Yacht Racing Life Podcast

Covered in this episode:
* How great it was to return to Valencia / memories of America’s Cup events of old / thronged with UK visitors there to see SailGP
* The local taxi drivers’ opinions on the size of the crowds
* The problems of covering sailing in light winds and the constraints of a broadcast window
* Magnus pitching (again) for a trial of windward starts
* The perfect positioning of the media centre in Valencia – right at the back of the start box
* Light winds didn’t mean poor racing / the benefits of split fleets / the sailors remain ultra competitive
* How impressive the F50’s big rigs are to be able toi race in seven knots of breeze
* Motorised booster jets yet to be tested
* Justin’s experience with Russell Coutts in the press conference
* British Olympic medallist John Gimson gets some wheel time for the Swedish team
* The Spanish sparkled on Saturday and crashed out on Sunday
* How the Italians surprised everyone – including themselves?
* A stellar performance in Sunday’s single fleet race from the Americans
* Backed up by a smash and grab win in the final
* The British were better but not good enough
* The Australians had to settle for second, but will have gone home happy
* Time to make a decision on the Middle East events
* Geneva is up next – will there be any wind?


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Covered in this episode:
* What a great venue Sassnitz is – despite the wind holes on Sunday
* Is Giles Scott’s renaissance in SailGP linked to his new job at the US America’s Cup team?
* The Australians had to fight to make the event final – but they dominated once they got there
* The increasing influence of the off-the-water coaches on the on-water plays
* The Australians and Spanish look like certainties to make the Season 6 Grand Final – if there is one – but who might join them?
* Artemis sailed well but missed out on the final – and what about that tight upwind call with the Canadians?
* Why Diego Botín and Florian Trittel probably enjoyed the Monday morning coffee and croissants at the French AC team base more than Quentin Delapierre and Leigh McMillan
* The mystery of the Italians’ continuing underperformance
* What are we going to do about Brazil?
* How much do we appreciate Erik Heil’s refreshingly honest interview answers?
* Has the shine come off the Americans’ season?
* Harry Melges makes his first SailGP appearance – but not on the wheel
* Despite a so-so performance in Sassnitz, the British moved up a place in the overall standings – but can they somehow revive their early season sparkle and mount a challenge for the Season 6 Grand Final (if there is one)
* Magnus shares rumours of both the British SailGP team and the league itself being on the market
* What was the short-lived SailGP email survey all about?
* How long will SailGP wait before making a call on whether the event in Dubai and the Grand Final in Abu Dhabi are going ahead
* Next up is a debut event for Valencia, Spain


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I have long been an admirer of Paul’s achievements across the Olympics, America’s Cup and the Volvo Ocean Race, but what has particularly impressed me is his longevity at the very top end of some of yacht racing’s most competitive classes. In 2025 he won his second Star World Championship victory – a remarkable 37 years after his first in 1988. Then, earlier this year, he won the Etchells world title, too.
In what turned out to be a more than 90 minute conversation, Paul talks us through his illustrious sailing career: from his introduction to the sport at age eight, to his early successes, and his inevitable transition to professional sailing.
As well as his AC and around-the-world exploits, he also reflects on his Olympic experiences, including being an alternate in 1984 and competing in the Star class in 2004.
We talk about the physical and mental demands of sailing, his current fitness regimen, the importance of teamwork and strategy in his career, and mull over the evolution and challenges of sailing, and find out why he laments the shift from traditional sailing to more spectacle-driven competitions like SailGP, which prioritize speed and spectacle over strategy and teamwork.
Paul also highlights the camaraderie he enjoys so much in the Star class and mourns the loss of keelboat sailing in the Olympics. We also discuss his role at America One Racing, an initiative focused on youth development and Olympic preparation, with a $5 million annual budget.
All this and much more…

Justin Chisholm and Magnus Wheatley dissect a storming weekend of high-performance sail racing at the Portsmouth, UK SailGP event.


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Justin Chisholm is joined once again by fellow British sailing journalist Magnus Wheatley as the duo talk through the action from the two-day Canadian SailGP Grand Prix in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which saw the league’s full thirteen-boat contingent race in split fleets for the first time in a full regatta.

The weather gods looking down on the harbour in Halifax might not have made things easy for SailGP race director Iain Murray and his team, but this weekend’s seventh event of Season 6 produced some great split-fleet racing – and culminated in an exciting four-way event final that saw Diego Botín’s Spanish Los Gallos take their first event win of this season ahead of Artemis (SWE), Explora Journeys Swiss, and the overall season leaders the BONDS Flying Roos.

As well as diving into a few of the team performances that caught our eye, Magnus and Justin also talk through the key moments of the event, and try to work out what the re-shuffled standings at the top of the leaderboard mean for the rest of the season and the run-in to the Season 6 Grand Final this November.



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.yachtracinglife.com/subscribe