Sam Goodchild, a British skipper, has won his first race in the IMOCA class. He led MACIF Sante Prevoyance in the Course des Caps – a 1,800 nautical mile race around Britain and Ireland.

Goodchild, who took the lead at Fastnet Rock, off the southwest tip Ireland, never relinquished it. He completed the race in just six days, an hour and ten minutes with the help of co-skippers Lois Berrehar and Guillaume Combescure, as well as Charlotte Yven, a Frenchwoman.

MACIF Sante Prevoyance finished two and a half hours ahead of the second-placed Elodie Bonnefous, who was on Association Petits Princes-Queguiner.

Goodchild told the crowd at Boulogne sur Mer that it was "intense, non-stop." "We began with no wind, and ended with too much." "It was exactly what we expected - a good ride."

Bonafous of France, in her first IMOCA race, finished 46 minutes before her third-placed Holcim PRB compatriot Nico Lunven, establishing her as a serious competitor in the class.

Bonafous stated, "During the race I had it in my mind that a podium was possible."

"Even mid-race, I felt like crying. "This is such a cool race, we are having a wonderful time," I told myself. I stayed calm because I knew the race would be long and that anything could happen," she said on the IMOCA website.

The route offered the full British Isles: shifting winds, repeated sail changes, and drag racing down the North Sea.

Goodchild said, "We had it all," standing in for Charlie Dalin who is on a medical break due to his ill health.

"On the first morning, we hoisted all of our sails." We haven't stopped changing anything over the last three days. "We truly had a full range of options on this race."

Goodchild is a former IMOCA Globe Series winner who placed ninth in the Vendee Globe. This win adds to his growing CV and confirms he's one of the top men on the IMOCA stage.

The IMOCA Class is a fleet 60-foot monohulls designed for ocean racing solo or with a crew of two. It's best known for events such as the Vendee Globe.

The 2025 IMOCA Globe Series was launched at the Course des Caps.

The 100th anniversary Rolex Fastnet Race will be celebrated in August, followed by the Ocean Race Europe, Defi?Azimut Lorient Agglomeration, in September and the Transat Cafe L'Or, a double-handed race that begins in October from Le?Havre, France, to Martinique. Reporting by Ossian shine; editing by Peter Rutherford

(source: Reuters)