Episode number 120 is Magnus Rassy. If the name sounds familiar, it should – Magnus is CEO of Hallberg-Rassy, builder of some of the finest cruising yachts in the world. Orust island is legendary for producing sailing yachts, and in fact Magnus has an almost unbelieveable story to share about the history of this place.
119: Joe Reed
Hey hey hey, welcome back to 59º North! I’m your host Andy Schell. Going to the way-back machine for this week’s show, re-releasing episode #10 of my old Two Inspired Guys show. This is Joe Reed, multi-time Caribbean 1500 sailor and NASA scientist, recorded in Tortola after the rally in 2012.
I left in the intro (slightly edited) that Ryan and I recorded at the time for Two Inspired Guys. For those of you who have listened to 59º North for a while now, you’ll notice a BIG difference in this episode! I’m slightly embarrassed to even release this again, but it is fun to go back and hear how far the podcast has come in terms of both my hosting and the production quality. Plus, Joe’s a super guy, and has a super story. He’s sailed in the 1500 every year since this was recorded, and is indeed signed up again for 2015.
118: Matt Grant
Episode number 118 is Matt Grant of Sailrite, makers of the Ultrafeed sewing machine and inspiration to thousands of DIY sailors around the world. Matt’s father Jim started the company back in the 1960s, and he’s followed in the family footsteps, taking the reigns after college and moving the business into the future.
117: Simon Börjeson
Simon discusses growing up and sailing with his family, what it’s like on a long ocean passage, how Swedish sailing and boating culture works, why Swedes don’t drink and drive and how his sailing actually helped his preparation for the Stockholm Swimrun in June. Simon & his competition partner Rasmus are gunning for the world championships in Swimrun on September 7, racing in O-till-O, a 75km jaunt through the outer Stockholm archipelago. Follow them on ostersjosimmet.com.
116: Capt. Jan Miles
Episode 116 is one of the best yet! Yan Miles, captain of the tall ship ‘Pride of Baltimore II’ is full of stories, and boy can he tell them! Yan and Andy spoke from the captain’s quarters onboard the ‘Pride’ itself, docked in Annapolis at City Dock. He has been involved with the ‘Pride’ since it’s inception in the 1980s. Yan tells the story of how he got involved in sailing, worked his way up in the private and classic yachting scene, the story of the ‘Pride’s’ inception, the first ‘Pride’s’ tragic sinking, the building of the second ‘Pride’ and what it’s like barreling down the Bay during the Schooner Race and overtaking the schooner Woodwind, which Andy was aboard!
115: Sara Hastreiter
Episode 115 is Sara Hastreiter, crewmember aboard Team SCA in the most recent Volvo Ocean Race. Sara's been featured in the NY Times, on NPR, in the Wall Street Journal and other places as her star has risen in the sailing world. She only got started in 2008 after moving from Wyoming to St. Croix, and getting work on charter boats and racing yachts in the Caribbean. It had always been a goal to reach the pinnacle of the sport, and she did that with Team SCA. Sara and Andy discussed her career and what it's like ocean racing on a VO65 for over an hour, Sara speaking on Skype from her new home base in the UK.
114: Paul Exner on Heavy Weather Sailing
113: The First Voyage of Isbjörn
Episode 113 is an essay about the first passage of Andy & Mia's Swan 48 Isbjorn. They sailed to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, departing Annapolis on July 4, with Charly, Dan, John and Sean onboard as the inaugural crew. Andy talks about the passage and reflects a bit on how it all went down and what it felt like to reach this milestone. To see some photos of the trip, go to 59-north.com/passagelogs.
112: Pawel Motawa
Episode #112 is a Two Inspired Guys rerun with Pawel Motawa, a Polish sailor Andy met at the ARC Rally a few years back. Pawel had a TV studio in Poland, and then bought his dream boat - a steel sloop - and has been spending the past several years sailing in Antarctica. The interview was recorded onboard his boat 'Malaika' in St. Lucia after he'd crossed the Atlantic from Europe.
111: Miles Poor
Episode #111 is Miles Poor. Miles and his wife Anne run MRP Refits, both here in Annapolis and at their winter base in Nanny Cay, BVI. MRP specializes in project management on pretty fancy sailboats. Miles’ main career was as a facial surgeon. We sat down on Miles’ Tayana 55 in Annapolis, a boat he uses for MRP as his ‘showroom’ and discussed his very interesting history – he was born in Stockholm and went to boarding school in Switzerland, learning to sail on Lake Geneva – and then delve into some ocean sailing stuff.
