Mike Golding (born 27 August 1960) is an English yachtsman, born in Great Yarmouth and educated at Reading Blue Coat School.[1] He is one of the few yachtsmen to have raced round the world non stop in both directions. He held the solo record for sailing round the world westabout (the most challenging direction for circumnavigation) between 1994 and 2000.

Golding, who was named president of the Little Ship Club in 2017[2] and is a member of Royal Southampton Yacht Club, is the eponymous co founder of the commercial company Mike Golding Yacht Racing Ltd. His partner in this venture was Jorgen Philip-Sorensen (d.2010).

Golding led the team Group 4 to second place in the British Steel Challenge in 1992–3. He did one better in the next edition the BT Global Challenge 1996–7, taking first place with a new team of amateur sailors, again onboard Group 4.

Golding came seventh in the 2000–2001 Vendée Globe solo non stop round the world race having lost seven days to the dismasting of his Open 60, again called Group 4. His present Open 60 campaign is sponsored by Ecover, a Belgian ecological cleaning products company which has sponsored his team since 2001. In 2004, he won the IMOCA World Championship and successfully defended his title the following year, in which he also won the 2005 FICO World Championship.[3] In the 2004 Vendée Globe, Golding finished third despite losing his keel — an accident which had caused boats in previous Vendée Globe races to overturn — on the last day of the race. He sailed the last fifty miles with a tiny sailplan to keep the boat upright.[4]

In October 2006, he started the Velux 5 Oceans yacht race. He rescued fellow sailor Alex Thomson in the Southern Ocean, then the yacht Ecover had a mast failure with them both aboard. He announced he was retiring from the race on making emergency landfall in Cape Town.[5]

In March 2007 Golding announced a technical partnership with fellow British sailor Dee Caffari to allow both the UK entries in the Vendée Globe 2008–9 round the world yacht race to work together.[6]

Golding skippered the Ecover Sailing Team in the 2009 iShares cup, a selection of races all over Europe, sailing catamarans in fast, competitive races against world-leaders in this sport. The races took place in Venice, Hyères, Cowes, Kiel, Amsterdam and Almeria.

With four races to go in the iShares cup event in Cowes Week (Isle of Wight), Golding's team's dagger board broke but the team still completed the last four races and finished second in the last race.[7]

Golding lives with his wife and son in Warsash, Hampshire, near Southampton.

Career highlights

PosYearRaceClassBoat NameNotesRef
Round the World Races
6 / 2020132012–2013 Vendée GlobeIMOCA 60Gamesa88d 6h 36' 26" [8]
DNF20092008–2009 Vendée GlobeIMOCA 60Ecover 3Day 38: dismasted [9]
RET2006Velux 5 Oceans RaceIMOCA 60Ecover 2
3 / 2020052004–2005 Vendée GlobeIMOCA 60Ecover 288d 15h 15' 13" (Loses Keel)
7 / 2420012000–2001 Vendée GlobeIMOCA 60Team Group 4110d 16h 22' (Restarts)
RET1998The Around AloneIMOCA 60Team Group 4Ran Aground
11997BT Global Challenge RaceChallenge 67Team Group 4Skipper of 13 Amateur Crew
WR1994World Record - Solo Non-Stop WestaboutChallenge 67Team Group 4167d 7h 42m 54s[10]
21993British Steel Challenge RaceChallenge 67Team Group 4Skipper of 13 Amateur Crew
Transatlantic Races
102011Transat Jacques VabreIMOCA 60Gamesawith   Bruno Dubois (CAN) (BEL)
32009Transat Jacques VabreIMOCA 60Mike Golding Yacht Racingwith  Javier Sanso (ESP)
RET2007Transat B2BIMOCA 60Ecover IIIVarious Technical Issues[11]
52007Transat Jacques VabreIMOCA 60Ecover IIIwith   Bruno Dubois (CAN) (BEL)
42005Transat Jacques VabreIMOCA 60Ecover 2with  Dominique Wavre (SUI)
12004The Transat, 2004IMOCA 60Ecover 2
5 / 152004Transat Jacques VabreIMOCA 60Hellomoto, GBR 75with  Conrad Humphreys (GBR)
12003Le Defi AtlantiqueIMOCA 60Ecover[12]
32003Transat Jacques VabreIMOCA 60Ecoverwith  Brian Thompson (GBR)
22002Route du RhumIMOCA 60Ecover13d 22 h 49 min 35 s
22001Transat Jacques VabreIMOCA 60Ecover (1)with  Marcus Hutchinson (IRL)
31999The Europe 1 New Man STAR, 2000IMOCA 60Team Group 4
31999Transat Jacques VabreIMOCA 60Team Group 4with  Ed Danby (GBR)
Other Significant Races
3/820102010 Extreme Sailing SeriesExtreme 40Ecover Sailing TeamSkipper

References

  1. ↑ "Mike Golding appointed an OBE". Mike Golding Yacht Racing. Archived from the original on 28 January 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
  2. ↑ Stickland, Katie (21 March 2017). "Mike Golding named as president of the Little Ship Club". Yachting and Boating World.
  3. ↑ "Stamm wins leg as Golding quits". BBC. 4 December 2006.
  4. ↑ "Golding's Grit Gets Ecover Home in Third". Nautica Online Press. 7 February 2005.
  5. ↑ "World Championship Crown for Mike". Royal Southampton Yacht Club. 10 March 2006. Archived from the original on 6 December 2006.
  6. ↑ "Dee Caffari and Mike Golding form a technical alliance for the 2008 Vendée Globe". Aviva Ocean Racing. 20 March 2007. Archived from the original on 19 January 2007. Retrieved 3 April 2007.
  7. ↑ "Ecover Extreme 40 Sailing Team". Ecover Sailing Team. 30 July 2009.
  8. ↑ "Mike Golding (GBR) finishes sixth in the Vendée Globe 2012–2013". Vendee Globe Race Organisers. 3 February 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  9. ↑ "'Gutted' Golding abandons Vendee". 16 December 2008. Retrieved 26 February 2021.
  10. ↑ "Mike Golding". 2 November 2004.
  11. ↑ "Mike Golding retires from the Transat Ecover B to B".
  12. ↑ "Golding wins le Défi Atlantique". 17 December 2003.
  • 'Mike Golding', The Observer, 13 February 2006 (London).
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