the world racing, particularly singlehanded? "I was quoted as saying that would be my last Vendee," he admits, "but that was because I thought I was going to win it and I did right up until the main halyard failed. Contrary to the previous Vendee I did enjoy this last one and I did say that consistently and so consequently I feel there is no reason why I shouldn’t go back there and finish the job. At the end of the day it is about winning races not just finishing them, so for me it is still there to be done. No Anglo-Saxon has won a major round the world race for a very very long time and I want to be the one to do it."

Another attraction is simply the level of competition next time, 'the writing on the wall' as Golding puts it. "This next Vendee is going to be something else, a step up from the last one," he says and he is not exaggerating: Michel Desjoyeaux is definitely returning as is last year's winner, Vincent Riou. Loick Peyron is also planning an entry and there is even a rumour of Ellen's return to Open 60 racing. Alex Thomson will be there in a new boat as will Dominique Wavre, Nick Moloney is said to be having a new boat too, Sam Davies is racing the 2000-1/2003-4 winner and Mike Sanderson is expected on the start line with a new Pindar, etc.

Many believe that the next generation Open 60s will be quantum leap ahead of the previous generation thanks to the research carried out on the canting keel Volvo Open 70s. Mike Golding is not so certain. "The VO70s are going through some pain, which they will recover from and the boats will ultimately be alright and they are clearly awesome boats. They are going through some pain because I don’t think they looked around enough, because where they are going to come to in the end is something not dissimilar to the Open 60 rules. They’ll start looking back and find there are simpler, more reliable ways of doing things. The question over the Volvo is not to do with the evolution of those boats, but is more about whether or not Volvo is committed to taking it forwards. The problems with the boats can be ironed out. They are just technical problems but the crews that are dealing with it are struggling to come to terms with a very different type of boat to that which they have previously sailed. And they will come to terms with it, because they are great sailors."

One gets the impression that if a big multihull were out of the question then the next choice on Golding's list would be one of the next canting keelers. If any of the Volvo 70s are looking for crew for the next Southern Ocean leg, then there is one highly experience Open 60 skipper in Southampton awaiting call-up...