Send us a text

This month Shirley Robertson talks to a man with one of the most varied careers in the sport of professional sailing, as she sits down for an extensive chat with one time Team GB team mate Paul Goodison.

Most recently sailing as main trimmer in the 36th America's Cup with American Magic, a closer inspection of Goodison's career reveals a remarkable strength and depth that has brought success across a multitude of disciplines in a career that's spanned several decades. Growing up in the the north of England, Goodison learned to sail on a reservoir, but was quickly mixing it up with that precocious young talent pool of the time, honing his sailing skills with contemporaries Ben Ainslie, Iain Percy, Andrew Simpson and Chris Draper.  A professional career beckoned, which initially led to an early career campaigning in the super competitive Laser class.  After a fourth place in the Athens Games of 2004, Paul topped the podium in Beijing to win Olympic Gold, completing a journey that had began in earnest after a night out celebrating his friend's silver in 1996...:

"When Ben returned from Atlanta having won a silver medal, we were all at the Laser Nationals...and Ben had his medal with him and I remember for the first time, it was the first Olympic medal I'd ever seen, and held, and all of a sudden you make the connection, this is no longer one of those things you see on the TV, this is a guy you've sailed against and all of a sudden it became clear it's not so far away."

After the highs of Beijing, Robertson and Goodison then turn to the home Games of London 2012, and Goodison is honest and frank about the disappointment of finishing in seventh place.  Going into the Games Goodison felt well prepared, but he reveals how some poorly timed competition with his peers in the gym seriously effected his chances at his home Games - it's a honest and precautionary tale!

At the same time, Goodison had fallen back in love with sailing on discovering the foiling moth - he uncovered a new energy and enthusiasm that would propel him to three consecutive world titles in one of the most competitive classes out there.  His love of the moth is clear to see as he shares his enthusiasm with Robertson about the single handed foiling dinghy.

Looking forward to the second part of their two part chat, Goodison and Robertson spend the second half talking about the America's Cup, and most notably Paul's role with American Magic, the official Challengers of the New York Yacht Club.

This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website, at www.shirleyrobertson.com/podcast or via most popular podcast outlets, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast and aCast. The podcast is produced and written by Tim Butt - for further enquires, please contact [email protected]. 

Support the show