Q&A Mike Golding

POSITION ON BOAT: Skipper

AGE: 48

PLACE OF BIRTH: Gt Yarmouth

NATIONALITY: British

CURRENT HOME TOWN: Warsash, Hampshire

HEIGHT: 1.79m

WEIGHT: 80Kg

HOW MANY YEARS HAVE YOU BEEN SAILING: 39 years

NICKNAME: None

1) FIRST SAILING MOMENT/WHERE DID YOU LEARN TO SAIL:
I learned to sail at various gravel pits around Berkshire.

2) MOST EXTREME SAILING EXPERIENCES?
Sailing Group 4 the 67ft Challenge yacht downwind in 70kts of wind around Cape Horn. Sailing the Ecover 60 in the Southern Ocean - alone at over 30kts boat speed during the Vendee Globe! Finshing the Vendee Globe in 3rd place without a keel is also up there!

• 3) MOST EXTREME THING YOU HAVE EVER DONE OUTSIDE SAILING? *
  I once hitch hiked from Valparaiso in Chile to Montreal in Canada – it was a long way!

4) WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP?
An astronaut

5) MY WORST MOMENT (SAILING):
Hitting the bottom and terminally damaging the keel of Group 4 off NZ whilst I was leading the solo around the world race (Around Alone) in 1998. I was forced to retire from the race which was a real low point.
6) IF YOU HADN'T BECOME A SAILOR WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING?
Working on the international space station maybe?

7) MY BEST MOMENTS (SAILING):
Winning the Transat (ex OSTAR), I grew up watching this race so to win it was fantastic. Winning the BT Global Challenge, sharing a race like this with a crew and winning virtually every leg was amazing.

8) FAVOURITE FOOD:
Fillet Steak and Chips

• 9) FIVE THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE*?
  1) Win the Vendee Globe (I’m working on it)
  2) Go to the Arctic (tba)
  3) Go to Antarctica (tba)
  4) Gliding (booked)
  5) Get old (working on it)

10) THREE WORDS TO DESCRIBE YOUR CHARACTER:
1) Determined
2) Resilient
3) Focused

11) WHATS YOUR GREATEST FEAR?
Boredom

• 12) FAVOURTIE BOAT YOU HAVE RACED ON? *
  IMOCA 60 Ecover

• 13) FAVOURITE COUNTRY IN THE WORLD AND WHY? *
  South Africa, (specifically the Cape Town area) Andrea and I were married here as we love the place climate and people + whenever I have stopped in South Africa as a sailor it has been as a winner – British Steel Challenge, BT Global Challenge, Around Alone etc.

14) INSHORE OR OFFSHORE?
Offshore

• 15) GREATEST BAND IN THE WORLD? *
  U2

17) FAVOURITE SPORTING IDOL? (NON SAILING)
Without question Muhammad Ali