Sailjuice Talk

How is that some of us sail and race all our lives, yet the results barely change throughout our racing careers? While others can breeze into the sport and learn the ropes so quickly? Tom Kneen very much falls into the latter category. Humble and mild-mannered on the outside, there must be a steel core in there somewhere because in his mid-twenties he set up a renewable energy business that today employs more than 40 people. Tom says he was in the right place at the right time. I think there’s probably a bit more to it than that. When you learn about his rapid progress in the offshore racing world, you start to understand why Tom is so well acquainted with success. Now Tom grew up in Plymouth, and as a boy he used to watch boats finish the Rolex Fastnet Race. Many years later and now working hard in London, he decided he wanted to have a crack at the iconic race, so in 2014 he bought an Elan 350 cruiser/racer called Sunrise..... There's another exclusive interview with Tom at www.sailjuice.com, where he

Stu Bithell is one of the nicest blokes you’ll find on the Olympic circuit. He’s also one of the best. Winner of an Olympic silver medal in the 470 when he raced with Luke Patience at London 2012, he’s since moved into the 49er. He missed out on selection for Rio 2016 but has since teamed up with the man who beat him there, Dylan Fletcher. A year after Rio, this duo dominated everything in the 49er, winning the Worlds, Europeans and quite a bit more besides. But 2018 saw them have a wobble. And then they got the call-up to represent GBR in the new SailGP circuit in 45-knot 50ft foiling catamarans. Would this be a distraction from their aim of qualifying for Tokyo 2020? Well, not to judge by the way they dominated the first round of the European season. Pretty much everyone was there, including the much anticipated return of Olympic Champions and America’s Cup heroes Pete Burling and Blair Tuke from New Zealand. But it was the Brits - Dylan and Stu - who won with the Medal Race to spare. Andy Rice caught up

Things have been mighty quiet with the America's Cup since Bermuda 2017. It's almost exactly the halfway point between the last Cup and the next edition in Auckland 2021, so where are things up to? With the teams staying mostly tight lipped about progress, Andy Rice turns to Jack Griffin, self-professed geek about all things related to the Cup. Who are the latest challengers to join the circus, and do they stand a a cat-in-hell's chance of taking on the big boys, what Jack refers to as the 'Super Teams'? To find out more about what's going on in the sailing world and for some of the best expert advice and go-faster tips available, head over to www.sailjuice.com

In our second podcast about the RYA Dinghy Show, Andy Rice and Mark Jardine discuss some of the boats that caught their eye. From top-end speedsters like the Lithium International Moth and the foiler for beginners - Flying Mantis - to boats for complete newcomers to the sport like the Maverick. Andy also explains why he has just bought a famous old 470 for peanuts and how it might fit in with his plans for the Great British Sailing Challenge.... To find out more about what's going on in the sailing world and for some of the best expert advice and go-faster tips available, head over to www.sailjuice.com

The RYA Dinghy Show... is there anything else like it? Andy Rice and Mark Jardine don't think so. If you sail small boats in the UK, chances are you've been to this incredible geekfest a few times. If you live somewhere else, this Show will have you drooling for the boats and the sheer enthusiasm and passion that oozes out of Alexandra Palace every March. Andy and Mark pick out their highlights from this year's Dinghy Show... To find out more about what's going on in the sailing world and for some of the best expert advice and go-faster tips available, head over to www.sailjuice.com          

SailGP... it's been a long time coming but now the day is upon us and these boats have been looking sensational on Sydney Harbour. Larry Ellison and Russell Coutts have extended their vision from the 2017 America's Cup into something unfettered by history. Andy Rice previews the first event in Sydney with Sail-World.com publisher Mark Jardine, and they pick out different winners for round one. Who will be buying the beers for who, after this first weekend of SailGP action? To get the exclusive interview with Dylan Fletcher about training for F50 racing on Sydney Harbour in the simulator (near Slough! A stone's throw from Heathrow Airport and just down the road from where Ricky Gervais's The Office was set), and his sense of responsibility for steering the British boat at 50 knots, go to Sailjuice.com    

There are the stories that you think are the biggest stories of the year, the ones that make the biggest splash. But what actually ARE the biggest stories? Sailjuice.com's Andy Rice joined up with someone who knows better than most, Mark Jardine, the publisher of Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com. Mark looked up what were the most read stories across his websites and there are a few obvious ones, but some really not very obvious-at-all stories that have crept into the top 10.  Here's Part 2, the final countdown from 5 to 1. Find out which was the biggest story of 2018...    

