Ocean Sailing Podcast

Ian Mackenzie has spent more than 30 years valuing and selling yachts. As a specialist yacht broker he shares his knowledge on how to import, buy, maintain and sell your yacht. His lessons are relevant to both first time and experienced boat owners and sailors and his advice on the critical areas to be diligent, with maintenance and upgrades are insightful. We also drill down into the benefits and...

Dr. Roger Badham spent 10 years at university to complete a PHD in meteorology. He has devoted the last 40 years to marine meteorology. Known as 'Clouds' in the yachting world, he is one of the most respected meteorologists in the sailing business.  Clouds has forecast nine America's Cups, seven Olympic Games, 30 around the world yacht races and countless yacht races and sailing regattas all aroun...

Fresh from completing the 384nm Sydney to Gold Coast Race last week, we join my race crew for a post-race debrief, of what turned out to be the slowest edition of this race in history. Even 100-foot super maxi Wild Oats XI only averaged 8 knots for the course, taking 100% longer than their race record. This debrief with the crew of my Beneteau 445, covers the highs, lows, challenges and set-backs...

Elise Currey heads up a 'volunteer army' at the Coffs Harbour Marina, north of Sydney on Australia's East Coast. With her office smashed to pieces by a storm, that sent 14 metre swells surging through her marina a few weeks ago. Elise as marina manager is literally running her operations out of a shipping container as we speak to her, while the damage repairs that will take a few months, get under...

Gerry Fitzgerald is your consummate mariner. We dive into a lifetime of sailing on the ocean; from Queensland catamaran racing, to Antarctica expeditions, being boarded by hostile natives in the Solomon Islands, competing in the fatal 98 Sydney to Hobart Race, sailing an 1,800 ton tall ship out of Sydney Harbour and exploring the worlds seven oceans. Gerry has a lifetime of maritime sailing storie...

We check in with Mark Stephenson, Commodore of the Mersey Yacht Club in Devonport, Tasmania just weeks after the biggest storm they have seen in 50 years, swept away their marina and the vessels berthed at it. In this candid chat, Mark shares details of the people and vessels rescued and sad stories of those that were lost. This interview provides a graphic insight into the forces of nature and th...

In this episode we catch up with Ian Thomson, organiser of the 6,350nm Around Australia Yacht Race. Its set to start in August 2017 with competitors sailing out of Sydney and this will be the first event held, since Sir Peter Blake won it sailing his catamaran around Australia in 1988. Ian is the current solo sailing mono-hull record holder, after circumnavigating Australia in 2012. From Ian's liv...

We check in with Kym Fleet from Gold Cast City Marina and David Hanton of Bradford Marine to drill into essential tips for recognising, avoiding and protecting yourself from problems that can result from poor hull maintenance. Kym discusses the challenges, evolution and opportunities that have come with running the largest marina and shipyard facility in the Southern Hemisphere and talks about the...

In this bonus episode courtesy of Andy Schell from the 59 North Podcast , we join a training workshop with Andy's sail maker Chuck O'Malley who he has worked with on various projects for more than a decade. In this episode, recorded at the WCC Ocean Sailing Seminar , Chuck discusses the technical aspects of building and maintaining ocean-going cruising sails. Chuck talks about design and construct...

We catch up with Rob White from Evolution Sails on sail wardrobe planning and material selection choices for both cruising and racing sailors. Rob shares four decades of sail planning, sailing, design and production experience and the changes and advances he is seeing, including the adoption of exotic materials at club racing level. Rob talks specifically about tips for making your boat go faster...

Andy Lamont updates us on his preparations for his solo sailing world record attempt to sail, non-stop, westward around the world in a 'vessel less than 40 feet' in length, departing from the Gold Coast, Australia on October 2nd this year. In this follow up to episode's 2 & 3, Andy explains the process of registering for a world record sailing attempt, the ongoing preparations of 'Impulse'; Andy's...

We catch up with Jessica Watson, 6 years after completing her sailing voyage as the youngest person ever to sail non-stop, unassisted around the world in her S&S 34 'Ella's Pink Lady'.  We talk with Jessica about her pre-departure fears; how she dealt with the extreme weather she faced on her trip, life on land after her sailing voyage and her new tech venture in the marine industry and where her...

We talk with Andrew Randell about a sail boat building project his father started in 1963 that came to a standstill when tragedy struck his family while on holiday in 1966. 36 years later Andrew rescues the partly built sailing yacht that had steadily deteriorated over almost 4 decades and he starts a 7 year mission to complete what his father had started. For a guy that had never built a boat bef...

In this episode we talk with Ken Thackeray the founder of the Shag Islet Cruising Yacht Club about how the unplanned idea for SICYC came about by sheer chance and how this unique yacht club has grown into a large organisation with no employees, no physical yacht club venue and 4,700+ sailing members in 14 countries. SICYC is a great resources for cruising sailors and has created friendships is the...

In this 2nd of the 2-part episode we continue to talk to Peter Montgomery, respected internationally as the voice of New Zealand Yachting after personally commentating on 12 Americas Cups, 9 Olympic Games and every Whitbread and Volvo around the world races to date. If you missed Episode 6, I recommend you listen to it before this episode. Peter shares personal insights into his 40 year career in...

In this 1st of a 2-part episode we talk to Peter Montgomery, respected internationally as the voice of New Zealand Yachting after personally commentating on 12 Americas Cups, 9 Olympic Games and every Whitbread and Volvo around the world races to date. Peter shares personal insights into his 40 year career in broadcasting, how the Americas Cup sailing has changed, thoughts on some of the big perso...

We discover one of the most fascinating ocean sailing passages of the 20th century in this episode. In 1972 John Lucas set out from Geelong, Victoria to sail a 40-foot house boat, with a makeshift mast, sailing 3,000 nautical miles north up the east coast of Australia to Thursday Island, New Guinea for missionaries desperately in need of vessel to transit rivers to their local villages. This 3-mon...

In this episode we interview Ray McMahon, director of the Southport Yacht Club in the month the club celebrates its 70th birthday. Despite 70 years of history, offshore keelboat yacht racing only gathered momentum at the Southport Yacht Club in the past decade. The Southport Yacht Club is located on the edge of the Broadwater at Main Beach, near Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast in Queensland Aus...

We continue to talk with Andy Lamont (in part 2 of a 2 part episode) who is setting off from the Gold Coast in Queensland Australia to sail his S&S 34 non-stop, singled-handed around the world. Its a fascinating story about his lifelong passion to sail around the world. Andy provides a step by step insight into his preparation, refit, provisioning plans and philosophy about life in general. This c...

We talk with Andy Lamont (in part 1 of a 2 part episode) who is setting off from the Gold Coast in Queensland Australia to sail his S&S 34 non-stop, singled-handed around the world. Its a fascinating story about his lifelong passion to sail around the world. Andy provides a step by step insight into his preparation, refit, provisioning plans and philosophy about life in general. This candid 2-hour...

In this episode we interview Rob Mundle, yachting commentator, writer and sailor for more than 40 years. Having covered the successful 1983 Australian Americas Cup Challenge and several since along with 44 Sydney to Hobart's and every Hamilton Island Race Week, Rob is known as the voice of Australian yachting and the nations maritime biographer. His book 'Fatal Storm' based on the 1998 Sydney to H...