Mike Golding received an OBE from Her Majesty the Queen at an Investiture Ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday morning. He was joined at the Palace by his wife Andrea and his parents.

Golding was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours List for services to the sport of sailing. Among his achievement Golding has raced 250,000 miles including five circumnavigations and currently holds four world records. He is also the IMOCA and FICO World Champion, the former for the second year in succession.

Commenting in his personal blog on his website – mikegoldingracing.com – about his day at the Palace Golding said: “It was a truly amazing day with some fabulous life-long memories. The investiture ceremony itself is a work of precision organisation, from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave. Seeing Buckingham Palace as a guest and meeting the Queen to receive such an honour was something very special indeed.

“The Queen as I perhaps expected was very well informed, asking about what it is like to race alone around the world on Ecover, before commenting on the rescue of Alex Thomson from Hugo Boss in the Southern Ocean.

“Trying to avoid fouling up on the various protocols made all of this potentially nerve racking but the Queen (and the Palace staff) are masters of putting one at ease making the whole experience enjoyable and memorable.”