Sam Goodchild will lead the first mixed crew of the 2021 Pro Sailing Tour

Just a week before organizing a workshop dedicated to female sailors on multihulls with The Magenta Project, Sam Goodchild and Leyton have decided to have a mixed crew, the first and only one of the Ocean Fifty Circuit. Two women and four men will sail alongside the British skipper: Elodie-Jane Mettraux, Laurane Mettraux, François Morvan, Aymeric Chappellier and Thomas Coville, who will momentarily leave the helm of his Ultim Sodebo to share his multihull experience with the rest of the Leyton crew.

A HIGH-QUALITY CREW

For his first Ocean Fifty season, Sam Goodchild has left nothing to fate and he has put a lot of thought into the crew that will take on this new challenge with him: talented, multi-skilled and motivated male and female sailors with compatible personalities to create a strong and high-performance team.

“I think it’s important to have different profiles, so that every single one of us can learn from the other. We are all impressed by each other’s experiences, and this will help create a great team.” explains Sam Goodchild.

With Thomas Coville, with whom Sam sailed as part of the Jules Verne Trophy crew, the roles will be reversed but that does not bother the Sodebo skipper, on the contrary: “I love this role where you help the group and the leader, it’s where I’m the most satisfied. It’s also where I’m the most skilled. When you’ve sailed thousands of miles together, like Sam and I did, you end up knowing each other, respecting each other, and being true to one another. These types of sports relations and sensations are extremely rare and precious. I thrive on them.”

Youngest of the crew, Laurane Mettraux will bring to the mix her motivation and eagerness to learn which have impressed Sam during the training sessions.

“ There aren’t a lot of opportunities to become part of a professional crew when you are a woman. This project, I will share it with nice people, on a technically impressive boat and on a new circuit for me. It’s going to be a great experience.”

Her sister Elodie-Jane already has some great experience on multihulls on the Leman but also with the Tour Voile. “Her two Volvo Ocean Race have taught her to adapt and fit in quickly with her different teams. She is as multi-skilled as she’s experienced.” That is also something that the Leyton skipper looked for in François Morvan. Multihull specialist, in match racing and offshore sailing, he will be a significant addition to the team. “The new Pro Sailing Tour circuit is really interesting”, says François Morvan. “ The regattas are varied with both offshore and inshore races. It’s this diversity that I like.”

Aymeric Chappellier, Leyton’s Team Manager, has supervised the Ocean Fifty winter refit. His knowledge of the boat and of the several Grand Prix he competed in last season will be essential.

Shore Crew

Declarations