Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast

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This is Part two of Double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson's chat with US sailing legend Ed Baird. A World Sailor of the Year award winner, Baird also holds a coveted spot in the America's Cup Hall of Fame, he's a multiple Match Racing World Champion and is a regular across multiple Grand Prix Sailing leagues, from the 52 Super Series to the Maxi circuit.

Robertson and Baird regularly sailed against each other back in days of the Extreme Sailing Series, but their chat was a little less competitive as Baird dropped by while in Cowes training for this summer's Admirals Cup.  In this Part 2 the pair begin their discussion talking about Baird's 1999/2000 Challenge for the America's Cup in Auckland New Zealand, a Challenge representing the Newe York Yacht Squadron that was going well, but did not end as planned..,:

"You could see the waves coming and we hopped up out of the water and smashed down on the next wave and the boat broke in half!"

Baird continued his involvement in the Cup and ultimately ended up in Valencia with Swiss Defender Alinghi, initially, again, under helm, Russell Coutts, but soon that was all to change...

"The team...were missing Russell and they expected him to come back, and they spent a year this way, expecting that he'll come back with us...but he didn't....so I went to talk to Brad and the team and they asked me to come and work with them."  Baird ended up steering the boat, and went on to helm a Cup victory as Alinghi successfully defended in Valencia.

Throughout this two part podcast Baird and Robertson touch on a wide range of topics, from Olympic Sailing to nationality rules, and a whole host in between, as they wind their way down the fascinating road that is Ed Baird's long and distinguished career as a pro sailor.

This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website - 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].

Photos in this release courtesy of 

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Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast is back for another season of interviews with leading lights from the world of sailing, and the new season kicks off with US sailing legend Ed Baird. A World Sailor of the Year award winner, Baird also holds a coveted spot in the America's Cup Hall of Fame, he's a multiple Match Racing World Champion and is a regular across multiple Grand Prix Sailing leagues, from the 52 Super Series to the Maxi circuit.

Robertson and Baird regularly sailed against each other back in days of the Extreme Sailing Series, but their chat was a little less competitive as Baird dropped by while in Cowes training for this summer's Admirals Cup.  The pair begin their two part chat with a discussion on Baird's early career, and how at just twenty two, he won the ultra competitive Laser Worlds in Kingston, Ontario, a regatta boasting the largest World Championship fleet the class has ever had...:

"When you look back at the scoresheet from that race and you see the world class pros that we know today finishing seventy third or fifty seventh, you just think 'wow I didn't even know that guy then and look what he's done in the sport' so it really makes me feel lucky to have had the chance to do that."

From a hard won Laser World Championships win, Baird and Robertson discuss his fight to make a name for himself on the star studded Match Racing scene, but also touch on his multiple and ultimately unsuccessful campaigns to sail for Team USA at the Olympic Games.  There's also some real nuggets of information from the three time Match Racing World Champion on his approach to the sport before the duo discuss Baird's entry into the world of the America's Cup...:

"I was walking down (Cowes) high street and walked around the corner and literally bumped into Russell Coutts and he said 'How's it going with the Australians' and I said 'Oh, well, it's not' and he said 'You should come work for us'....so next thing you know I'm working for Team New Zealand" and within weeks Baird was in San Diego coaching the ultimate winners of the 1995 America's Cup.

Episode One of this Two Part edition sees the duo discuss Baird's coaching role with the successful New Zealand Team, lead by Coutts, as they won trhe America's Cup for the first time, beating Dennis Connor in San Diego.

In the next Episode the pair then touch on a wide range of topics, from Olympic Sailing to nationality rules, and a whole host in between, as they wind their way down the fascinating road that is Ed Baird's long and distinguished career as a pro sailor.

This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website - 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].

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This two part edition of the podcast sees Shirley Robertson in Barcelona just days after the end of the 37th America's Cup.  In Part One she sits down with successful Defenders Emirates Team New Zealand, to talk to port side helm Nathan Outteridge, and Challenger of Record INEOS Britannia's Dylan Fletcher, while in this, Part Two, Robertson talks to Team New Zealand's sailing team coach Ray Davies, and to INEOS Britannia's starboard trimmer Bleddyn Mon.

Robertson commentated on every match of the thirty seventh America's Cup so is well placed to quiz her four guests and kicks things  of in Part Two of this edition, with Bleddyn Mon.  Sailing in his third America's Cup with Ben Ainslie's British team, Mon studied as an aeronautical engineer and has a key role in data analysis...:

"A lot of the races are won and lost by a few metres here and there and that distance you can really claw back in some manoeuvres and small gains in performance so a big part for us was in manoeuvres, we spent a lot of time looking at tacks. Every single day!"

