At 24 years old the British rookie James Harayda is the youngest skipper in the IMOCA class. He is setting off on his first major ocean race armed with a well founded, strong and reliable 2007 Finot Conq design which was previously Stephane le Diraison’s A Time for Oceans and an ample supply of confidence
After two seasons sailing double-handed with Dee Caffari on a SunFast 3300, collecting the British national two handed title along the way and benefiting from Caffari’s decades of deep ocean experience, Harayda is doing all he can to fast track his way to the 2024 Vendée Globe.
Since he acquired his boat in the spring Harayda has sailed nearly 5000 miles including his Route du Rhum qualifier, “I’m not feeling a huge amount of pressure at the moment. I’m looking at it more as a learning experience.” He says, “ These are useful qualifying miles for me. I’m feeling very comfortable with the boat now and have got my head around most of it. I’m trying to get to the next level in terms of performance, which is something I’m working on. I’ve been fortunate to go out and do a lot of sailing this season. The Route du Rhum qualifier was the first time I’d been out on the boat by myself. I had a knee injury before that and there was the refit of the boat. I had 25 knots gusting to low thirties for several days, so I feel good with the boat.”
Looking to the first days he says, “The first thing is to get through the weather front. I’d like to think that I can be in a good position relative to some of the other boats, but the main priority is to keep the boat safe and myself safe too. Once through that, it’s the second stage of the race. It’s not sailing simply where I want to go, but sailing with the fleet. I want to keep an eye on them. There are a few boats I’ll be paying close attention to. I’ll be watching Ollie (Heer). I’ve known him for about a year. And I’ll be watching Lazare, another Finot boat. They’re the two I’ll be paying particular attention to, but boats in general from 2008 to 2014.”
Unfortunately Caffari had a previous engagement during this start period but she is on hand to offer advice from a distance, especially about navigating the start period, “I do wish Dee was here. She’s been amazing. I was a bit nervous and had a few problems, so I went to her house and chatted about them. She helped clear my mind, as she’s been there and done that. Hopefully, she’ll be more involved next year.”
As part of his Gentoo SailingTeam they have run a talent identification and support programme for young sailors in the UK. As well as race training on the water and practical technical skills instruction with marine industry leaders, Harayda has five young sailors in Sain Malo getting valuable experience, “ They range from 16 to 23. A young group who all want to be doing this in x years time. So, it’s great being able to give them the experience. They’ve done some training and races with us and workshops on sails and the rigging and marine electronics, increasingly involving them in the IMOCA programme. The main thing with this youth programme is to break down every barrier, including financial, so we take care of accommodation and travel. Hopefully we can generate a bunch of future Vendée Globe skippers.”