By JULIE ASH
New Zealand yachtie Mike Sanderson is still getting used to the fact that when he says "we" these days he is not referring to himself and a big burly group of sailors hurtling across the ocean in a yacht.
He is simply referring to himself and his boat.
The
32-year-old will step outside his comfort zone in May and compete in the gruelling 3000-mile Transat single-handed race from Plymouth to Boston.
Sanderson is no stranger to offshore racing - he was a trimmer on Grant Dalton's New Zealand Endeavour when it won the 1993/94 Whitbread round-the-world yacht race. He was also watch captain on Dalton's Merit Cup when it finished second in the race in 1997/98.
But this race will be his first solo.
"I am really looking forward to it even though I know a lot of people think I have rocks in my head.
"In the past I have been very involved in the tactical side of things so I am not worried about that.
"But [when racing solo] your days are so filled up with things I have never had to deal with before ... the fuel management, going up the mast, fixing electronics.
"Those are things that are going to be totally new to me."
Sanderson will race Pindar, a refitted 60ft yacht which was originally Graham Dalton's Hexagon.
With 16 in the 60ft class, Sanderson's toughest opposition is likely to be from Switzerland's Bernard Stamm, Frenchmen Jean-Pierre Dick and Roland Jourdain and Britain's Mike Golding.
"There are probably about a dozen sailors who could win it," Sanderson said.
Along with his Transat campaign, Sanderson has also teamed up with successful British sailor Emma Richards, with whom he hopes to co-skipper an entry in next year's Volvo round-the-world yacht race.
They are in talks with a variety of companies in the hope of securing a $30 million, three-year sponsorship deal.
Helping them to raise the money is golfing legend Colin Montgomerie, who hopes to sail with the pair for a leg of the race.
"He was being interviewed and someone said to him, 'Colin, what do you see yourself doing in the future?' He came back and said, 'One of my lifelong dreams to is to do a leg of the Volvo race'.
"It wasn't quite the answer people were expecting. So we got in touch with him and it went from there."
Along with his Transat and Volvo campaigns, Sanderson will continue his involvement with the 140ft record-breaking super maxi Mari Cha IV, which will compete in Antigua Race Week in early April.
He hasn't ruled out competing in the 2007 America's Cup either.
"I would love to have gone and been involved with Grant Dalton again. I was joking with him a long time ago that he would end up running Team New Zealand so I get a lot of humour out it.
"He is doing great things from what I hear, which is very exciting for them," said Sanderson.
"But the America's Cup is very much on the back burner for me ... I want to co-skipper a boat in the Volvo race - that is my main objective at the moment."
MIKE SANDERSON
Lives: Britain
Born: Whangarei, May 29, 1971
Career highlights:
2003: Helmsman on Mari Cha IV which shattered the transatlantic record by over two days and became the first monohull ever to sail over 500 nautical miles in 24 hours.
2000/03: Mainsheet trimmer for America's Cup syndicate Oracle BMW racing.
2001/02: Part of Peter Holmberg's team which won the Swedish Match Tour.
2000: America's Cup Team New Zealand B-boat mainsheet trimmer
1997/98: Second on Merit Cup in the Whitbread round-the-world yacht race.
1995: America's Cup Tag Heuer mainsheet trimmer
1993/94: First on New Zealand Endeavour in Whitbread round-the-world yacht race.
By JULIE ASH
New Zealand yachtie Mike Sanderson is still getting used to the fact that when he says "we" these days he is not referring to himself and a big burly group of sailors hurtling across the ocean in a yacht.
He is simply referring to himself and his boat.
The
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