On the Wind Sailing

#189:  Clint Wells is one of my best friends, and Isbjorn's first mate when Mia can't make a passage. He was there when I first met Mia in New Zealand, and he sailed across the Atlantic with us on Arcturus back in 2011. Clint is NOT a sailor - or at least wasn't, until joining us. I spoke to him a few years back about our Atlantic crossing together and the challenges he faced - both physically, an...

#188: Linda Hammarberg & her husband Ludvig recently returned to Sweden after a multi-year circumnavigation with their two young kids, Otto & Lovis, onboard 'Mary af Roverhamn,' their Joshua-type steel ketch. During parts of the voyage they were followed by a film crew from Swedish television for the show 'familje pa Aventyr' - which basically translates to 'Families on Adventure.' The Hammarberg'...

#187. Matt Rutherford is a longtime friend of the podcast and founder of the Ocean Research Project. Matt became famous, of course, for his legendary Solo the America's voyage, during which he sailed a 27' Albin Vega around both American continents. In our latest chat, recorded in Sweden back in January, Matt recalls the summer of 2016 in Greenland, where he & his partner Nicole piloted their rese...

#186: Today's episode is a recording I made of my seminar on Heavy Weather Sailing I gave at last weekends Ocean Sailing Seminar, hosted by World Cruising Club in Annapolis. While I'm lucky not to have too many gnarly heavy-weather sea stories of my own, I've studied the subject for years and enjoying talking about it theoretically. What follows is a discussion on what I feel are the 'best practic...

#185. Retired Senator Tom Harkin & I recorded this 'recycled' episode at his house in Hope Town, in the Bahamas, almost two years ago now. Tom was a career senator, but this episode is nothing about politics. Rather, it's about Tom's incredible, unbelievable life story. He was a fighter pilot during Vietnam and became one of the few people ever to eject from a jet and survive to tell the tale. He...

#184:  Olly Cotterell is one of the youngest Clipper Race skippers ever, sailing to a podium position in the 2013-2014 edition of the RTW race onboard OneDLL. He currently skipper's the prototype, foiling racing yacht 'Maverick,' which recently won her class in the RORC Trans-Atlantic Race. Olly & I have a connection in that we've both worked for Broadreach. We met up to record this episode in per...

#183. Chris Museler, NY Times journalist & sailor extraordinaire, has been a longtime friend of the podcast since the early days, and he's back yet again for another catch-up. Chris has a remarkable journalism career and is one of the few people who get to write about sailing for the NY Times. He crossed the Atlantic onboard Hugo Boss as an onboard journalist with recent podcast guest Ryan Breymai...

#182. Alan Block, aka Mr. Clean, is one of the driving forces behind the hugely popular - and sometimes controversial - Sailing Anarchy website. He's a staple on the racing scene, traveling far and wide to cover events from the Volvo to the Vendee and lots in between. Alan's story is a fascinating and circuitous one, and during our 90-minute conversation, we covered the whole thing, from his early...

#181: Yves Gelinas is a French-Canadian single-handed sailor and inventor of the Cape Horn wind vane, the simplest, most robust, and most elegant solution for self-steering on an offshore cruising boat. Yves invented and perfected the gear while circumnavigating nonstop via the Great Capes in his beloved Alberg 30 Jean du Sud in the 80s. During that voyage, he filmed Around the World with Jean du...

#180. Today's episode is slightly different. Magnus Ormestad is the host of my favorite Swedish podcast, called 'Husky,' where he interviews folks into outdoor sports & adventure. Magnus & I met a few years ago over coffee in a bike shop in Stockholm and became quick friends. We recorded in Sweden in January - it was a back-and-forth talk between two people used to 'hosting', with him interviewing...

#179. Martin Hasselov is a sailor and PHD scientist based on the beautiful West Coast - which the locals call the 'best coast' - of Sweden. Martin has a lifelong love for the sea which started as a small boy fishing in his families rowboats. After college he built a steel ketch from a bare hull to explore further afield. Now armed with a PHD in marine science, Martin recently bought an ex-BT Chall...

#178: Rick Tomlinson is one of yachting's most accomplished photographers. What I didn't know before we met, was how accomplished he is as a sailor. Rick was a crew member on four consecutive Whitbread Races, and literally invented the modern concept of onboard reporter. Back in his day, Rick was an integral member of the sailing crew - he took photos onboard as a hobby, on his off-watches, and ev...