    There are the stories that you think are the biggest stories of the year, the ones that make the biggest splash. But what actually ARE the biggest stories? Sailjuice.com's Andy Rice joined up with someone who knows better than most, Mark Jardine, the publisher of Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com. Mark looked up what were the most read stories across his websites and there are a few obvious ones, but some really not very obvious-at-all stories that have crept into the top 10.  Here's Part 1, the countdown from 10 to 6... The Top 5 will appear in the next podcast coming soon...      

James Peters and Fynn Sterritt have won gold in the 49er at the Sailing World Cup in Enoshima, and they're pretty darn happy about it. Andy Rice spoke to the British duo as soon as they stepped ashore for the medal ceremony....

Santiago Lange became one of the stories of the whole Olympic Games in Rio 2016. The Argentinean won a last-gasp gold in the Nacra 17 Medal Race less than a year after conquering cancer. Much as he hated being the centre of attention for beating the C word, he learned to embrace his new celebrity. Yet he remains as quietly unassuming as ever, as this interview from the Sailing World Cup in Marseille reveals. Call him greedy, but Santi is after his fourth Olympic medal at Tokyo 2020, by which time he will be 58 years old. The ever-youthful Lange still doesn't see his age as a barrier. More the challenge is all the other projects he has going on, including racing on the TP52 circuit and as a sports consultant to one of Argentina's top-performing professional polo teams... You can also listen to this podcast on Sailjuice.com    

  It’s been a lean patch in recent years for Philipp Buhl, Germany’s leading light in the Laser class. After a disappointing Olympic result of 14th place for a sailor who was considered among the favourites for a medal at Rio 2016, Buhl has ploughed on with his campaign for Tokyo 2020 and now seems to be rediscovering some of the old magic that brought him podium places at Laser World Championships back in 2013 and 2015. A gold medal in June’s Sailing World Cup Finals in Marseille was a welcome return to form. “I think it's the first gold medal after my World Cup win in 2016.... When you look at the different regattas and the different winners, it shows how intense the racing is. And I think the more intense the races, the more important are the little things such as mental strength, how long are you able to maintain your highest level of ability?” You can also listen to this podcast on Sailjuice.com    

World Sailing’s Mid Year Meeting was crunch time for deciding the future of the Olympic Regatta. Emotions and opinions were running high during the meeting in London. World Sailing got it in the neck from all sides, but one sailor who came to the organisation’s defence was Roy Dunster from South Africa. Most people seemed frustrated by the speed of change. Roy is frustrated by the opposite. Here the management consultant lays out his argument for faster and more rapid change.... You can also listen to the podcast on Sailjuice.com

Ben Nicholls was sitting on his commuter train chatting to a fellow sailor about an article he'd just seen published in Seahorse magazine. A number of Olympic medallists had clubbed together to voice their concern about the discussions going on in advance of World Sailing's Mid Year Meeting in London. It appears that a number of wholesale changes are on the table for discussion, some of them never trialled in major competition. Ben asked his friend what he should do. "Put up a petition on Change.org!" And so that's what Ben did. More than 18,000 signatures later, Sailjuice.com decided it might be interesting to find out more from the man himself.... You can also get the podcast if you go to Sailjuice.com...     © Richard Gladwell: 470s riding big waves at Rio 2016. Not only did Kiwi yachting journalist Richard Gladwell take this photo, he's also been researching and publishing hard on the subject of the future of sailing in the Olympics. You can read more at www.sail-world.com    

Paul Goodison has become only the second person in the long history of the International Moth class to win the World Championship three times in a row. Sailjuice managed to catch up with Paul on his mobile phone as he was jet-setting his way to a J70 competition in Italy. Paul is the first to achieve the Moth hat trick in the foiling era after he dominated the competition in Bermuda this year. With the next America’s Cup set to take place in 75ft foiling monohulls, it’s no surprise to learn that Paul’s been signed up to one of the teams, although who that might be he’s not saying quite yet. Anyway, he had plenty to say on other subjects, including a little wind-up of his old Laser rival Tom Slingsby....    