Robertson's final chat is with America's Cup regular Ray Davies.  Sailing coach at Emirates Team New Zealand, Ray has been a permanent fixture in the Team since 2003, Barcelona marking his seventh Cup campaign after a career chasing the illusive trophy.  He's done so with some success, boasting multiple wins for Team New Zealand both on and off the boat, and has relished his time coaching a sailing team rich in high end sailing expertise...:

"They developed a boat that at the end of the day was relatively easy to sail, because they put the hours and hours into the systems and the way they could change the modes on the boat relatively easily, so when they were actually racing....the steering of the boat became the easy part of it."

Throughout this podcast all of Robertson's discussions serve to illustrate the dedication and intensity of racing the AC75s at such a high level.  Attention to detail, processes and systems are all discussed to a fascinating degree as each team member reflects on their time racing the Cup Match in Barcelona.

This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website - 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].

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This edition of the podcast sees Shirley Robertson in Barcelona just days after the end of the 37th America's Cup.  With the smell of champagne still fresh in the air, Robertson sits down with successful Defenders Emirates Team New Zealand, to talk to port side helm Nathan Outteridge, and sailing team coach RayDavies, to discuss how the Cup was won.  In this edition Robertson also talks to Challenger INEOS Britannia's port side helm Dylan Fletcher and starboard trimmer Bleddyn Monn, about the most successful British Challenge in the modern Cup era.

Part One of this edition of the podcast sees Robertson discuss the Cup Match, first with Fletcher and then with Outteridge.

Having commentated on every moment of every race throughout the Barcelona Cup regatta, Robertson is well placed to quiz her four guests and kicks things off with Cup rookie Dylan Fletcher.  An Olympic 49er gold medallist from Tokyo, Fletcher was a late edition to the afterguard at INEOS Britannia but played a pivotal role in mastering the AC75 and progressing through an enthralling Louis Vuitton Challenger Series, which ultimately saw the British team reach the Cup Match for the first time in sixty years...:

"It was unbelievable to cross the finish line and book our place in the Match, obviously it was too long since a British boat was in that and to do that alongside Ben and the rest of the Team that's been ten years in the making was a massive achievement."

Robertson stays with the port side helm seat as she then jumps yachts, to talk the Defender's Nathan Outteridge, another 49er Olympic gold medallist, and former training partner to Team New Zealand starboard helm Pete Burling.  Outteridge is no stranger to Cup campaigns having twice represented Sweden's Team Artemis Racing in previous America's Cups, but was sailing a Cup match for the very first time, against a very well matched opponent...:

"I received an update from the design team saying 'this would be the expected performance deltas between the hulls in a thirty minute race' and it was under five seconds.  Between all of them "

For Part Two of this edition, Robertson shifts back to the Challenger to talk to INEOS Britannia's starboard trimmer Bleddyn Mon.  She then goes on to talk to Emirates Team New Zealand super coach, multiple Cup winner Ray Davies.

Throughout this podcast all of Robertson's discussions serve to illustrate the dedication and intensity of racing the AC75s at such a high level.  Attention to detail, processes and systems are all discussed to a fascinating degree as each team member reflects on their time racing the Cup Match in Barcelona.

This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website - 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].

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This month on Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast we preview the 37th America's Cup, as the city of Barcelona readies for what promises to be one of the most exciting editions of the famous trophy.

Five Challengers are set to battle it out on the fastest foiling monohulls ever built, as they go head to head in the Louis Vuitton Cup, in a fight to take on the Defender, the current holder of the trophy, Emirates Team New Zealand.

Robertson talks to representatives from all six of the Cup teams, chatting to team members with a wide range of roles, to get a real insight from across the fleet into what to expect come race day.

In this edition, Part One, Robertson kicks off with Emirates Team New Zealand naval architecht, Dan Bernasconi, the brains behind the AC75, the foiling mono-hull that all six teams have built for this edition.  With all six AC75s now blasting around the waters off Barcelona at speeds of up to fifty knots, Bernasconi discusses some of the differences between the race boats, as well as discussing changes to the rules for this edition, and the issues that the lumpier sea state off Barcelona may bring.

Robertson also then talks to Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli's port-side helm, Francesco Bruni, helming partner to Jimmy Spithill in the last Cup, the pair that pioneered the dual-helm setup now favoured by all of the America's Cup teams.  While at Luna Rossa, Robertson also caught up with match racing guru Philippe Presti, to take a look at how the increased manoeuvrability of the version two AC75s may lead to more engagement and closer racing as the Challenger Series kicks off.

