Mike Golding Yacht Racing

In Detail

A career Fire Officer in the Royal Berkshire Fire & Rescue Service, Mike turned his passion for sailing into a professional career and is now regarded as one of the world’s best offshore racing sailors.

Having sailed since childhood, Mike first came to public attention in 1992 as a skipper in Sir Chay Blyth’s revolutionary British Steel Challenge, when he led a crew of amateurs in this gruelling, inaugural race around the world, west about – against prevailing winds and currents.

This achievement was immediately followed in 1994 by a record breaking west about circumnavigation with the same 67ft challenge yacht, only this time he sailed solo. On a route following Sir Chay Blyth’s pioneering circumnavigation, Mike became the second person to ever complete this “impossible voyage” bettering Sir Chay Blyth’s original time by more than 125 days he set a benchmark world record time which remained his for seven years.

In 1996/7, Mike won the BT Global Challenge round the world race, leading an amateur crew to victory in five of the six legs and achieving a combined lead of more than two days on his nearest rival.

This dominating victory led Mike towards the radical IMOCA 60 class and in 1998 Golding and the entrepreneur Jørgen Philip-Sørensen CBE set up Mike Golding Yacht Racing to create and manage a commercial grand prix sail racing team. In that year, Golding commissioned the build of the team’s first Open 60 yacht and became the first British person to professionally manage an Open 60 campaign operating out of the UK.

In the same year, Mike was elected as Vice President of the International Monohull Open Class Association (IMOCA) and later became President of the IMOCA Technical Committee where he has been instrumental in the ongoing development of the Open 60 class rules, principally concerned with the safety aspects of a developmental class.

In 2001 through his successful completion of the Vendee Globe, Mike became the first person to have sailed around the world in both directions and the only British person ever to sail single-handed and non-stop around the world in both directions.

Representing Britain for over 12 years, Golding has consistently been at the forefront of the professional Open 60 class, achieving podium positions in major events and setting three new world sailing records in the process.

Mike was FICO world champion 2005/6 and IMOCA world champion for two successive years 2004/5 and 2005/6; the first and only British sailor to hold this coveted title.

In 2006, Mike made global headlines when, giving up his own prospects of winning a major solo around the world race, he rescued fellow competitor Alex Thomson (Hugo Boss) from his sinking vessel deep in the hostile Southern Ocean.  This daring and dangerous rescue of another competitor was broadcast live around the world and the incredible story led to the much repeated Channel 4 documentary “Ocean Rescue”.  Mike was subsequently awarded the Royal Humane Society Medal for bravery.

Just two years later, while leading the Vendee Globe 2008/09 non-stop, solo around the world race, Mike’s yacht was dismasted and he was forced to sail 1000 miles to escape the Southern Ocean with only a jury rig. This was a bitter blow for Mike who resolved to make a change of direction to refresh his passion.

In 2009, Mike launched himself into the radically different Extreme 40 (catamaran) Sailing Series.  Competing in short inshore races, with a crew of 3 and with two hulls instead of one, this was a very different challenge. After a competitively tough first season, Mike returned with an all British team and finished the 2010 series on the podium.

Mike is an Ambassador for the Royal Yachting Association and British Marine Federation’s Green Blue environmental awareness programme and has led initiatives to bring yachting and business together through high profile international sailing events.  He is author of two books: “No Law, No God” published in 1995 by Hodder & Stoughton – ISBN 0-340-61817-5 and “Racing Skipper” published in 1999 by Fernhurst Books – ISBN 1-898660-57-3.

Mike was awarded the OBE for his services to the sport of sailing.

Personal Highlights

• First person to have sailed single-handed and non-stop around the world in both east and west-about directions (1993/4 and 2000/1)
• First British IMOCA World Champion (2004/5 and 2005/6)
• FICO World Champion (2005/6)
• Awarded OBE for services to the sport (sailing) (2007)

• Multiple World Sailing Speed record (WSSRC) holder

• Sailed around the world five times; three times solo; three times west-about
• 250,000 racing miles; crossed the Equator 25 times; rounded Cape Horn five times

World Records

• Single-handed non-stop record breaking circumnavigation east to west against the prevailing winds and currents (record held 1994 –2001)
• Record holder of fastest single-handed monohull crossing of South Pacific Ocean – 16 days 5 hours 26 minutes – set in 2005
• Record holder of the fastest single-handed monohull crossing of Indian Ocean – 14 days 2 hours 1 minute – set in 2004
• Record holder of the fastest single-handed transatlantic crossing east-west – 12 days, 15 hours – set in 2004
• Record holder of the SNSM Record in the Open 60 IMOCA Class for the crossing from Saint –Nazaire to Saint-Malo – 1 day 8 hours 48 minutes 35 seconds – held 2006 – 2007

IMOCA – International Monohull Open Class Association – the official body representing the Open 60 class

FICO – Forum International de la Course Oceanique – a Swiss non-profit association which works closely with the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) to encourage and contribute to the harmonious international development of ocean sailing

Racing History in Brief

• 2^nd British Steel Challenge 1992/3 (fully crewed race around the world)
• West-about solo circumnavigation speed record 1993/4 (held for 7 years)
• 1^st BT Global Challenge 1996/7 (fully crewed race around the world)
• Vendee Globe solo, non-stop around the world (2000/1) 7^th place  (following dismasting/restart 8 days behind fleet)
• 1^st or podium positions in numerous IMOCA events since 1999
• IMOCA World champion 2005 and 2006 (first/only Briton)
• FICO world Champion 2006
• 3^rd Vendee Globe 2004/5; establishing current solo, monohull Cape to Cape World Speed Sailing Record (WSSRC)
• Awarded the OBE for services to sport (sailing) 2007
• Rescued Alex Thomson in the Southern Ocean from his critically damaged/sinking yacht Hugo Boss in Around Alone 2007  (giving up his own competitive race)
• Vendee 2008/9  leading at the halfway stage when dismasted
• 3rd in Extreme Sailing Series 2010 (X40 multihulls)