EUR-OCEANS Jury member
Mr Mike GOLDING : Around the world sailor
Mike Golding, 47 is regarded as one of the
world’s best offshore racing sailors.
Having sailed since childhood, Mike first came to public attention in 1992 as a skipper in Sir Chay Blyth’s revolutionary British Steel Challenge, when he led a crew of amateurs in this gruelling, inaugural race around the world, east about, against prevailing winds and currents.
Golding spent 12 years as a Fire Officer in the Royal Berkshire Fire & Rescue Service before pursuing his passion for sailing on a full-time basis.
In 1994, he established a new world record for the same east about circumnavigation, only this time alone. In doing so, he became only the second person to successfully complete this voyage bettering Chay Blyth’s original time by more than 125 days - a record Golding held for seven years.
In 1996/7, Mike won the BT Global Challenge round the world race, leading an amateur crew to victory in five of the six legs and achieving a combined lead of more than two days on his nearest rival. .
In 2001 Golding became the first person to have sailed around the world in both directions and the only British person ever to sail single-handed and non-stop around the world in both directions.
Representing Britain over the last decade, Golding has consistently been at the forefront of the professional Open 60 class, achieving podium positions in major events and setting three new world sailing records in the process.
Mike was FICO World Champion 2005/6 and IMOCA world champion for two successive years 2004/5 and 2005/6; the first and only British sailor to hold this coveted title.
Golding is an Ambassador for the Royal Yachting Association and British Marine Federation’s Green Blue environmental awareness programme. In January 2007 he was awarded an OBE for his services to the sport of sailing.
In November 2008, Mike will be at the start of his third Vendée Globe, the famous non-stop, single-handed around the world race, without assistance.