Mike Golding has been fulfilling a gruelling round of media interviews, including the main event press conference this morning. Then this afternoon he underwent a set of physical tests for the University of Portsmouth’s team who are doing a monitoring project on all of the skippers throughout the race.

One of the most common questions asked is how Golding deals with the risk and being scared while racing alone offshore, but – as he reflects – as former fire officer his career on land and sea has always involved elements of risk :

“ Everything I have done in my working life has had some degree of risk and it is down to managing that risk. If I was still a fireman you could have asked me the same question and the answer would have been more clear. But in this kind of scenario the question is less clear. In both jobs I don’t take any unnecessary risks.”

And why does he keep going. After two circumnavigations racing the ‘wrong way’ round with the Global Challenge 67’s, one solo round the world record Record #sailingrecord success, and two Vendée Globes, what is it that drives him to keep coming back ?

“ The reason I keep doing this is that I have such a short term memory. I finish, and go, ‘well that was nice’. The point is that it’s great. On this boat on the Vendée Globe I really enjoyed it. I was just concentrating on the Vendée last time but here I will concentrating on this of course, but I will be looking at what we have to change for the new boat.”

On the subject of the clash between the Route du Rhum Route du Rhum #RouteDuRhum transatlantic race which starts next weekend, and this race, he says :

“ This race is disappointing, I would have liked to see a bigger fleet, but I am looking at it in a very positive way. The others are missing out. This race is needed, a race with stops. The Vendée does one thing, this provides another. It is a very different race. It has always attracted a more eclectic mix of sailors and nationalities. And the thing that appeals to me still is that we have a Japanese sailor, we have a Spanish sailor with a serious programme, we have Robin, we have Alex, it is a real mix and I think the guys who are missing out are the guys who are doing the obvious. The one exception is possibly Brian (Thompson), who is putting his neck on the line in an all French Route du Rhum Route du Rhum #RouteDuRhum fleet. The French are : ‘Route du Rhum, Route du Rhum’ like it is the only thing on the planet. The reality is it is a race which has too many boats, which has unclear class positions and to me it is not the only thing on the planet. It is a shame that this race has not attracted the French.”

He explains his respect and admiration for the youngest and the oldest skippers in the race, in equal measure :

“ Alex (Thomson) is a fast sailor. He absolutely is. The only thing stopping him from winning races is his ability to finish. He will win races but he will have to go slower. I am just hoping he isn’t there yet. The reality is that I am quite comfortable with being ‘favourite’ I think we are well prepared. The trouble with being the favourite is that there is only one way to go ! But as for added pressure, pressure is what you put on yourself.”

“ For Robin it is a big call to be doing this race. I’ve never known him as a sailor, I have known him as Sir Robin Knox Johnston but I don’t think I have ever known him happier. His sailing career came to a natural stop point after the ENZA thing, and he has had a rough two years. But he is strong enough mentally and physically and that is to be applauded, it really is. The reality is that the boat was late, he hasn’t put in enough time and that is what he has said all along. When it arrived (in the spring) it looked a bit shaky, but they have really worked hard on it, it looks OK now. Once he gets to know the boat it will be harder for us, it is not a slow boat. She is the same generation as the Finot (Mike’s previous ECOVER) and she has won this race before. There are two winning boats in this race.”

“I can imagine him giving up on the computers though,” Mike grins, “and getting the sextant out, or even doing it on DR (dead reckoning). But there you are, we are the most anal of the lot, we want everything ‘just so’, but the reality is you don’t need it to cross the oceans. But I think that when we go out there like greyhounds out the trap and Robin sees that then he will work at it to make his result the best that it can be.”

Profile is important for sponsors, and Mike believes that there is a natural conservatism with the British public as to who they have as sporting icons. But his raison d’être is to win yacht races, not worry about being recognised on the London Underground. Indeed he recently admits that when people who do not know him ask him what he does, he usually confesses only to be a ‘company director.’

“ Ellen has done a lot to raise the profile of this arena of the sport. We have enjoyed the benefits, even if that is at a lower profile level and I am quite comfortable with that provided we continue to notch up success. At the end of the day I measure my success not by if people noticing me walking down the street but by winning yacht races. I don’t do it for that wider recognition, I do it because I want to compete, I want to win and we have been world champion in IMOCA Imoca #IMOCA twice, and FICO once and for me that is a really big thing, all my heroes attained that and now I am alongside them on the trophies. The disappointment is that it has been through consistency rather than through great endeavour. And that is why I am so determined to win. That is my goal. But I am also realistic. Stuff happens. We should have won a single-handed round the world race before now, but life is full of those things. I know I am individually good enough to do it. The tipping point was the last Vendée which I genuinely enjoyed. Front to back I enjoyed the race, I enjoyed the competitiveness, the role I played and I felt I could have won the race, it was there for the winning.”