Robertson then heads to  AC37 HQ, to catch up with Abby Ehler, the offshore sailing legend and sailing logistics supremo now tasked with delivering the Youth and Women's editions of the America's Cup.  Twelve teams will compete in the AC40 race boats for both the UniCredit Youth America's Cup and the Puig Women's America's Cup, the youth event making a return to the regatta after a break in AC36 due to covid travel restrictions.  This is however the very first time a women's regatta will take place at the America's Cup, a first that is heralded as a landmark event in sailing's long road to gender equality.

This edition of the podcast is in two parts - in part two Robertson catches up with representatives of the remaining four teams.

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Tales from The America's Cup with Six Time Winner Murray Jones

This month's podcast sees Shirley Robertson talking to New Zealand's Murray Jones about a remarkable career spanning over two decades chasing the oldest trophy in international sport.

Talking during a break in racing at the St Barth's Bucket earlier this year, Part One of the podcast sees Robertson start the conversation with a chat about Jones' early life growing up in New Zealand, and how he soon starting making a name for himself in the 470 Class.  In this, Part 2, Robertson picks things up with Murray Jones as Swiss team Alinghi prepare to defend the Cup in Valencia without key team member Russell Coutts.

It's a revealing insight into what was a fascinating time in international sailing, as Murray discusses the successful defence in Valencia and then the politically charged disruption that followed.   For 2010 Jones was at the heart of the Alinghi team that went on to eventually lose the Cup in the much discussed Deed of Gift Match, a one of a kind race between two giant ninety foot multihulls, ultimately won by American Challenger BMW Oracle Racing

While the result of the Deed of Gift match saw Alinghi withdraw from the Cup arena for for over two decades, Jones's Cup career continued, with another move, this time to the Defender, BMW Oracle. Injury put a halt to Jones' career as a Cup sailor, but his continued involvement in the Team saw him as a pivotal part of the 2013 San Francisco campaign, his memories of capsizes, espionage, and inevitable tales of the impossible comeback  are again fascinating.

Jones' final Cup campaign saw him back where it all started, coaching Team New Zealand to their eventual win in the waters of Bermuda, wrapping up an incredible seven Cup campaigns with another Team win, the sixth winning campaign of his career.

This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website - 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].

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Tales from The America's Cup with Six Time Winner Murray Jones

This month's podcast sees Shirley Robertson talking to New Zealand's Murray Jones about a remarkable career spanning over two decades chasing the oldest trophy in international sport. 

Talking during a break in racing at the St Barth's Bucket earlier this year, Robertson starts the conversation with a chat about Jones' early life growing up in New Zealand, and how he soon starting making a name for himself in the 470 Class.  A reserve in the Olympic team as a teenager, Jones' early career saw him part of a spectacularly  talented generation of New Zealand sailors.  For the national Olympic Team, medals soon followed, but two Olympic appearances in the Flying Dutchman class saw Jones disappointed with two top five finishes, but no medal.

Pretty soon though, the Cup came calling, and Jones became a pivotal member of the 1995 Team New Zealand challenger under Sir Peter Blake.  Sailing as strategist in the 1995 San Diego America's Cup, Jones talks of hours spent up the mast of Black Magic, as the team went on to the defeat Dennis Connor's team 0-5, his recollections at times almost understated as he looks back on what was New Zealand's fist ever Cup victory...:

"We'd just test the whole time, we didn't do any racing, we took the attitiude that the Louis Vuitton Cup would be our practice racing and we were just fast and we basically sailed away from all the boats in the Louis Vuitton Cup and Dennis in the Cup.  The fastest boat always wins the America's Cup! '"

With the win in San Diego and New Zealand's successful defence of the Cup in Auckland in 2000, by the age of just thirty three, Murray Jones had twice won the most coveted trophy in sailing.  But for the world of New Zealand sailing, unexpected events were on the horizzon...:

"Out of the blue, Russel (Coutts) rang me and said 'I want to talk to you about something, I've got an offer to sail for this Swiss guy for the America's Cup and...I'll do it with a couple of you guys, would you be in..?' It blew me away, I had no idea, I said 'Wow!' I hadn't even thought about sailing for any other country other than New Zealand. Anyway, I rang him up the next day and said 'Yeah, I'm in, let's see what happens!' "

Jones and Robertson then discuss how the New Zealander moved over to the newly formed Swiss Alinghi sailing team, the team that then went on to successfully Challenge for the 2003 Cup, winning the Cup from their old team mates at Team New Zealand.

