Off Watch - The Ocean Race Podcast

Time to get your geek on as we run the numbers with sailor and Performance Analyst Rosco Monson, who explains how data collection and analysis is pushing the limits of performance in offshore sailing. Rosco was part of Team AkzoNobel during the last edition of The Ocean Race and takes us inside the key decisions in racing navigation, how data is making sailors go faster, and what the next edition...

Charles Caudrelier was the winning skipper of the 2017-18 edition of The Ocean Race, leading Dongfeng Race Team to the closest victory in the race's history. In his most open interview yet, Charles relives the highs and the lows from his career, discusses his 'complicated' relationship with navigator Pascal Bidégorry and lets us in on the secrets that made the Chinese / French team faster than the...

If you want to understand the stresses and strains of being a sailor - and skipper in The Ocean Race, this episode is a must watch. British sailor and adventurer Dee Caffari was the skipper of Turn the Tide on Plastic in the 2017-18 edition, and she gets deep into the drive, the insecurities and the psychology of top-class ocean racers, and she and Niall discuss everything from team management, de...

Today we're going to take you to yacht design school 📝⛵️. Juan Kouyoumdjian is one of the biggest and most influential brains in the sailing world and has designed the winning boat of The Ocean Race an incredible three times, as well as having six America's Cup involvements. In this exclusive interview Juan gives the inside track on how to win the next edition of The Ocean Race, what keeps him u...

Martine Grael is a Brazilian 🇧🇷 Olympic gold medalist 🥇 who sailed onboard Team AkzoNobel during the last edition of The Ocean Race. Today Martine and Niall delve into the importance of winning, her triumph in Rio 2016, suffering in the doldrums, and Niall also asks some of the questions you submitted by social media. ⛵️🌍

Niall speaks with Race Chairman Richard Brisius and Managing Director Johan Salén about changes to the next edition of The Ocean Race. As part of a 10-year plan, the next edition of the Race will start in 2022, with a potential European Race in the summer of 2021, and future Race start dates in 2026 and 2030. ⛵️🌍🌊

This week we are fortunate enough to welcome six-time Olympian Santiago Lange to Off Watch and hear about his remarkable life and career. Santi tells Niall about dragging a dinghy around Europe by train, his adventures in The Ocean Race and America's Cup, and finally his incredible recovery from cancer to take gold for Argentina 🇦🇷 at the Rio Olympic Games. 🇧🇷

Libby Greenhalgh is a sailor, navigator, meteorologist and advocate for increased opportunities for women to compete in top-class sailing through The Magenta Project. On this week’s Off Watch episode Libby takes us inside the campaign with Team SCA in 2014-15, and remembers John Fisher, her crewmate aboard Sun Hung Kai/Scallywag who was tragically lost overboard during the last edition. Libby also...

This week we welcome British 🇬🇧sailor Hannah Diamond to Off Watch. Hannah was part of the Vestas 11th Hour Racing team that experienced a turbulent 2017-18 campaign, including a dismasting near the Falkland Islands, which challenged the crew to perform some unconventional repairs to help their boat onto the leg finish in Itajai in Brazil.🇧🇷 Hannah also tells Niall about sailing in The Southern Oce...

Rick Tomlinson is a photographer and sailor whose relationship with this race runs deep. He first stepped onboard a Whitbread boat as a sailor back in 1985 with Drum, as a crewmate of Duran Duran star Simon Le Bon. From there Rick pioneered the role of capturing life onboard as a photographer, taking some of The Ocean Race's most iconic images. In this conversation with Niall, Rick takes us throug...

Bouwe Bekking is an authentic ocean racing legend. His career spans 35 years and eight laps around the world, from his debut in the 1985 Whitbread Round the World Race to his most recent entry in the 2017-18 edition as skipper of Team Brunel. There's nobody who knows this race better. In this interview Bekking opens up about getting his start in the Whitbread era, disaster aboard Movistar in 2005-...

This week our guest is Annie Lush, a two-time competitor in The Ocean Race, and British Olympic sailor. Annie talks about getting her start in offshore racing with the all-female Team SCA, sailing with Bouwe Bekking's Team Brunel in the last edition and breaking her back in the Southern Ocean, and she tells us about the thrill of crewed IMOCA sailing with Offshore Team Germany.

Emily Nagel was the youngest female sailor to compete in the 2017-18 edition of The Ocean Race, and one of the youngest sailors in the race's history. She opens up to Niall about being part of the Bermuda Youth America's Cup team, fulfilling her dream of sailing around the world in The Ocean Race, and the psychological pain of missing a leg of the race through injury.

This week Niall talks to Irish sailor Damian Foxall who has competed in The Ocean Race six times including a winning campaign with Groupama in 20011-12. 🇫🇷 Damian has now taken on a new challenge as Sustainability Program Manager with 11th Hour Racing Team, proving that the same determination and ingenuity needed when sailing around the world can be used to bring sustainable practices into sport....

How would you deal with a sudden crash in the middle of the ocean in pitch black night? How does it feel to have a camera pushed in your face in the middle of a crisis? And how does a six-time competitor in The Ocean Race live with sea sickness? We put all these questions and more to Chris Nicholson in this week’s episode of Off Watch.

In this edition of Off Watch, we speak to Spanish sailing icon Xabi Fernández. An Olympic gold medalist, a five-time Ocean Race competitor, and three-time America's Cup competitor, the humble and understated Spaniard has done it all, including leading MAPFRE to a second place finish in the 2017-18 edition of The Ocean Race, the best ever result for a Spanish team. But it wasn't easy, and in this c...

In this week's Off Watch podcast, we speak with Francesca Clapcich. The Italian sailor is a two-time Olympian who joined the Turn the Tide on Plastic crew in the 2017-18 edition of the race. Now, she's looking to put together her own team for the next edition of The Ocean Race, and with the Grand Finale touted for Genoa, Italy, local interest is high and her ambition is resolute. Learn more about...

This week we speak with Yoann Richomme, who was named skipper of The Mirpuri Foundation Racing Team in February. The French sailor explains his background in one of the toughest proving grounds there is for offshore sailors - the Figaro circuit, where he is a two-time champion - and his passion for one-design and fully-crewed racing.

In this episode of Off Watch, we speak to Carolijn Brouwer, a three-time competitor in The Ocean Race, who sailed to victory with Dongfeng Race Team in that epic final leg of the last race, finishing in her home port of The Hague. But before she was an offshore sailor, Carolijn was an incredibly accomplished dinghy sailor in the 470, Laser Radial, Europe and Tornado class, winning World Sailor of...

A conversation with Ken Read: In a wide-ranging interview we speak to the President of North Sails about his storied career, from youth champion to America’s Cup and Ocean Race skipper and dive into his approach to leadership and managing crisis situations. We also explore the link between sailing and business and get his opinion on the latest updates from The Ocean Race. ⛵️🌎