On the Wind Sailing

Back in 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, August and Øyvind Nilssen were both out sailing on two very different boats. He was sailing in Lofoten, and August was passing through on a brand-new Bavaria he was delivering along the Norwegian coast. They rafted up together in a beautiful little cove, and had a hell of a party that night. The next morning, they found some peace and quiet to record th...

Will Sofrin returns to the podcast to talk about his new book on the USCG EAGLE tall ship. Will, a former "yachtie" turned tallship sailor, first came on the show back in 2023 to talk about delivering the ship used in the film Master & Commander, which became the subject of his first book, "All Hands on Deck," which I LOVE and which has a place in FALKEN's onboard library. This time we talked abou...

The one and only Jimmy Cornell joins the podcast for the first time to talk about his legendary career as the godfather of offshore cruising. Jimmy, now 86, has led an extraordinary life - he escaped communist Romania to go on to become one of the icons of cruising under sail. He's circumnavigated three times, sailed to the far north and the far south, and recently published the 10th edition of hi...

Gunnar Christensen is a career yacht captain and racing sailor who is in the midst of pivoting to sail solo, nonstop around the world in the upcoming Golden Globe Race. Gunnar and I talked about his origins as a sailor in New England, his varied career on yachts and racing boats and about the prep on his Bob Perry-designed boat for the round-the-world voyage. Gunnar is the first guest we've had on...

Conrad Humphries is a career sailor and his adventures have truly run the gamut. He's done everything from Whitbread round-the-world racing to re-enacting the famous voyage of Captain Bligh for a BBC television series. I was connected to him through a mutual friend while Conrad was skippering the racing yacht HOUND, one of my all-time favorite boats (look it up!). Despite his love for sailing fast...

Ben Doerr, friend of the pod, of Sail Bainbridge out in Seattle, returns to the show to talk about a near-miss he and his friends had recently in Alaska. On what should have been Day 1 of their latest Sail 2 Ski adventure, a mile or so outside the harbor the boat caught fire in the engine room. Thanks to some quick-thinking and a lot of good luck, they managed to save the boat, did no harm to the...

Most sailors obsess over boat gear and weather routing — but Andy Schell argues the single most important factor in a successful offshore passage is something almost nobody talks about: your mental state. Drawing on marathon training philosophy, solo circumnavigation stories, and his own mid-Atlantic spiritual awakening, this seminar reframes ocean sailing as an emotional journey with predictable...

When Matt first went around the America's in his Albin Vega in 2011 (becoming the first and only person, still to this day, to do it solo and nonstop), he didn't have a radar despite all the icebergs. "I'd also rather have a Valiant 42"! he'd joke when people asked about it. Well, now he does! Matt is about to set forth on another epic adventure, aiming to circumnavigate the Arctic, above the Nort...

Mia and Andy sit down in the new Mission Control to review the year that was 2025! And we're only 3 months late in doing it! Each year Mia & Andy like to record a podcast in which we reflect on the past year and share some stories. So much happens over the course a year with us and 59º North that it's tough to keep track of it all in the moment! You'll be shocked at some of the stats we come up wi...

Ben Soofer joined 59 North back in 2018, working with media and on the backend of this very podcast. He then started sailing as a mate, including joining August on his first offshore passage on Isbjørn. He's then gone on to start his own business, and working with many others. August caught up with him to reminisce about the past, share some old sea stories, and talk about how Ben's made a unique...

Francesca Clapcich is an Olympian, a world champion, and in 2023 became the first Italian to win The Ocean Race. She most recently skippered UpWind by MerConcept, an all-female Ocean Fifty trimaran campaign — and now, she's set her sights on the 2028 Vendée Globe with her title sponsor, 11th Hour Racing. We caught up back in July, while she was enjoying a few final weeks at home in Utah with her w...

Friend of 59º North Nikki Henderson returns to the podcast to talk with me about a wide-ranging list of subjects on sailing, life and philosophy. This conversation was initially inspired by my own curiosity about Nikki's writing process. We talked about how each of us think about writing about sailing, how we go from idea to words-on-the-paper, how our experiences shape our writing and more. Then...

Troy Sears is the owner and captain of the San Diego-based Schooner AMERICA, a 144-ft replica of the racing ship that came to be the namesake of the famous Cup. Troy is a huge America's Cup nerd & history buff, delving into the history of the Cup and starting the podcast off with a question about the origins of the word 'yacht.' Troy lives aboard AMERICA with his dog and captain's the boat on dail...

