samantha davies biography

SAMANTHA DAVIES
BIOGRAPHY
Samantha Davies entered the public eye during the Vendée Globe 2009. During
the months spent in solitary on Roxy, Sam showed her considerable spirit and
joy of sailing to all who didn't yet know her. Her achievement (finishing 4th in
the Vendée Globe, first woman in the race, first Briton to finish) found an
extraordinary echo in the media and with the public. Her style and generous
sharing of the most beautiful and arduous of all the solo races, touched and
seduced the public, but also, and above all, her qualities as a sailor, her sense
of tactics and her clever head placed her 60-footer ahead of latest-generation
boats in the race rankings. Highly respected by her peers, a member of the Pôle
France in Port La Forêt and a talented former Figaro racer, Sam has stridently
entered the ranks of the great sailors of this world. And she intends to stay
there. Let's look back on the achievements of this extraordinarily talented
young woman.
Saltwater in her veins
Born in Portsmouth (UK), Sam has spent most of her life on the water. Thanks
to her parents, who now live permanently on their magnificent wooden yacht,
Sam was brought up on the water and was sailing before she could even walk!
From a very young age, Sam has been drawn by the ocean. In the wake of her
Grandfather who was a submarine commander in the British Navy, from whom
she inherited a St Christopher that she wears permanently around her neck,
Sam developed a taste for the sea. Very early on, she learnt to take the helm, manoeuvre and even cook in force 8 winds.
Over the years, Sam developed a love of maths and graduated with a Masters in Mechanical Engineering and a Bachelor of
Arts from St John’s College, Cambridge. During her studies, she practiced synchronised swimming and rowing to a high
level. Her engineer's training and excellent fitness will enable Sam to enrich her range of sailing talents.
From dreams of the Whitbread to the Vendée Globe
As a child, Sam did not dream of solo ocean racing but of team triumphs around the world such as the Whitbread (today
called the Volvo Ocean Race). She is inspired by Shirley Robertson, triple Olympic medal winner, with whom she discovered
regatting and match racing and Tracy Edwards, her inspiration and model, who gave her the opportunity of navigating
professionally. After a brief one week's training with her idol, Sam enrolled as crew for the New York Lizard crossing and
won her place in an all-women crew to attempt the Jules Verne record on the maxi catamaran Royal & Sunalliance in 1998.
At 23 years of age, Sam struck out on her first tour of the globe. She discovered the Roaring 40's, the Screaming 50's and
finally... the Southern Ocean. Team rookie, she was often entrusted with the most unpopular, perilous tasks, such as
climbing the mast in the middle of a storm… but Sam learned fast, and took it all in. Unfortunately, the adventure ended in
disaster when the catamaran dismasted in the South Pacific between New Zealand and the Cape Horn. Sailor Sam had a
while to wait yet before rounding the Horn.
A Mini-Transat followed in 2001 where Sam discovered the difficulty of solo navigation, then 4 participations in the Figaro
Solitary Race from 2003 to 2006 which forged her experience and put her sense of strategy to the test…
Other opportunities to sail as crew arose and Sam jumped at them. In 2002, she embarked on the maxi-catamaran Maiden
II (ex Club Med) and the records fell (24 hours, Trans-Manche, Round Britain, Antigua-Newport), accepted an invitation from
Nick Moloney to take part in the Transat Jacques Vabre 2003 and participated in two Ag2r Transats in 2004 and 2006.
2007 marked a turning point in Sam Davies’s career. The company Roxy, which had sponsored Sam since 2006 for the
Figaro Class, entrusted her with their 60-foot open and offered her the possibility of entering the most illustrious of solitary
races: the Vendée Globe.
Objective Vendée Globe
So Sam inherited a legendary monohull (two times winner of the Vendee Globe in 2000 with Michel Desjoyeaux and in 2004
with Vincent Riou) which she optimised specially and spent two years putting it the test to prepare for her first solo tour of
the world. During the Calais Round Britain Race in April 2007, Sam and her all-girl crew of Jeanne Grégoire, Miranda Merron,
Alexia Barrier and Sharon Ferris set a new all-female Round Britain record. Sam continued her 60’ Class training with a
choice performance in the 2007 Transat Jacques Vabre Race with her friend and colleague Jeanne Gregoire. The girls
finished in tenth place, and first “old generation boat” in what was a particularly tricky race!
The race back from Brazil, the Transat Ecover B to B to Brittany, France, in December 2007, was Sam’s first single-handed
transatlantic race onboard ROXY. This perilous Atlantic crossing in the middle of winter was very hard on the boats. Despite
the terrible conditions, Sam hung on. She finished 7th (out of twenty), without a single problem, and pocketed her
qualification for the Vendée Globe. Her exemplary management of the boat and her knowledge of mechanics and weather
won her the admiration of her peers. Already, Sam was communicating her love of sailing, through highly personal reports
of her life on board, illustrated by photos. At the start of 2009, Sam lined up on the starting line of the Artemis Transat with
a newly fitted out Roxy, equipped with a double centreboard and numerous features designed by Sam and her team.
Marked by the capsizing of Vincent Riou, it was an epic race. While most competitors in the Vendee Globe were testing
brand new boats, Sam once again had the voyage of a lifetime. First woman, first old boat and first Briton to finish, Roxy’s
skipper was unanimously acclaimed in England for a race that finished with a sprint, in 5th place, ahead of her friends
Boissières and Bestaven and despite a collision with a whale.
