Falmouth sailor Sam Goodchild wins Caribbean race
7:00am Wednesday 27th February 2013 in Sport
Sam Goodchild's boat, 40 Degrees. Photo: RORC 600 / Tim Wright/photoaction.com
Falmouth sailor Sam Goodchild’s winning streak has continued after he notched up yet another victory.
The 23 year-old has won the Class 40 division of the RORC Caribbean 600 race onboard his boat, 40 Degrees.
As well as winning the race, Sam and the five other crew also broke the course record for their class, finishing the race in 2 days 20 hours 2 minutes and 15 seconds - 3 hours faster than the previous record-holders.
"To win and break the course record is always a great bonus when you've had fun along the way,” said Sam.
“I was racing with a fantastic bunch of people - I haven't sailed with more than one other member of crew in a long time!
“Having a fully-crewed boat meant we were able to push even harder than normal. Definitely the hardest part of the race was staying dry - it was a wet and windy ride and although it's hot during the day it gets cold at night and so you end up with rashes in places you don't want to know about!"
As the names suggests, the RORC Caribbean 600 is a six hundred mile race around some of the Caribbean ‘s most beautiful islands.
It begins and ends in Antigua and also passes the islands of St Barts, St Kitts, St Martins and Guadeloupe.
The race attracts a wide variety of boats from all over the world, with over 500 sailors from 31 different countries taking part this year.
"The location and the figure-of-eight course make this race unique,” Sam continued.
“The course is ideal for Class 40 yachts and allows you to keep the boat going fast much more of the time than with other races.
“The idea of being in the sunshine is great, but I think you'd need to be on a bigger, drier boat to make the most of it!"
Sam is hoping to race on 40 Degrees again later this year, but for now, he is leaving the sunshine of the Caribbean to continue his winter training in France.
However, people in Cornwall will be able to find out more about Sam's adventures first-hand when he sails back home to Falmouth in March.
