Glenn Ashby on the Ferrari Hypersail project

It was back in 2012 that Paul piloted the revolutionary Vestas Sailrocket 2 to a new outright world record speed of 65.54 knots to become the fastest man on the water.That record still stands and in our interview Paul mulls over the idea of dusting off Sailrocket 2 to try to defend his record against two new projects: one French and one Swiss aimed at reaching 80 knots.We also find out how Paul became very first became interested in sailing as a youngster back in Australia, and we step our way along his timeline since then to tick off the multitude of projects he has been involved in along the way.

Justin Chisholm speaks to Leon Sefton, who as Head of TV Production for America’s Cup 36 ran the team responsible for the amazing TV coverage that was beamed around the world from Auckland, New Zealand.Leon headed up a production team of almost 80 people during the Cup down in New Zealand, but as we learn in the interview his work to make the TV coverage of AC36 the best ever actually began several years earlier.The pair discuss the technology and logistical challenges that Leon and his team faced putting trying to capture the excitement and thrilling action of the AC75 racing on the Hauraki Gulf. They also discuss why good quality audio is just as important as video, and speculate whether a Netflix documentary series could do for the America’s Cup what ‘Drive to Survive’ has done for Formula 1.--- Send in a voice message:

Justin Chisholm’s guest on the latest episode of The Yacht Racing Podcast is British professional sailor Hannah Diamond.As well as spending many years with the British Sailing Team on the Olympic campaign trail in a range of classes Hannah also raced the 2017-18 edition of The Ocean Race as part of the Vestas 11th Hour Racing crew.Having set her Olympic aspirations aside – at least for now – Hannah splits her time between gigs as a pro-sailor, campaign coach, and sailing media contributor.As revealed in the podcast, from May 2021 as we build up to the Tokyo Olympics you will be able to read Hannah’s Olympic sailing column exclusively here on the Yacht Racing Life website.--- Send in a voice message:

The renowned British yachtsman Neal McDonald is Justin Chisholm’s guest on the latest episode of The Yacht Racing Podcast EXTRA.McDonald is perhaps best known for his ocean racing achievements in the Whitbread and Volvo Ocean Race, but he is also an Olympic campaigner and won world and European dinghy titles in his time – as well as spending eight years campaigning on the Australian 18-foot skiff circuit.As well as six Whitbread and Volvo Ocean appearances as a sailor – including twice as a skipper – Neal coached Ian Walker’s Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing Team to victory in the 2014-15 edition, and took on the same role with the Spanish Mapfre team in the 2017-18 race.Away from the fully crewed racing Neal has put his technical analysis skills to good use as part of Alex Thomson’s last two Hugo Boss Vendee Globe campaigns.Neal is one of professional yacht racing’s great characters and always great to chat to, so this was a fun interview to record and one we are sure our listeners will enjoy.

Justin Chisholm’s guest on the latest episode of The Yacht Racing Podcast is the French solo offshore racing skipper Charlie Dalin.Dalin hit the headlines earlier this year after he claimed the line honours victory in the Vendee Globe 2020-21 singlehanded non-stop around-the-world race.Despite being first home Charlie was not the overall winner.The time allowance awarded to fellow Frenchman Yannick Bestaven for his part in the search and rescue operation to save PRB skipper Kevin Escoffier put Dalin down to second place in the overall rankings. Nevertheless, to lead the Vendee Globe fleet home at his first attempt at sailing’s toughest around-the-world race is an incredible achievement.During the interview Dalin shares his insight on what it is like to race around the world alone on a state-of-the-art foiling IMOCA 60. He shares the highs and the low points of his race and explains what it is like to race through the Southern Ocean – arguably the world’s most inhospitable environment –…

Justin Chisholm's guest is New Zealand sailor Ray Davies – a key member of the Emirates Team New Zealand syndicate that recently successfully defended the America’s Cup on their home waters off Auckland, New Zealand.As well as having been instrumental in introducing the original concept of a foiling monohull that so successfully evolved into the astonishing AC75s that the teams raced in the 36th America’s Cup, Ray was also in charge of the Team New Zealand sailing programme – including driving the team’s chase boat in mock match races to help hone Peter Burling’s pre-start tactics.During the more than an hour long interview the pair discuss:- how the AC75 concept first saw the light of day and how it subsequently evolved into a high-performance match racing boat- the various design paths taken by the four teams with their two AC75s- how the AC75 rule might evolve now for the next edition of the America’s Cup and beyond- the importance of attracting more teams to future editions of the…

Justin Chisholm’s guest this time is Australian professional yachtsman Kyle Langford.Kyle won the 34th America’s Cup as wing trimmer for Jimmy Spithill with Oracle Team UK and also won the first season of the SailGP international series as wing trimmer for Tom Slingsby’s Australian SailGP Team.He is now based in Gothenburg, Sweden but the conversation takes him all the way back to his first experiences of sailing as a demanding four-year-old in Australia on Lake Macquarie, his early years of dinghy sailing, and an aborted Olympic campaign in the Tornado class that turned out to be the trigger for him to set his sights on somehow finding a route into the America’s Cup through the World Match Racing Tour.It’s a long interview in which the pair dig into Kyle's two America’s Cup cycles with Oracle Team USA, his first ever ocean racing experience on the last edition of The Ocean Race, as well as his new found love for ice boating which he tried his hand at in Sweden earlier this year.

