pete goss catamaran

Published on February 21st, 2024 | by Editor

Sitting down with Pete Goss

Published on February 21st, 2024 by Editor -->

Shirley Robertson

In this edition of Shirley Robertson’s Sailing Podcast, the conversation is joined by British offshore adventurer Pete Goss, an accomplished offshore sailor famed for executing one of the bravest solo ocean rescues of all time.

Talking at his home in the south west corner of the UK, Robertson and Goss kick their discussion off with chat about his formative years, his time in the British Marines, and how, in the 1990s, he found a love of offshore sailing.

During Chay Blyth’s British Steel Challenge, a round the world yacht race that was the forbearer to today’s amateur offshore circumnavigation events, Goss was an instructor and skipper on the first event. It was during that time, he hatched a plan to enter the 1996-97 Vendee Globe, the legendary non-stop solo offshore race which was also in it’s infancy.

As one of the first British entrants in the then famously French race, Goss’ tales of pre-internet sponsorship gathering are inspiring, and with a new boat, he managed to make the start line, for the third running of the race. What followed was one of the most brutal editions the Vendee Globe has ever seen.

Of the sixteen boats that crossed the start line, just six finished. Tragically, one competitor, Canadian Gerry Roufs was lost at sea, but it was the rescue of French sailor Raphael Dinelli that for several days between Christmas and New Year 1996, was headline news around the world.

Pete’s telling of the rescue, his memories of the vicious storm in the deep south, and his fight to find Dinelli’s rapidly sinking boat are compelling. At times emotional, Goss describes how he first heard the mayday while himself fighting for survival in the relentless storm, and how his radio comms with the Royal Australian Airforce eventually led him to the boat.

Recalled Goss, “The plane that had dropped him a raft came down to me, and they came up on the VHF so I remember chatting to them, and I said ‘How many people are involved’, because I was still seventy miles away or whatever, ‘how many people are involved in the rescue’, and he just said ‘It’s you!'”

With guidance from the Royal Australian Airforce plane, Goss found Dinelli’s life raft and in a heaving swell, somehow effected the rescue of a near death Raphael Dinelli. He had arrived just in time.

“I met the pilot and the navigator (of the RAAF plane) a year later at the boat show,” noted Goss, “and from the air they saw this figure clamber into the raft and then the boat just ghosted away and disappeared underneath it.”

It’s an emotional and intense telling of a remarkable story, that continues into the second part of this two part podcast, as Goss sails on, determined to finish his Vendee Globe.

His return saw him awarded an MBE from Her Majesty the Queen, and the Legion d’Honneur by then French President Jacques Chirac. Undeterred, Goss immediately launched his next project, taking part in Bruno Peyron’s ambitious concept, “The Race”.

To take on the no-rules round the world challenge, Goss built one of the most futuristic race boats the sport had ever seen. His insights into the project, and the theories behind his Team Philips multihull are fascinating.

With an educational division and a free visitors’ center that saw over 1.2million visitors, his pride in the project is clear to see. Sadly, just weeks before the New Year start of The Race, the project abruptly ended, after the catastrophic loss of the catamaran in a violent North Atlantic storm.

Throughout his career, Goss has embarked on a multitude of groundbreaking projects, and while this edition sees him concentrate on two of his more famous endeavors, he also discusses the delightful “Spirit of Mystery” project, a challenge born from Cornish folk lore that ended up in the recreation of one of the bravest offshore navigations of the 1800s.

Shirley Robertson OBE made history by becoming the first British woman to win Olympic Gold Medals at two consecutive Olympic Games. Shirley Robertson’s Sailing Podcast, produced and edited by Tim Butt of Vertigo Films, is available to listen on her website or via most popular podcast outlets, including iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcast, and aCast.

Tags: Pete Goss , podcast , Shirley Robertson , Shirley Robertson’s Sailing Podcast

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Shirley Robertson: Tales from Sailing Folk Lore with British Adventurer Pete Goss

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Pete Goss "Team Philips" bei Testfahrten schwer beschädigt  

Später konnte das Schiff sogar noch mit eigener Kraft nach St. Marys auf den Isles of Scilly segeln. Dort liegt es mittlerweile durch Auftriebssäcke gestützt vor Anker. In Kürze trifft das Design Team um den Konstrukteur Adrian Thompson auf der Insel ein, um zu untersuchen, wie es zu dem Bruch kommen konnte und wie - falls möglich - eine Reparatur vorzubereiten ist. Die Konstruktion des Kats galt von Anfang an als gewagt, da die beiden Rümpfe im Bugbereich nicht durch einen Beam verbunden sind, wie sonst bei Katamaranen üblich. Sie nehmen einen großen Teil der Quer-Kräfte auf, denen die beiden Rümpfe durch Seegang und Schiffsbewegungen ausgesetzt sind.

