On the Wind Sailing

#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, which included living in a commune in the UK, years working on oil rigs in the Gulf and much, much more.

On the Wind is presented by Weems & Plath, makers of fine nautical & weather instruments since 1928. Weems-Plath.com.

#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 his boat during an Arctic winter, his 15 Atlantic crossings, meeting the Wild Bunch, and the story behind the film series 'Vertical Sailing Greenland.'

The music in this episode is courtesy of the Wild Bunch.

This episode is sponsored by Forbes Horton Yachts. Visit forbesyachts.com.

Bob Shepton might not be a household name in the US, but he certainly is in the UK. He was honored as 'Yachtsman of the Year in 2014, which may sound irrelevant until you realize the winners in 2013 & 2015 - that would be Sir Ben Ainslie & Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. Good company indeed. Anyway, Bob is one of the most accomplished and yet most humble sailors I've ever met. My interview with him was like sitting down with your favorite grandfather and hearing him tell old stories. We could have talked for hours, and Bob seemed to enjoy every second of it. Before you listen to this episode, take five minutes and watch Episode 2 of Vertical Sailing Greenland - it's linked for you in the show notes. That film is what initially inspired me to reach out to Bob, and he tells the behind-the-scenes story of it at length about halfway through our chat.

#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 CSY 44 and was ousted from Grenada during the US invasion. And the list goes on. Don told me these stories & many more in person a few years back.

For show notes & links on today's episode, go to 59-north.com/podcast.

To go ocean sailing on Isbjorn, visit 59-north.com/offshore.

#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 yachts ever built came off of his drawing board. I spoke to German on Skype from his office in Argentina about all this & much more.

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Big thanks to last week's guest & Hallberg-Rassy CEO Magnus Rassy for helping arrange this week's interview with German Frers. The two episodes kind of go together, as German & I started our conversation discussing his side of the HR44 story, from the designer's perspective which Magnus told at length last week from the sort of visionary's/boat-builders perspective. You don't need to listen to one to understand the other, but they're fun to hear back-to-back.

#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, again recorded onboard the flagship HR 64 at their yard in Sweden, a year after our first.

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Happy Thanksgiving, to those of you listening in the US!

Mia & I just returned to the US after a blistering passage south with the Caribbean 1500. The 8 ½-day trip was a heck of a way to finish off the sailing season for us. We had it all - big winds and big seas up north, a few calm spells, and classic Trade Wind sailing under the SuperMoon a few weeks back. Our landfall in Tortola, as the moon was setting and the sun was rising, was a career highlight for me. Huge thanks to our crew of Ed, Bruce, David & Tom for making it such a memorable trip for Mia & I.

By the time you hear this, Mia & I will be on the way to Sweden. We've got the next two months 'off', so to speak - off the boat anyway. For me, it'll be a time to rest and reflect - during the long dark days of the Swedish winter, I'll be hibernating, and it'll be great.

I'll also be working of course, a little bit anyway - on this podcast, mainly, but also on some new creative projects, on keeping in touch with our crew for our 2017 passages and on answering emails from our listeners - so if I haven't gotten back to you yet, be patient, I'll try. And if you have something to say, now's a good time to get my attention, so fire away any ideas, suggestions or just a note to say hi.

Finally, we've made a few minor schedule changes for 2017, and a few of our crew have changed passages for next year so we have some open spots - 1 crew spot left for the Grendad-BVI trip in March; 3 available on the April Leeward Island & Dominica trip, which is now just ten days and scheduled to get you home in time for Easter; and 1 spot on the Azores to Scotland trip in June. That one in particular will be a great chance to do a proper long & challenging ocean passage. It's 1,200 miles in potential heavy weather, and the temperature will be dropping as we sail north to Oban. And of course we're all set up for the Arctic passages in 2018. See everything we have available and sign-up for a passage on 59-north.com/offshore.

#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 immediately, and chatted at length about his sailing career, life as a dad, his 'real' career as a musician, building and running a sailing business, & lots more.

Sail offshore on Andy & Mia's Swan 48 Isbjorn. Visit 59-north.com/offshore for the full passage calendar, including passages in the Arctic in 2018.

#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 some of my old favorites and some of the 'classics', record a new intro, put them in the 'On the Wind' format and publish them in the 'off' weeks. So in effect, we're now publishing weekly, save for a few holiday breaks here and there. It'll be very obvious in your podcast feed when it's a recycled episode.

Our first recycled episode features the very first conversation I ever recorded with Matt Rutherford, from way back in 2011. Makes me realize how long I've been doing this! This is cool because it was recorded before Matt was 'Matt Rutherford,' the famous explorer who became the first and only person to sail solo and non-stop around the Americas, and it's an interesting insight into his motivations, having seen now the remarkable voyages he's completed since. It's also appropriate timing because Matt just recently returned to Annapolis from Greenland.

I'd like to know what you think of my recycled episodes concept. Good idea or bad idea? Send your comments and suggestion to [email protected].

#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 early years racing at St. Mary's, how he got to France, what sailing on a 100-foot trimaran is like, and how to manages to balance his lifestyle with his young family.

Want to go ocean sailing yourself? Join Andy & Mia on an offshore passage expedition aboard 'Isbjorn', their Swan 48. Full calendar on 59-north.com/offshore.

#166: Annie Dike is a reformed lawyer-turned-sailor - that is, she left the profession in her early 30s to pursue a more passionate life. Her and her partner Philip sail a Niagara 35 on the west coast of Florida, and they recently crossed the Atlantic to France on a high-tech Catamaran. Annie & I discussed how she left the lawyer world behind, what the Atlantic crossing was like for a first-time ocean sailor, her various movie projects, her friendship with Pam Wall & her passion for helping others pursue the cruising lifestyle. —

Annie Dike is a truly interesting & inspiring character, and what follows was one of the more fun-loving and honest interviews I've done in a while. Annie has an infectious personality, and has been using her lawyer-like work ethic to offer cruising opportunities to other aspiring sailors. Mia & I recently teamed up with Annie to offer one of our offshore passages aboard Isbjorn to one of her fans - check out Annie's Patreon page on patreon.com/havewindwilltravel for details.