Justin Chisholm is joined by six-time world match racing champion Ian Williams to discuss the first four races of the 36th America’s Cup Match between the Defender Emirates Team New Zealand and the Challenger Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team.With the points so far having been shared equally between the teams at two points apiece, Justin quizzes Ian for his expert analysis of the races and asks him to breakdown the pre-start strategies, tactics and mistakes that ultimately led to both teams’ victories.

Justin Chisholm’s guest on the latest episode of the Yacht Racing Podcast is fellow British sailing journalist Andy Rice – creator of sailjuice.com and co-founder of the ‘Road to Gold’ online course on how to mount a professional racing campaign.Andy and Justin mull over the happenings of the last few weeks on the international sailing scene, including: the unusually close racing in the Vendee Globe; whether a fully crewed IMOCA 60 will be the best solution from a communications point of view for the next edition of The Ocean Race; the quality of the TV coverage emanating from Auckland for the 36th America’s Cup; the prospects for the British and Italian teams in the upcoming Prada Cup Final.The pair also get into the detail of the Road to Gold 12 step course on how to put together a world class sailing campaign that Andy recently launched in conjunction with renowned New Zealand sailor Hamish Wilcox – the coach to Olympic stars Peter Burling and Blair Tuke and to Emirates Team New Zea…

Yacht Racing Life website editor Justin Chisholm is joined by Vendee Globe skipper Conrad Colman for the final episode of the Vendee Globe special series.After more than 11 weeks of racing the leading group have finally made it back to Les Sables D’Olonne and Yannick Bestaven has been confirmed as the winner of the ninth edition of the Vendee Globe.But Bestaven's Maitre Coq IV was not the first boat home – in fact he finished after line honours winner Charlie Dalin on Apivia, Louis Burton on Bureau Vallee, and Thomas Ruyant on LinkedOut.So how did he win? Conrad and Justin talk through how the leaders' final week at sea played out as they each closed in on the finish of their epic marathon circumnavigations of the planet. There was plenty of action on the night the leading group finished – not least including some major drama for German skipper Boris Herrmann.All that and lots more besides...

Justin Chisholm’s guest on this episode of The Yacht Racing Podcast is reigning Olympic champion in the Finn class and British America’s Cup sailor Giles Scott.Giles is of course calling tactics for Ben Ainslie’s so far all-conquering Ineos Team UK syndicate who last weekend secured a berth in the Prada Cup Challenger Series final.They did so with a hard-fought victory in a breathtaking race against the Italian Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team.It was an amazing race in which after no less than nine lead changes was decided on the final port and starboard cross within a few hundred metres of the finish.Amongst other things discussed in the interview Scott gives his personal account of how he saw that final cross play out and explains why the team’s Cunningham issues made it all the closer.

Yacht Racing Life website editor Justin Chisholm and his expert co-host, Vendee Globe skipper Conrad Colman, pore of the possibilities for the final 2,000 miles of the Vendee Globe solo around-the-world race and try to guesstimate which of the three front-runners – Charlie Dalin on Apivia, Louis Burton on Bureau Vallee, or Boris Herrmann on Seaexplorer Yacht Club de Monaco – will make it to the finish in Les Sables D’Olonne ahead.Among the topics discussed:– How the last week played out to set up such a tightly fought race so close to the finish– A tip of the hat for a bold strategy from Louis Burton to split from his rivals – and has it paid off?– A recap of how the race has played out for each of the top three skippers– Why a massive storm system coming across the Atlantic will likely play a huge role in deciding the winner– Which of the three skippers might cope best with the pressure of such a close race?– Put your money where your mouth is time – who do Justin and Conrad think are…

Our guest on this episode of The Yacht Racing Podcast is the highly accomplished German ocean racer Boris Herrmann.Herrmann has an impressive track record that includes competing in two double handed around the world races – the Global Ocean Race in 2014 (which he won with Felix Oehme) and the Barcelona World Race with Ryan Breymaier in 2010/11 when they finished fifth.He racked up over 80,000 miles sailing with Italian legend Giovanni Soldini aboard his supercharged VO70 Maserati and set a bagful of ocean passage records along the way. He has also sailed as part of Francis Joyon’s crew on the maxi trimaran IDEC and led the Team Malizia campaign on the GC32 foiling catamaran circuit.Last year he made major mainstream media headlines when he and co-skipper Pierre Casiraghi ferried the high-profile teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg across the Atlantic from the UK to New York aboard his IMOCA 60 so that she could take part in the UN Climate Action Summit.Justin Chisholm – Yacht Raci…

Yacht Racing Life editor Justin Chisholm is joined from Auckland, New Zealand by British sailing journalist and broadcaster Matt Sheahan. As well as producing all the excellent content we enjoy from the PlanetSail YouTube channel Matt is also part of the TV production team at the 36th America’s Cup.In his many years as a sailing journalist Matt has covered more America’s Cups than he might care to mention and so knows all the protagonists and is pretty much a guru on all things America’s Cup.So, with the official racing at the Prada Cup scheduled to start in just a few days, who better to quiz about the current state of play amongst the teams in Auckland?

Yacht Racing Life website editor Justin Chisholm is joined once again by ocean racing expert Conrad Colman to mull over the latest goings on in the Vendee Globe solo around-the-world yacht race.Amongst the topics discussed are:– Pip Hare’s daring and heroic mid-ocean rudder replacement– Should Alex Thomson have packed a spare rudder?– The needle match going on between Charlie Dalin and Thomas Ruyant for second place– Will Yannick Bestaven’s lead dwindle away over coming days?– Hats off to Damien Seguin and Louis Burton for their performances so far on non-foiling boats: at the time of recording they are fourth and fifth respectively– What happens next? Who might suffer most from a restart?