110: Duncan Hood
Episode #110 is Duncan Hood, a long-time sailor and technically an Annapolis resident for more than two decades, but who’s traveled the world teaching instructors how to teach sailing.
Duncan works ASA and years ago got asked to travel to China to help start a sailing school in the south, near the border with North Korea, and his story of that misadventure makes up a good chunk of the middle of this episode. It’s a riveting tale
109: Sigurdur Jonsson
Episode #109 is guest-hosted by Magnus Ormestad, of the hugely popular Swedish outdoor sports podcast ‘Husky.’ I met Magnus in Stockholm in May. He had a chance to go to Iceland and stay aboard the Aurora Arktika, a 60-foot former Clipper RTW race boat. His interview with skipper ‘Siggi’ Jonsson had me spellbound – they spent a week sailing in the fjords of Iceland and skiing the surrounding mountain peaks. Magnus agreed to let me air his chat with Siggi on my show, so here it is! Be sure to check out the Husky Podcast at huskypodcast.com.
108: Douglas MacDonald
Episode 108 is a followup to the very popular blog post I wrote last week about our too-close encounter with a Navy ship en route from Bermuda to NYC. Douglas MacDonald, owner of the HR43 we were sailing, comes on the show to discuss what happened from his perspective. He's very humble about the experience, and wants to provide his insight on how you can avoid this kind of thing yourself. If you haven't read the article, click here.
107: Paul Exner & Brian Duff
Paul Exner sits down with Brian Duff in Tortola. Brian's old friends with both Paul & Andy. Brian started Southbound Rigging in Annapolis, MD a few years back, where Andy first started working as a rigger in 2009. Brian sold the shop to Mike Meer (who's been on the podcast!) and sailed his Westsail 32 south to the BVI to start a new life as a boat broker. Paul of course lives in the BVI, and soon became friends with Brian. They chat on this episode about Brian's work as a boat broker, his life as a rigger, how he moved south from Annapolis and his new venture as a restaurant owner at The Island Last Resort in Trellis Bay. If you're ever cruising in the BVI, stop in and have a drink!
106: Hank Schmitt
Andy sat down with Hank in Bermuda during the ARC Europe stopover and chatted for almost an hour and a half! Hank talked about his career working on offshore oil rigs, how he got into racing as a teenager (and lived a sailing bums life in the 70s), & how he started OPO and the NARC Rally. Towards the second half of the episode, Hank discusses candidly some scary stuff - the loss of a crew member in the NARC Rally in 2010, and the abandonment of the Alpha catamaran during an ill-fated delivery last January. It's an inspiring look at one of the biggest names in the American offshore cruising business.
105: Ups & Downs
104: Tania Aebi
Tania Aebi spoke at the ARC Europe Rally in Bermuda last Sunday, and Andy recorded it. Tania was skippering Jojo Maria, a Beneteau on it's way back to New York from the Caribbean. During the Bermuda stopover she regaled the packed house of crew with her tales of circumnavigating in her 26-foot Contessa in the 1980's at age 18. She was the youngest woman to ever do so single-handed. Her book 'Maiden Voyage' remains in print and is an all-time sailing classic. The fleet was based at the St. George's Dinghy & Sports Club.
103: Anna Vinnars
The beautiful and charming Anna Vinnars, voice of the podcast, on the show today to talk about her epic cycling trip from South Africa to Sweden (yes, you read that correctly!). Co-hosted by Ryan Briggs, Andy's best friend. This is a re-run from one of the very first podcasts Andy ever did, back in the 'Two Inspired Guys' days. It's not so much about sailing, but it's all about adventure. You'll dig it. And you'll fall in love with Anna's voice like Andy did!
102: LIVE: Offshore Yacht Rigging w/ Mike Meer
Despite what I say in the intro, this is actually episode #102! Episode #102 is Mike Meer, a dear friend of mine and my former employer, who taught me everything I know about yacht rigging. It’s all about yacht rigging in the context of ocean sailing, in Mike’s witty, fun-loving style. He’s a cool guy, and he gets across complex rigging issues in a very understandable manner. The slides from Mike’s talk are available at this episode’s blog page on 59-north.com/sailingpodcast, so head there to follow along.
Want to go ocean sailing with Andy? Book a berth on Isbjorn, our classic Swan 48, at 59-north.com/offshore.
101: Elodie-Jane Mettraux, Team SCA
Mia and I got the chance to sail onboard Team SCA’s TP52 in New York Harbor last week (in fact I’m recording this the day after). Two of the girls who’d rotated off the crew roster for this leg of the Volvo Ocean Race, Sara Hastreiter and Elodie-Jean Mettraux came along, and I had a chance to chat with Elodie on the dock following the sail.