Listen Now. Bruce Scwab is the first American sailor to complete the legendary solo, nonstop Vendee Globe ocean race. It was his second solo circumnavigation onboard Ocean Planet, the boat he designed and developed on the west coast.

Bruce grew up in northern California and started sailing with his dad a young age, eventually working at a rig shop for many years where he honed his skills on the owners boat as a solo racing sailor, winning the first event he ever entered.

DON'T MISS Bruce's YouTube channel with some incredible footage from the Vendee, including a horrendous Southern Ocean storm.

'In hindsight, I realized that for my entire life I'd been training for the Vendee and didn't even realize it,' Bruce says. The lightbult went off and he started putting together a program with the nonprofit Ocean Planet, who funded the boat. He tells the whole story - and then some - here on the podcast.

Bruce now lives in Maine and specializes in outfitting cruising boats with alternative energy sources and high-end batteries, and is on the forefront of marine energy technology. Check him out at bruceschwab.com or oceanplanet.org.

Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Sojourner! Summer Annapolis-Lunenburg & fall Caribbean passages available on 59-north.com/events.