All in 2019

Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast - Series 1 - Episode 3 - Francois Gabart

Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast - Series 1 - Episode 3 - Francois Gabart

Sail Southern
2019, Cowes, Podcast, Shirley Robertson, Francois Gabart

Francois Gabart is one of the stars of the offshore sailing world - the youngest ever winner of the solo offshore marathon the Vendee Globe, Francois also holds the title for the fastest ever solo lap of the planet, achievements that have made him a household name in his native France..

Gabart set a remarkable world record in 2017 when he took just 42 days 16hours 40minutes and 35seconds to sail alone, non stop around the world, coming within just 2 days of the overall crewed world record.  The landmark achievement was set sailing the giant 100ft trimaran ‘Macif’, a foiling trimaran capable of sustained periods of high speed out in the world’s toughest sailing conditions…:

“I love speed.  I’m not afraid of speed and I have to say that sometimes I even think that speed is not dangerous, that it’s sometimes safer to go fast."

As a six year old child Gabart spent a year at sea with his parents, as on a whim they decided to take off to see the world.  He attributes a degree of his success to these formative days spent enjoying the experience of being out at sea.  His sailing career started well, he was national champion in the competitive Optimist class.  Several national titles followed as Gabart set his sights on Olympic success, but admits to Shirley that even then, his horizons were slightly wider…:

“There was something missing when I would just sail around the buoys, and then go back to shore at night.  I was thinking ‘why can’t we just try to go further, sail into the night and just go’"

And so began a search for something more.  Gabart discusses the unique French pathway to becoming an offshore professional, and how he tentatively set off around the world on his one and only Vendee Globe race, aged just 29.

“I was so proud to be a winner. I had been dreaming about doing the Vendee Globe, but i never thought I’d be a winner….The day I arrived, I was just thinking I did something incredible but I didn't know exactly what I had done, I was so focused on what I was doing I didn't realise the consequences of that….It didn't so much change the way I was living, but it changed the way the world was looking at myself."

Looking to the future, Gabart is pushing the boundaries of the sport wherever he can - he's an advocate of collaboration between the different areas of sailing, keen to learn from the technological advancements of the the America's Cup as he searches for speed out in the world's toughest oceans - he's a man revelling in his time, an articulate and intelligent athlete delighted to be involved in the sport of sailing while it undergoes a radical and exciting revolution.

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Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast - Series 1 - Episode 2 - Ian Walker

Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast - Series 1 - Episode 2 - Ian Walker

Sail Southern
2019, America’s Cup, America's Cup, Cowes, Podcast, Shirley Robertson, Nathan Outteridge

There aren't many people in world sailing that have as many strings to their bow as British sailing's Ian Walker.  But this podcast isn't just a chat about sailing.  Ian's success around the race course is well documented, but he is a remarkable man, a thinker, with a cerebral approach to the sport that has finessed throughout all his years out on the water.  But he's also a man that's known tragedy, adversity, and sadness, and in this candid interview with a man that also counts as a very dear friend, we talk all manner of topics, as I spend an hour in conversation with one of British sailing's leading characters.

His competitive career started in the Olympic arena with campaigns that led to silver medals in both Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000.  And then for the Athens Olympics of 2004 Ian turned to coaching, guiding myself and my team to a gold medal in the Yngling class, my second consecutive gold, and a milestone in my career.

His Olympic experience though makes up but a fragment of Ian's competitive experience.  Following the Sydney games of 2000 Walker was straight into the America's Cup arena, skippering Britain's first Cup challenge in over a decade down in Auckland, New Zealand.

And as if that wasn't enough, Walker has also skippered three Volvo Ocean Race campaigns, three times leading a team of sailors around the planet on sport's longest, most gruelling endurance event.  By the third campaign, on Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Walker's determination was relentless.  As the race concluded, the team had enough points to win with one leg to spare, taking the illusive trophy in emphatic fashion.

Today, you can find Ian Walker behind a desk, nurturing Britain's Olympic sailing talent as Director of Racing at the RYA.  It's a challenging role, the British Sailing team are the most successful Olympic sailing team of this millennium, a period of success that Walker himself helped kick off with those early silver medals.  But as a former team mate, who's also been coached by Walker, I know our sport in the UK is in very good hands.

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Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast - Series 1 - Episode 1 - Nathan Outteridge

Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast - Series 1 - Episode 1 - Nathan Outteridge

Sail Southern
2019, America's Cup, America’s Cup, Cowes, Podcast, Shirley Robertson

Nathan Outteridge has been at the cutting edge of our sport for over a decade.  A multiple World Champion, he's well known within sailing as one of the very best at making fast boats sail..... faster..!!

With a history racing dynamic, zippy two man skiffs, Nathan was perfectly placed to step into the fast paced world of foiling, as the sailing world became obsessed with speeding about above the waves.  From the exciting one man foiling Moth to the drama and jeopardy of foiling America's Cup giants, Nathan has been at the forefront of the progression of our sport.