Antonio Puig Aqua Quorum Eau de Toilette Spray, 100 ml

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There are clues to Pete Goss’s racing history in the details of Oddity. The twin rudders and daggerboards are reminiscent of his Open 50 Aqua Quorum, which he raced round the world in the 1996/97 Vendée Globe.

In its way, the eccentric-looking Oddity is the expression of sufficiency, yet it manages to be one of the boldest little yachts you’re likely to come across. Who else could it be for other than a pair of unconventional free-thinkers?A crucial event in the 1980s was signing the contract with Carolina Herrera to create and market all her fragrances. The success with her perfumes spread into the area of fashion industry and the company started producing Herrera’s fashion. In late 1990 one of the first celebrities who created their personal fragrances, Antonio Banderas, formed an agreement for production with Puig. The company’s business grew more and more and they turned on acquiring even more brands and expanding the portfolio of their products. They moved on with Nina Ricci in 1998. They won’t come into a marina very often, but when they do, Pete Goss and his wife, Tracey will be doing a lot of talking. They were in Mayflower Marina in Plymouth when I met them, taking on fuel and water, and a steady stream of people stopped as they walked by. All asking, ‘What is this boat? What is she for?’ Since then his projects have been on both a huge scale and also very small. He is still, rightly, most famous (and revered in France) for his Vendée Globe in the 50ft Aqua Quorum, when he battled upwind in the Southern Ocean to rescue fellow competitor Raphael Dinelli from his upturned hull. Goss returned to a hero’s welcome and was awarded the French Légion d’Honneur medal. Bennett flew out to Brazil in March to inspect the damage. “It’s pretty sad, really. The boat’s completely flooded. There’s only about an inch of freeboard. I had to step down into it from the dinghy. The mast was broken at the second set of spreaders.” The boat had been holed in several places, below the waterline at the bow and along the topsides. “There was heavy damage all along the side. Something had cut into the unidirectional fibres in the hull and in parts had punctured it. Some of the keel bulkheads have also given way now. The upshot is the boat is trashed.”

When you want to stay in places, then the whole game changes,” he observes. “You go when the weather tells you and you have the time to really embed yourself in places like the upper reaches of rivers. Oddity is large enough to live on, but handy for two to sail and small enough to go through the French canals. Pete had never owned a gaff rigged yacht before, but this sail plan allows all the spars to be lowered by hand and fit within its overall length.

Pete Goss’ unique sailing history

Pete and Tracey Goss were always jointly committed to these exploits. They first met as youngsters at Torpoint Mosquito Sailing Club near Plymouth, when Pete needed a crew for his Mirror dinghy. After school, Pete worked on a salvage tug, then joined the Royal Marines. On a bus one night he bumped into Tracey again. She was about to turn 21, and when Pete discovered she had no special plans to celebrate, he invited her out. The couple have been married for over 35 years, and have two adult sons, a daughter, and now a toddler granddaughter. Puig is a brand builder specializing in translating fashion brands images into the world of perfume! I’ve done all the races I wanted to do. When I think of the Vendée Globe, [a campaign] is four to five years in the grind of the sponsorship and the business. The sailing didn’t quite offset that price for me, partly because I have such a diverse life. You are gifted such a small amount of life, just 11 hours per day to invest in something. I have already scratched that itch.”

It could hardly be less like the pressured, high-cost, high-tech, high-profile world of yacht racing where Pete Goss made his name. But he insists he doesn’t miss any of that. not be liable for any direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage arising under these terms andAlthough sad about this, they were also free to imagine what might come next. An idea had been brewing in Pete’s mind. I remember him telling me some years ago that he wanted to build a small plywood epoxy cat-rigged boat. Oddity is not exactly that, but it definitely grew from those seeds, the vision of an uncomplicated, robust boat that could gently explore the coasts and canals peacefully overlooked in the scramble for ever bigger craft. A hero’s welcome for Goss after his Southern Ocean rescue of a fellow Vendée Globe skipper. Photo: PA Images/Alamy We sat down with a glass of wine and drew the boat,” says Pete. There was no CAD software or computer modelling involved; they simply pooled their joint knowledge and “hundreds of years of experience in different boats.”