Susie Goodall, 28, set to make sailing history in Golden Globe Race
Written by News on 28/05/2018
Susie Goodall, 28, is to become the youngest and the first female to take part in one of the world’s toughest sailing events, which has only ever been completed once before.
The Golden Globe Race is a solo, non-stop, 30,000 mile journey around the world, via the five Great Capes.
The race last took place in 1968 and Sir Robin Knox-Johnston was the only man to finish. The others either sank, retired and one man even killed himself. That man was Donald Crowhurst, who was portrayed by Colin Firth in the recent film, The Mercy.
Crowhurst got into difficulty early on and reported fake coordinates, which led people to think he was making tremendous progress. But he soon became concerned that people would find out, that he would disgrace himself and his family and so he decided to take his own life.
This time around, those taking part are limited to sailing similar yachts to those that were available in 1968. Modern technology, including satellite based navigation equipment and mobile phones, is banned.
Any music has to be transferred onto cassette tapes, the idea being that the race travels back in time to the “golden age” of solo sailing.
Susie Goodall started sailing with her family when she was just three years old. Since then she has taken part in expeditions in Iceland, Greenland and Svalbard and she now works as an instructor.
She told Sky News: “I figured if I could persuade my parents and brothers that this was a fantastic idea then I was well on my way to getting to the start line. I drip fed the information and eventually they were well onboard.
“The scariest thing is it is such a long time to be alone. And I haven’t been alone for nine months before.
“There is no rule book so the biggest unknown is how I will react when I am in a really low place and want to go home.
“I like the celestial navigation side of it, that is fun. But it’s the music. You have to take cassette tapes and I love music so I am going to miss that and audio books. I am going to put some of my modern music on cassette tapes. I will be an expert in sixties music by the time I get back.”
The rules mean that the nineteen competitors have to sail yachts that are between 32ft and 36ft long and they have to have been designed before 1988, meaning they’re strong and sturdy.
This makes them very similar to Suhaili, which Sir Robin sailed back in 1968, when he became the first person to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe.
His advice to Susie has been to take plenty of whisky on board.
Her boat, Ariadne, is a yellow and red painted Rustler. She has spent many months living and working on the boat, in preparation for the adventure.
On board, she’s already got around two hundred tin cans of food that she’s experimenting with for the journey. She has to carry enough food and fuel on board to last for nine months.
Along the route Goodall will help research the impact that plastic is having on our oceans. She will collect samples using test tubes and a trawler net.
She told Sky News: “What it does is collect micro plastics in the water. I will do it at certain points once or twice a month. I’ll come back with samples so that we can see the density of micro plastics around the world.”
The Golden Globe race is without doubt an incredible feat. It starts on 1 July 2018 in Les Sables-d’Olonne in France.
:: Sky’s Ocean Rescue campaign encourages people to reduce their single-use plastics. You can find out more about the campaign and how to get involved at www.skyoceanrescue.com
(c) Sky News 2018: Susie Goodall, 28, set to make sailing history in Golden Globe Race