Sport - Hero sailor Yachtsman of the Year

Pete Goss - another award to honour his bravery

Pete Goss, the hero sailor who gave up a round-the-world race to rescue a fellow competitor, has been named Yachtsman of the Year. Mr Goss, from Torpoint, Cornwall, was chosen for the "outstanding seamanship" he showed in rescuing Frenchman Raphael Dinelli during the Vendee Globe single-handed race.

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2021 was gifted texture with the construction of our next boat ‘Oddity’. The basic design had been signed off and she essentially ‘went live’ with a fortuitous deal on 1.4 tonnes of lead from the breaking of a local boat. I’m pleased to report she is on schedule for launch in spring and with that in mind I am starting the Oddity blog .

Tracey has chosen the hull colour and bought a colourful mix of soft furnishings to match. In truth it was the other way round and I can’t think of a better reference for Oddity is to be a home from home. A centre of gravity about which the family and grand children can orbit. A fun refuge from social media where we can share the wider world through the eclectic joys of nomadic cruising. A kit bag of life lessons where individuality, teamwork, self reliance and responsibility are paramount.

‘Oddity’ will be a mongrel for she is a mix of past boats. I use the word mongrel with a sense of endearment for Tracey and I have spent many happy hours making her fit for this next chapter in our lives. She will undoubtedly be an outcast when it comes to the homogenised production boats of today. That said, I prefer to think she will become a loyal, lovable scruff that will readily adapt to our eclectic needs for years to come.

At thirty two feet she is a tough little bugger of ply/epoxy construction with a commercial rubbing strake for access to remote fishing docks. Although ocean capable her brief is explore the coast, upper reaches, rivers and canals of Europe. We want to probe beyond the present tide line of cruising congestion and wriggle our way into unspoiled nooks and crannies.

She will draw three feet and dry out on a wide 10mm steel shoe that runs her length. After ‘Pearl’ we could never go to sea without a large pilothouse that shares the beauty of an anchorage as we potter below. Too small to lose both a centreboard and engine under the pilothouse floor we have opted for a couple of canted daggerboards. These will draw six foot when down and can be used as stabilisers when drying out on uneven ground. Twin rudders will be transom hung with a partial keg for protection and directional stability.

The rig is designed to be dropped remotely to transform her from an ocean going yacht into a river boat. First and foremost she is a sailing boat so we have opted for a powerful gaff rig which enables all the spars to remain within the boat length. The mast will have a high pivot point and lower into a saddle on the cockpit arch such that when stowed it all be above the cockpit Bimini. The cockpit arch will also carry solar panels, a dinghy hoist and SuperWind 350 wind generator.

So there you have it, we shall be sailing a boat called ‘Oddity’ with a dinghy called ‘Quirky’. Not quite sure what that says about us but hopefully it will promote an interesting and non conformist life.

I hope you enjoy the blog. Click here

Yachting World

• Digital Edition

Part of Team Philips found

• Elaine Bunting
• May 31, 2001

A chunk of the ill-fated catamaran’s accommodation pod is sighted after nearly six months adrift

A part of Pete Goss’s Team Philips catamaran was found floating off the west coast of Ireland last night, the first sign of the boat since Goss and his crew abandoned her on 10 December last year. At 2107GMT last night a floating object assumed to have been part of hull was towed by the Thorchaser, which was standing by a survey vessel towing a 6km cable. In a report to Malin Coastguard, they said they had towed it to 54° 33N, 10° 36W, 24 miles west-north-west of Eagle Island, County Mayo. There they released it again.

Thorchaser reported that the piece was 7m long by 1.5m wide, grey in colour and had writing which at first they could not determine. Having figured out that the letters made up the slogan ‘Let’s make things better’, the crew of the survey vessel, Geo-Pacific, connected to the internet and deduced that it had must have been part of Team Philips.

There has been speculation that the piece was from the port bow, which was hit as Pete Goss and his crew were rescued by a German freighter. As Goss and his crew scrambled aboard the ship, Team Philips surged alongside on 50ft seas, damaging the port bow, on which the slogan ‘Let’s make things better’ was painted.

But the bow was painted blue, and the words were in larger letters that were not contained in a 7m section, so the grey piece found yesterday was almost certainly part of the accommodation pod. This was painted silver and the top was emblazoned with a smaller version of the ‘Let’s make things better’ slogan. It was damage to the pod that forced Goss and his crew to abandon Team Philips. The piece found is a large part of the pod, which was 15m long.

Former crewmember Alex Bennet is one of those who feels sure this is what was found last night: “The accommodation pod was definitely breaking off when we left,” he says. “There were cracks propaging all around the aft beam and forward beam fairings and the joins and internally around it. It was clear it was going to exit the boat soon. It has obviously since severed off.”

Despite the find, Bennet thinks the yacht, or large parts of her, are still out there. “It could absolutely still be drifting around. It can’t sink. Even if you chopped it up into 100 bits it would still float.” He points out that the carbon/Nomex structure has inherent buoyancy and claims that the 135ft masts, made from high density foam and carbon, each have 20 tonnes of buoyancy. Team Philips could break up and separate, he believes, but the elements should still be afloat.

