In 1988, Pete raced a 26ft catamaran, Cornish Meadow, in the Carlsberg Single-Handed Transatlantic Race. In 1990 he was taken on by Chay Blyth as a training skipper for the British Steel Challenge, a hugely ambitious westabout round the world race for amateurs. Pete raced as skipper of Hofbräu Lager, finishing 3rd. 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.” A few years ago, this wasn’t even on the horizon. In 2017 they launched Pearl, a Garcia 45 Exploration named to commemorate their 30th wedding anniversary, and set off across the Atlantic with the intention of sailing slowly round the world through the Tropics. 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.” Pete stayed in the Marines for nine years. “I never thought of it as a career,” he says. “I ended up as an instructor in the sailing centre just when it became a profession. But when I left the Marines with no qualifications it was a job. I had to make a living.” 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 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. 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.

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The hull’s rounded bow gives it plenty of volume below and, along with its slight reverse sheer, a contemporary vibe. “She’s a mixture of modern and traditional,” Pete notes. Oddity was built over seven months in plywood epoxy glassfibre, a simple building method – the marine ply was cut with a jigsaw – and because, he explains, “we wanted a tough little bugger.”

The little boat rows beautifully, according to Pete, and has a lug rig for sailing. It was built from a local mould. “One of the old fishermen said it came from the best of the boats that went out from Cawsand and Kingsand to the old [trading] luggers,” he says. Alright, I've just worn Aqua Quorum for about ten hours, and my opinion is that it's an okay scent - nothing great, nothing awful, nothing unique about it. However, I do think this is one that's going to grow on me the more I wear it. I don't regret buying it. I like Cool Water a lot better because I think CW smells less "sporty" than AQ, and I think CW is better balanced. What I like most about AQ is the drydown, which is very aromatic, woody and spicy, and just smells good. Longevity is also excellent - I can still smell it on me now. At the stern a galvanised steel arch provides a structure to support a Superwind 350 generator and 150W of solar panels (the boat has 260Ah of batteries), a saddle to support the mast when lowered and also houses, lifts and launches Oddity’s bright yellow tender, the aptly named Qwerky.

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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 and Puig is a brand builder specializing in translating fashion brands images into the world of perfume! 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. Another successful collaboration with a famous artist started in 2008 with worldwide star Shakira. The company developed a line of new signature products inspired by and created for the singer. It is in 2009 that the company changed its name what it is today—simply, Puig. A license agreement was signed with Valentino to launch their new fragrance. One of the latest success was acquiring a majority stake in the Jean Gaultier fashion house.

Pete Goss planned Oddity to be the perfect yacht for the kind of cruising he aims to do. Photo: Lloyd Images ender Qwerky is suspended from a galvanised steel gantry. Note transom board that’s also a bathing platform… and a ladder. Photo: Lloyd Images 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? 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.

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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?’ The name says it all. Oddity. Spelt out in a groovy 1970s font. Turquoise with a bright yellow tender, a big squared off coachroof, a gaff rig and daggerboards. This curious boat absolutely screams ‘Story!’