  Carol Cronin went to the Olympic Games at Athens 2004, representing the USA in the Yngling women's keelboat. She went there as one of the favourites, but optimised for light airs. The wind blew and she was off the pace. But she remains a fan of all things Olympic and recently did some extensive research into what it takes to win an Olympic medal. She contacted 19 medallists from the past decade including Sir Ben Ainslie, Robert Scheidt, Anna Tunnicliffe and many more. In this podcast Carol discusses those winning character traits with Andy Rice. Listen in, and see which winning traits YOU have! And which ones you don't.... To get more great interviews, tips and go-faster stuff from some of the world's best sailors, go to Sailjuice.com  

There has been a lot of doom and gloom lately about sailing being under threat, and generally being in a state of decline. But Dan Jaspers doesn't see it that way. He sees plenty of reasons to be cheerful, and here he discusses the best examples of growing the sport with podcast host Andy Rice of Sailjuice.com While Dan is a Brit and lives primarily in the UK, he has been around the block promoting the sport of sailing to many different nations around the world. A former World Sailing employee, Dan was responsible for developing and writing the initial project for the  Youth Worlds Emerging Nations Program (ENP), aimed at supporting the training and subsequent attendance of youth sailors (and their coaches) from ‘emerging’ nations at the World Sailing Youth World Sailing Championship. Dan also created the successful World Sailing Paralympic Development Program (PDP), the aim of which was to increase the number of nations actively taking part in this part of the sport. You can also download the podcast at Sa

        Matt Sheahan is the producer of the World Sailing Show, working at Sunset & Vine in London. Here Matt chats with Sailjuice.com's Andy Rice about some of the goings on in the grand prix racing world at the end of 2017 and start of 2018...   Singlehanded around the world record - smashed again Last year Thomas Coville completed his 28,000 mile solo circumnavigation in 49 days, slashing 8 days off the previous best. Heralded as the performance of the decade, many believed that the new record would stand for a long time. But 12 months later and on his first attempt, Francois Gabart changed that and lowered the time even further, slicing more than 6 days off Coville’s record.   Star Sailors’ League – The world’s best go head to head Among the 25 strong fleet there were 25 Olympic medals on the start line, seven of them gold, while the list of World and European champions and offshore record holders read like the credits of a Hollywood movie. The message was clear – This was an impressive as

Tom Burton won a tense Medal Race to claim the Olympic gold medal in the Men's Laser class at Rio 2016. After a bit of downtime and trying other kinds of sailing, including competing at the International Moth World Championships in Lake Garda and the Star Sailors League in Bermuda, the Australian sailor is fully back into his Laser campaign. Here Tom talks to Sailjuice.com's Andy Rice about his plans and progress so far. Even though his charter boat in Miami was a bit of a dog, the dog might have led him the right way up some tricky beats on the first two days of Sailing World Cup Miami. Tom ended up dominating the event and looks right back on form for defending his Olympic title at Tokyo 2020. But with other top Aussies breathing down his neck, just getting to the Olympics will be a challenge in itself....    The SailJuice Talk podcast is brought to you by SailJuice.com

Could this be Chris Rashley's year? He's finished 2nd and 4th at the last two Moth World Champs and the 2016 Worlds takes place this week, starting 24 May. With Nathan Outteridge and Pete Burling absent, this could be a good year for Rashers to get on the top of the podium, although there's plenty of people in his way: Rob Greenhalgh, Josh McKnight, Scott Babbage and Paul Goodison to name a few.... Hear what Chris reckons about his prospects. And CLICK HERE for a video walk-thru of his beautifully kitted out Exocet foiling Moth...

Ian Walker has been three times round the planet with the Volvo Ocean Race, and won it in 2015. Does he really need to do another? Andy Rice catches up with the ever-restless professional sailor while at the World Match Racing Tour event in Fremantle, Australia.... To get more of Ian's views on M32 racing in the new format of the Tour, CLICK HERE....