It's a revealing insight into what was a fascinating time in international sailing, as Alinghi Murray discusses the implications implications of the then controversial decision, joining a team that would ultimately see him go on to win  two more Cups, in 2003 and 2007. 

Part Two of the Podcast gets underway as Robertson and Jones pick things up as Alinghi prepare to defend the Cup in Valencia, without key team member Russell Coutts.

This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website - 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].

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Tales from Sailing Folk Lore with British Adventurer Pete Goss

This month, Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast talks to British offshore adventurer Pete Goss, an accomplished offshore sailor famed for executing one of the bravest solo ocean rescues of all time.

Talking at his home in the south west corner of the UK, in Part 1 Robertson and Goss kick their discussion off with chat about his formative years, his time in the British Marines, and how, in the nineteen nineties,  he found a love of offshore sailing through Chay Blyth's British Steel Challenge.  Episode 1 goes on to see the pair discuss the dramatic ocean rescue that took place in Pete's 1996 Vendee Globe race, as he recalls the events oc Christmas 1996 that saw him rescue French sailor Raphael Dinelli.

It's an emotional and intense telling of a remarkable story, that continues into tis episode, the second part of this two part podcast, as Pete sails on, determined to finish his Vendee Globe.

His return saw him awarded an MBE from Her Majesty the Queen, and the Legion d'Honneur by then French President Jacques Chirac.  Undeterred, Goss immediately launched his next project, taking part in Bruno Peyron's ambitious concept, "The Race".

To take on the no-rules round the world challenge, Goss built one of the most futuristic race boats the sport had ever seen.  His insights into the project, and the theories behind his Team Philips multihull are fascinating.  With an educational division and a free visitors' centre that saw over 1.2million visitors, Pete's pride in the project is clear to see.  Sadly, just weeks before the New Year start of The Race, the project abruptly ended, after the catastrophic loss of the catamaran in a violent North Atlantic storm.

Throughout his career Pete Goss has embarked on a multitude of groundbreaking projects, and while this edition sees him concentrate on two of his more famous endeavours, he also discusses the delightful "Spirit of Mystery" project, a challenge born from Cornish folk lore that ended up in the recreation of one of the bravest offshore navigations of the 1800s.

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Tales from Sailing Folk Lore with British Adventurer Pete Goss

This month, Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast talks to British offshore adventurer Pete Goss, an accomplished offshore sailor famed for executing one of the bravest solo ocean rescues of all time.

Talking at his home in the south west corner of the UK, Robertson and Goss kick their discussion off with chat about his formative years, his time in the British Marines, and how, in the nineteen nineties,  he found a love of offshore sailing through Chay Blyth's British Steel Challenge, a round the world yacht race that was the forbearer to today's amateur offshore circumnavigation events.  Goss was an instructor and skipper on the first event, and it was during that time, he hatched a plan to enter the Vendee Globe, the legendary non stop solo offshore race also, in the mid nineties, in it's infancy.

As one of the first British entrants in the then famously French race, Goss' tales of pre-internet sponsorship gathering are inspiring, and with a new boat, he managed to make the start line, for the third running of the race.  What followed was one of the most brutal editions the Vendee Globe has ever seen.  Of the sixteen boats that crossed the start line, just six finished.  Tragically, one competitor, Canadian Gerry Roufs was lost at sea,  but it was the rescue of French sailor Raphael Dinelli that for several days between Christmas and New Year 1996, was headline news around the world.

Pete's telling of the rescue, his memories of the vicious Southern Ocean storm, and his fight to find Dinelli's rapidly sinking boat are compelling.  At times emotional, Goss describes how he first heard the mayday while himself fighting for survival in the relentless storm, and how his radio comms with the Royal Australian Airforce eventually led him to the boat...:

"The plane that had dropped him a raft came down to me, and they came up on the VHF so I remember chatting to them, and I said 'How many people are involved', because I was still  seventy miles away or whatever, 'how many people are involved in the rescue', and he just said 'It's you!'"

With guidance from the Royal Australian Airforce plane, Goss found Dinelli's life raft and in a heaving Southern Ocean swell, somehow effected the rescue of a near death Raphael Dinelli.  He had arrived just in time...:

"I met the pilot and the navigator (of the RAAF plane) a year later at the boat show and from the air they saw this figure clamber into the raft and then the boat just ghosted away and disappeared underneath it."

It's an emotional and intense telling of a remarkable story, that continues into the second part of this two part podcast, as Pete sails on, determined to finish his Vendee Globe - in Part 2 Robertson discusses the impact he rescue had on Goss, before going on to discuss his next major project, the famous TEam Philips multihull project.

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