John Kretschmer is back on the podcast to talk more philosophy and more sailing. If you're new to the show, or new to John's work, he's inspired me more than any other sailor. His books are legendary, and you should read all of them. But start with 'Sailing a Serious Ocean,' if you want one book that best distills his storytelling and philosophy into one volume. John and I talk about everything in...

Chris Kobusch & Sophie O'Neill are longtime friends of 59º North. Chris was in fact one of our full-time skippers for two years on ICEBEAR & FALKEN, and Mia & I recently attended their wedding in England last September. Both professional sailors, they met on the Clipper Race, where Sophie was a last-minute sub-in as First Mate and sailed across the Pacific with Chris. Since then they've led an adv...

Andy Schell and Jahn Tihansky sit down in Annapolis to discuss Jahn's long and exciting sailing career. He's been racing and beating some of the biggest names in the sport, built successful sailmaking and sailing businesses, and served as head sailing coach at the U.S. Naval Academy for many years. -- Support the podcast & become a member of  The Quarterdeck , where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on...

Ari Huusela is an aircraft mechanic and commercial airline pilot from Helsinki, Finland. He did not start sailing until the age of 24, but went on to become the first person from the Nordic countries to have finished the brutal Vendee globe round the world race. During the race he became known as the Super happy sailor thanks to his positive energy and optimism. He joins August remotely from the N...

Matt Rutherford is back again, this time to talk about perhaps his most audacious plans yet - to sail solo and nonstop around the Arctic. That's back-to-back through the Northwest Passage and NorthEAST passage (above Russia). I caught up with Matt in person to talk about his plans (and lots more, like we always do), back in October in Annapolis. Matt continues to inspire and push me as a sailor. H...

James Evenson, aka Sailing Zingaro on YouTube, has sailed tens of thousands of miles on a variety of boats and had countless adventures. Several of those adventures have ended either in disaster or heroics, depending on your perspective, and it got me wondering - what is true seam'nship? James and I sat down face to face in Annapolis and had a ranging and thoughtful conversation on his life before...

Pär Nyman is a Swedish sailor who recently bought the Rustler 36 Lazy Otter and signed up for the 2026 Golden Globe race. He sailed from Sweden to Bergen, Norway, to sea trial his boat, gain experience, and to meet up with fellow Golden Globe competitor Daniel Alfredsson from Bergen. August met him there to talk about his upcoming big dream voyage. -- Support the podcast & become a member of  The...

The rumors are true - 59º North has bought the Schooner Woodwind business in Annapolis! Andy, Mia, founder Jen Kaye & new GM Ryan Ellison share some behind-the-scenes at the top of today's show. Come help celebrate with us at Annapolis Sailboat Show , and meet today's podcast guest Mara, who will be at the show and hanging around with 59º North in tent O-8! Mara Løvenskiold is a Norwegian athlete-...

Sidse Johannsen is a Danish solo sailor with major plans. When Andy spoke to her in June, she was in final preparations to sail her C&C 40 from Denmark to Greenland, where she'd worked as a teacher some years ago and always longed to return to. She talks about the trials and stresses of buying and outfitting a new boat for northern sailing, what life was like teaching in Greenland and how she hope...

Cole Brauer made history in 2024 as the first American woman to race solo, non-stop around the world. She crossed the line wearing a hat that read Wild Feminist — a bold and powerful statement from a sailor who'd once been told she was too short for the Southern Ocean. Clearly, she proved them wrong — and along the way, captured the hearts and minds of over 450,000 fans by sharing raw, vulnerable...

Daniel Alfredsson is a commercial diver living in Bergen, Norway. He is preparing himself and his boat to sail around the world solo, unassisted, non-stop with an old boat and retro technology as a participant in Don Macintryres 2026 Golden Globe Race. I had the pleasure of meeting Daniel and to record this conversation aboard the boat that will take him, hopefully, all around the world. -- Suppor...

Dan & Kika of Sailing Uma return to the podcast to talk to Andy this time, and boy do they go deep! What started as a chance to catch up on the latest refit progress on Uma, turned into a winding tale of botched visas, border agents, airport jail cells, deportations, almost buying a new boat - in Canada! - and finally the ups and downs of rebuilding Uma, their home. Dan & Kika have never told this...