Signing round the world.
On 9th November 2009, the Sailing world flocked to Les Sables d’Olonne. The Everest of ocean races started in horrendous
conditions with an unforgettable storm in the Gulf of Gascony. Several boats "fell" during the first 24 hours of the race, but
Sam took the time to send back images of the storm that were broadcast around the world by the French and British media.
After 95 days, 4 hours and 39 minutes of a unique journey, Sam became an icon of sport and adventure. Unlike those who
experienced or portrayed only suffering, Sam experienced and shared her unique adventure with the pleasure of every
moment, even in the most delicate of situations. From the stormy start to a terrifying meeting with a large iceberg in the
South; a race against time to rescue Yann Eliès to the hours of anxious waiting for news of Jean Le Cam, victim of a capsize;
not forgetting the unending days and hours stuck off Brazil, becalmed by a weather system that rapidly ate away at Sam's
advance and brought her pursuers within range; not once did Sam show signs of distress or impatience to finish. Quite the
opposite indeed, her true nature was revealed, to herself and others! Happy to be alone at sea, a vulnerable yet privileged
spectator of a marvellous and hostile environment, Sam had the pugnacity to overtake her friend Brian Thomson and his
powerful Pindar, and the strength to keep Roxy zipping along in the high South Seas or during the wearing trek up the
Atlantic.
In the end, Sam was neither contemplative nor impulsive, and completed her round the world race sensitively and
effectively.
Humorously too… an improvised blow-dry using a hot air pipe from the engine, a karaoke session on the deck with speakers
blaring Cindy Lauper, crops of salad and subtle daily blog posts, brought an air of fantasy and a breath of fresh air to this
pitiless planetary regatta.
Judging by her fresh-faced, spruced-up chic on crossing the finish line at Les Sables d’Olonne on 14th February - in 3rd
place before being pipped at the post by Marc Guillemot (due to a time bonus granted for rerouting to rescue Yann Eliès) - it
was hard to believe that Sam had just completed a tour of the globe.
To understand just how much she is at ease on the water, there is this simple statement slipped in before the start of the
race: "I"m doing the Vendée Globe because it's the longest race I know to be alone at sea". Say no more!
The future – the Vendée Globe again!
Since her solo tour, Sam has set a new Round Britain record on Aviva, finished second in the Rolex Fastnet Race in August
and participated in the Jacques Vabre on Artemis Ocean Racing with the French skipper Sidney Gavignet. Despite
considerable damage and awful weather conditions, this has been an especially rich adventure for Sam, who is currently
working on the design of a new boat to line up at the start of the 2012 Vendée Globe.
Between looking for investors, preparing the publication of her book in the Autumn of 2010 and participating in the Ag2r
race with her partner Romain Attanasio in April, Sam is not short of projects...
She has just been elected "Yachtsman of the Year", previously awarded to distinguished sailors such as Eric Tabarly or Ellen
McArthur.
Roxy Sailing / Samantha Davies Press Department:
Cathy Lallement / Agence Olivia Payerne
1, Boulevard Jean Jaurès
92100 Boulogne Billancourt
Tel.: 01 46 04 08 62
Email: [email protected]
SAMANTHA DAVIES
ACHIEVEMENTS
Date of birth
23rd August in Portsmouth (England)
Sponsors
Roxy, Orange
Technical partners
nke, Harken, Icom, Plastimo, Nautix, Raymarine, AGL, BMW Lorient, Pôle France Finistère Course au
Large
Ambassador to:
The Blue Project and The Brightside Trust
Career Highlights
2010
Elected "Yachtsman of the Year 2009”
2009
Vendée Globe: 4th (first woman, first Briton, first old boat)
Round Britain record on Aviva
Rolex Fastnet Race: 2nd on Artemis Ocean Racing
Transat Jacques Vabre: 10th (with Sidney Gavignet on Artemis Ocean Racing)
2008
Artemis Transat: 5th
2007
Transat Ecover B to B race (solo from Bahia, Brazil to Port La Forêt, France): 7th
Transat Jacques Vabre (double–handed with Jeanne Grégoire from Le Havre, France to Bahia, Brazil): 10th
Women’s record for sailing round the British islands in 11 days, 6 hours, 58 minutes and 17 seconds with Jeanne
Grégoire, Miranda Merron, Sharon Ferris and Alexia Barrier.
2006
Transat Ag2r
Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro
2005
Trophée BPE: 5th
Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro: 22nd
Générali Solo: 16th
2004
French Ocean Racing Championship: 10th
Course des Falaises: 13th
Transat Ag2r: 5th
Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro
Générali Solo: 12th
2003
Solitaire Afflelou Le Figaro: 19th and 2nd rookie.
Transat Jacques Vabre: 6th (with Nick Moloney)
Route du Ponant: 14th
Tour de Bretagne: 18th (with Emma Westmacott)
2002
Crew member on the Maxi-Catamaran Maiden II (ex-Club Med)
Records: 24 Hours, Cross-Channel, Round Britain & Ireland and Antigua - Newport
2001
Mini Transat: 11th and 2nd woman
Mini-Pavois: 6th
Select 6.50: 9th
Olympic sailing: crew to Shirley Robertson
1998
Round the world Record attempt in the Trophée Jules Verne on Royal Sun Alliance, all girl crew Designers Finot/Conq