Team Philips’s last known position on 18 December, tracked by Falmouth Coastguard from EPIRB signals, was about 700 miles west of Ireland. With prevailing south-westerly winds the yacht or any part of her might have been expected to fetch up further north, but whatever the circuitous route, part of her has ended up nearly 700 miles due east after almost six months adrift.

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Team Philips remains sold on eBay

• March 11, 2011

Mystery buyer snaps up Goss' wreck for £510

The remains of Pete Goss ‘ Team Philips catamaran have been sold to a mystery buyer on eBay for £510.

The 40ft section of the hull, weighing six tonnes, has been displayed at Falmouth Docks for the last five years, after Mike Reynolds, the port’s operations manager, saved it from being destroyed.

The carbon fibre fragment washed up in Ireland after the 120ft catamaran suffered structural failures in the North Atlantic on March 29 2000 and broke up.

The auction was launched in aid of Shelterbox with bidding starting last month at £30 and ending on Monday.

Mr Reynolds refused to reveal the new owner’s identity, but said that he hoped that ‘this guy has a big garden’.

He said: ‘We will load it for him, but he will have to come and collect it.

‘I am very pleased that someone wants it and that hopefully they are going to preserve it.’

The hull section has more than 4,000 names of organisations, schools, companies and individuals on it, who paid to sponsor the boat’s construction.

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CRAZY CUSTOM CRUISING BOATS: New Rides for Pete Goss and Barry Spanier

Feb. 17/2023:  Leave it to the most experienced performance sailors to come up with the most interesting boats when they get older and want to go cruising. Exhibit A in today’s brief is Oddity (see image up top), a custom plywood/epoxy 32-foot gaff-rigged barge of a thing masterminded by ex-round-the-world solo racer Pete Goss. A fascinating beast indeed.

Pete and his wife Tracey had previously purchased a Garcia Exploration 45 to cruise about in, but it got stranded in the U.S. when the Covid pandemic shut down the world. Pete and Tracey fled home to the U.K., managed to sell the boat in just six hours, and consequently rethought their cruising plans. They decided they wanted to wend their way through the canals of Europe, but also do a bit of bluewater work, perhaps in high latitudes, in a smaller tough nut of a boat easily managed by two.

Pete and his old-school designer/builder buddy Chris Rees sketched out a design on the back of the proverbial napkin, built a model hull that they tested in the proverbial kitchen sink, and came up with Oddity , a truly fascinating craft. She draws but 3 feet and relies on twin daggerboards to hold her to the wind, plus twin lifting rudders for steering. Her mast is mounted in a tabernacle and can be easily raised and lowered by hand. The gaff rig keeps the mast and all spars short enough to be stowed inboard on deck. Ballast is internal lead, that can be shifted about to adjust trim as needed. A heavy steel shoe on the bottom of the hull allows the boat to take the ground and get dragged about with impunity.

Oddity also has a crazy fun interior! Check out this excellent viddy where Pete takes us on a guided tour:

For more detail on the boat and more background on Pete’s eclectic career, you should peruse this article by Elaine Bunting in Yachting World . You can also study Pete’s blog on building and launching the boat.

Meanwhile, over on the Left Coast here in the USA, we find ex-windsurfing maven Barry Spanier has finally finished and launched Rosie G , his 42-foot custom scow-bow junk that I highlighted here on WaveTrain back in 2019 , when she was first in build.

Rosie is named after a beloved dog that once belonged to Barry and his wife Samantha, and they have a whole Red Dog Yachts website devoted to the project of creating her. This features various videos, including this one documenting a recent test sail on the bay:

You should note in particular the unusual daggerboard-on-a-stick arrangement.

Though Rosie G is a fairly simple boat in concept, built to a design by Jim Antrim, she is considerably more sophisticated than Oddity in terms of construction and systems. The hull is a foam-cored composite, vacuum-infused with vinlyester resin over a male mold. The freestanding mast is carbon fiber, courtesy of GMT Composites. Ballast is a custom-cast external lead keel, courtesy of MarsKeel Technology. (The daggerboard, we should note, slots in aft of the keel.) Auxiliary power is delivered via a QT20 electric drive, courtesy of Electric Yachts.

But to my mind, the most interesting aspect of the whole project is the sail. I am very curious to see how Barry, who built an enormous reputation designing and building sails for windsurfers, will tune and perfect his new junk sail.

It is as sophisticated a junk sail as I’ve ever heard of, built with lightweight Hydranet cloth, carbon battens, and Spectra rigging. One of the virtues of regular junk sails, as I’ve discussed before , is that they are not conventionally aerodynamic and can be thrown together with whatever fabric and material come to hand. According to some, a junk sail’s characteristic scalloped shape is integral to its performance, even when sailing to windward.

Barry, however, at least so far, seems intent on using the junk-sail format to create a highly controllable aerodynamic foil—what he calls an “engineered sail structure.”

I look forward to finding out how well it really works.

( Oddity images courtesy of Yachting World and Lloyd Images; Rosie G images courtesy of Red Dog Yachts)

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