#BONUS: Sailing Stories Season 1, Episode 1. Join Janne Larsson & Kalle Andersson as they set off to sail around the world on a handshake and lots of ambition. Head to iTunes and subscribe to Sailing Stories! First three episodes now live on the SS feed. Find out more at sailingstoriespodcast.com

#177: RECYCLED (previously #4). Lin & Larry Pardey need no introduction. They're cruising legends, inspiring generations of sailors to 'go small, go simple, and go now.' I first discovered them through books I found in my parent's basement - indeed it was the Pardey's that primarly inspired my mom and dad to first set off on their 32' sloop for a winter in the Bahamas in 1979. Mia and I read their...

#176. SV Delos' videos have become an internet sensation. After leaving Seattle in 2009, Brian, who later met Karin in new Zealand, and his brother Brady have been sailing the world and filming their adventures. Almost by accident they've become the most popular sailing videos on YouTube and it's become their primary source of income. Andy & Mia met them in Stockholm for an in-person chat on the p...

#175: Behan & Jamie Gifford set off from Seattle Washington in Totem, their Stevens 47 sloop, in 2008. They've been sailing the world ever since, raising their three kids aboard the boat while crossing oceans, exploring landfalls and meeting interesting people along the way. Mia & I were invited aboard while Totem was in Annapolis last fall and had an enlightening conversation with the whole famil...

#174: Nigel Calder is universally recognized as the guru of yacht systems. His hardcover tomes grace the bookshelves of yachts the world over. On Isbjorn, his are some of my most referenced books. But while many of you will know Nigel for his writing, I'd bet that few know his background. I didn't. He came aboard Isbjorn during the Annapolis Sailboat Show last October and told me his backstory, wh...

#BONUS. Happy Holidays! Here's a sneak preview of 'Sailing Stories,' a new podcast produced by 59º North, hosted by Lee Cumberland & narrated by Duncan Hood. The show is currently in production and will be out sometime in early 2017. Stay tuned!

#173. The Reverend Bob Shepton, now 81, got his start shortly after WWII as a climbing instructor in the British Armed Forces, where he used the outdoors to teach leadership & scripture. He didn't start sailing until much later in life, but got real serious about it real quickly. I sat down with him at the Southampton Boat Show to talk religion, spirituality, his early days as a climber, losing hi...

#172. I've called a lot of people 'legendary' on the podcast, but Don Street truly fits the bill. Now deep into his 80s, he's seen & done it all. He's been instrumental in creating modern cruising as we know it. Street pioneered cruising the Caribbean on his engineless yawl Iolaire, and to this day continues updating charts of the region. He helped design the Caribbean's first charter yacht, the C...

#171,  The legendary yacht designer German Frers…He earned his chops working for S&S under Olin Stephens himself, but it was only through a chance meeting that he got to sketch his first namesake yacht. Frers' one-off designs quickly began attracting the best production builders like Swan & Hallberg-Rassy, who hired him to design their bluewater cruising boats, and some of the most iconic super ya...

#170. Magnus Rassy is one of my favorite characters in sailing. He's the CEO of Hallberg-Rassy and one of the most enthusiastic people in the sport. When I asked him how the new HR44 came to be, and why they needed a new model at all, his answer was pure Magnus. The man has a twinkle in his eye when he talks about his boats and it was a joy to catch up with him for a second podcast interview, agai...

#169. Ben Doerr is living the dream in the Pacific Northwest. A thirty-something husband, father & sailor, Ben didn't wait until retirement to chase his dreams. He recently refit a classic John Alden-designed Pearson Countess ketch, and sails her out of Bainbridge Island, off the coast near Seattle, running day-trips and longer adventure charters along that beautiful coastline. Ben & I hit it off...

#168 is Matt Rutherford, recycled. We're trying something new today. Or rather, something old. This week's show is a rerun. A few episodes ago I hinted at publishing new episodes three times per month. I decided recently to fill that extra week with an old show, the idea being that some of our new listeners may not yet have 'binged' through the back catalog and caught up! So I'm going to recycle s...

#167 is Ryan Breymaier, solo sailor, family man and absolute  badass! Ryan is one of the few American sailors into short-handed ocean racing & won the double-handed New York to Barcelona race as co-skipper of Hugo Boss (a story Chris Museler told way back on episode #30). Ryan was in France when I spoke to him, working with Team Safran on preparing for the next Vendee Globe. We talked about his ea...