
Sailing-Britain's Goodchild makes waves with breakthrough IMOCA victory
Goodchild took the lead near Fastnet Rock off the southwest tip of Ireland and never let go, completing the race in six days, one hour and 10 minutes, with French co-skippers Lois Berrehar, Guillaume Combescure and Charlotte Yven for company.
MACIF Sante Prevoyance crossed the line two-and-a-half hours clear of second-placed Elodie Bonafous on Association Petits Princes-Queguiner.
'It was intense, non-stop,' Goodchild said at the finish in Boulogne-sur-Mer. 'We started with no wind and finished with too much. It was kind of what we anticipated – a proper ride."
France's Bonafous, racing her first IMOCA event, finished 46 minutes ahead of third-placed compatriot Nico Lunven on Holcim-PRB, staking her claim as a serious contender in the class.
'During the race, I got it into my head that a podium finish was possible,' Bonafous said.
'Even mid-race, I felt like crying. I told myself 'this is so cool, we're having such a great race.' So I stayed really calm because the race was still long and anything could happen,' she told the IMOCA class website.
The route served up the full British Isles menu: shifty winds, sail changes on repeat, and a drag race down the North Sea.
'We really had it all,' said Goodchild, who was standing in for Charlie Dalin as the Frenchman is taking a break from the sport due to ill-health.
'On the first day, we hoisted every sail we had. And even over the past three days, we haven't stopped changing sails, changing conditions – changing everything. We truly got a full range on this race."
For Goodchild, a former IMOCA Globe Series champion who finished ninth in the last Vendee Globe, this win adds another line to a growing CV – and confirms he is now one of the men to beat on the IMOCA scene.
The IMOCA class is a fleet of high-performance 60-foot monohull yachts built for solo and short-handed ocean racing, best known for marquee events like the Vendee Globe.
The Course des Caps marked the launch of the 2025 IMOCA Globe Series.
Next up is the 100th anniversary of the Rolex Fastnet Race later this month, the Ocean Race Europe (August 10 to September 21), Defi Azimut–Lorient Agglomeration in September, and the Transat Cafe L'Or double-handed race from Le Havre in France to Martinique beginning in October.
(Reporting by Ossian Shine; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Athletics-Oldest marathon runner Fauja Singh dies at 114 in hit-and-run
FILE PHOTO: British Indian marathon runner Fauja Singh, 101, jogs during a practise at a park in Hong Kong February 21, 2013. Singh will take part in a 10-kilometer race at the Hong Kong Marathon on Sunday before he officially retires from public races. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo (Reuters) -Fauja Singh, regarded as the oldest person and the first centenarian to complete a full marathon, has died at the age of 114 after he was struck by a vehicle near his village in Punjab, India, media reports said. Singh, who claimed to be born in 1911, completed the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2011, when he was 100. He had registered his best time in a full marathon at the same event in 2003, finishing the race in five hours and 40 minutes. He was not inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records due to the lack of a birth certificate, as birth records were not kept in India in 1911, media reports said in 2011. "My 'Turbaned Tornado' is no more," Singh's biographer Khushwant Singh posted on X on Monday. "He was struck by an unidentified vehicle around 3:30 PM today in his village, Bias, while crossing the road. Rest in peace, my dear Fauja." Efforts were underway to identify the vehicle, which fled the scene, police told local media. An amateur runner in his youth, Singh later settled in London, where he began running competitively at 89. He ran several full marathons and also competed in 10 km races before retiring in 2013. "He was an exceptional athlete with incredible determination. Pained by his passing away. My thoughts are with his family and countless admirers around the world," India's prime minister Narendra Modi posted on X on Tuesday. (Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in BengaluruEditing by Christian Radnedge)


The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Cycling-Young Scot Onley surprises with top finishes in Tour de France
FILE PHOTO: Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 5 - Caen to Caen - Caen, France - July 9, 2025 Team Picnic PostNL's Oscar Onley in action during the stage 5 time trial REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo TOULOUSE, France (Reuters) -Scotland's Oscar Onley has impressed during the first week of the Tour de France, sitting seventh overall after 10 stages at just 22 years old. The Kelso-born rider delivered standout performances as he claimed third and fourth, in stage seven and four respectively, on the wheels of defending champion Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike). "Mur-de-Bretagne (on stage seven) was really circled as a stage that could suit me but you also have to be realistic that Pogacar, in these kinds of finishes, is in a different league," Onley told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. "I'm just enjoying what I'm doing and to be able to be up there with Pogacar and Vingegaard is an honour." The Picnic PostNL rider also secured sixth place in stage two, adding to an already impressive tally of three top-10 finishes in his second appearance at cycling's most prestigious race. "I was hoping to get a good result, but a good result was maybe a top 10, top five from the bunch. But now I've kind of shown that I'm a little bit higher up and I can set my goals a little bit higher," he said. Onley, who won a stage at last month's Tour de Suisse and claimed third overall, has shown consistency in World Tour one-week races this year. However, his main aim remains a stage win on the Tour de France. "I think it's still the main goal. There are going to be a lot more opportunities coming up in the next couple of weeks. I just have to take those opportunities when they come," he said. "I didn't come here with any ambitions for the GC (general classification). If there's an opportunity to slide in the breakaway one day, then I'll try and take it." The British rider is one minute and 18 seconds behind Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) who currently sits fifth. "I think a top five would be something really special, but I don't know if that's really possible," he said, adding that the experience is bolstering his confidence as a potential Grand Tour contender. "I think that's the goal in the next couple of years. And now I'm starting to realize that maybe it's a little bit more possible than I thought." The first high mountain stage in the Pyrenees on Thursday shouldgive some insight into Onley's strength in longer climbs. (Reporting by Vincent DaheronEditing by Christian Radnedge)


The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Soccer-Man City and Puma sign record long-term kit deal
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Round of 16 - Manchester City v Al Hilal - Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida, U.S. - June 30, 2025 Manchester City's Erling Haaland during the warm up before the match IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters/Nathan Ray Seebeck/File Photo (Reuters) -Manchester City have extended their kit partnership with Puma on a long-term deal, the club announced on Tuesday, with British media reports saying the deal is worth around 1 billion pounds ($1.35 billion), making it the largest in the Premier League. The new contract runs for at least another 10 years, reports said, worth a record 100 million pounds a year to the club. City previously signed a 65 million pounds per year deal with the German kit manufacturer in 2019. The agreement is expected to set a new benchmark for kit manufacturer deals among English clubs, surpassing Manchester United's 900 million pounds 10-year contract with Adidas, signed in 2023. City have enjoyed an exceptional run since 2020, winning four consecutive Premier League titles and securing the treble in the 2022‑23 season. However, they did not win a major trophy last season. City will begin their 2025-26 Premier League campaign on August 16 with a trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers. ($1 = 0.7435 pounds) (Reporting by Shifa Jahan in BengaluruEditing by Christian Radnedge)