Series 2 - Ep6 - Sir Robin Knox-Johnston Part 2

07/07/20 • 50 min

This month double Olympic gold medalist Shirley Robertson sits down for a two part podcast chat with the first man ever to sail solo non-stop around the planet, Britain's Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. In this, Part 2 of their discussion, the pair talk about life after the return from Sir Robin's incredible 312 day journey.

Having completed his voyage, and cemented his place in the annals of the history of exploration, Sir Robin's competitive streak soon saw him back on the global race course, and by 1977 he was joint skipper on an entry in the Whitbread Round the World Race, where amongst his crew was a certain Peter Blake. With the announcement of the Jules Verne Trophy, Knox-Johnston and Blake went on to famously form the eventual record holding team, ENZA New Zealand, breaking the established record in 1994 with a 74 day lap of the planet.

Robertson and Knox-Johnston then discuss how a trip with British mountaineer and expedition leader Sir Chris Bonnington inspired an idea that would become the 'open to all' crewed around the world adventure, The Clipper Race. It's a race that has been on going now for over twenty years, and is currently in it's twelfth, a fact that Sir Robin ranks as one of his greatest achievements.
"When I look at all the lives that have benefitted from the Clipper, and the number of those sailors, forty percent of them have never been on a boat before, who have taken up sailing subsequently as their sport, to my mind that is going to rank pretty highly because there's over five thousand people now that have taken the sport up all over the world." states Sir Robin, on being asked by Robertson what he sees as his greatest contribution to the sport.
This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website, at www.shirleyrobertson.com/podcast or via most popular podcast outlets, including iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcast and aCast. The podcast is produced and written by Tim Butt - for further enquires, please contact [email protected]

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Series 2 - Ep4 - Ben Ainslie Part 2

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The second part of Shirley Robertson's in depth chat with British sailing legend Sir Ben Ainslie sees the duo delve deep into the America's Cup, as Ben reveals his thoughts and experiences on a career spent chasing the illusive, oldest trophy in world sport.
Throughout this second part Ainslie and Robertson discuss the Ben's passion for the Cup, and how his early experiences in the Cup world did not go as he had hoped they would. As his experience in the Cup arena grew, his exploits elsewhere in sailing soon put him on the most wanted list, and after the highs of London 2012, Ainslie joined Oracle Team USA, then watched from the sidelines as the team lost race after race to a seemingly unbeatable Emirates Team New Zealand....:

"I was in the (chase) boat with Russell (Coutts) and Grant (Simmer) and I remember Russell's phone going off, and it was a bit, you know, slightly held off his ear, and it was pretty obvious it was Larry (Ellison) and he wasn't too happy about what he was seeing, you know. And then he just turned round to me and he said 'You, you'd better get your wet suit on."
Sir Ben Ainslie
Ainslie then goes on to share his version of how the team turned a massive deficit into a famous America's Cup victory, and how lifting the oldest trophy in world sport for an American team, solidified his resolve and convinced him that his future in the sport lay in creating a British team, with a long term goal and vision. His honest and insightful account of the 2013 Cup gives another angle on how this remarkable defence of the Cup unfolded.
The final points of discussion in the podcast relate to Ainslie's current position, leading the British outfit, INEOS Team UK, into the next iteration of the America's Cup. The pair discuss how the initial Team came about, the rigours of raising money for such a financially dependent endeavour, and how lessons learned in the last Cup in Bermuda are helping the effort as the Team prepare for the 36th America's Cup in New Zealand in 2021.

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Series 2 - Ep8 - Olympic Stories Part 2

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Part 2 of this month's Podcast sees double Olympic gold medalist Shirley Robertson go back to her sailing roots as she talks about success and failure with three very different multiple Olympic medallists. T
This edition kicks off with one of the podcast's most requested interviews, as Shirley discusses the remarkable Olympic history with reigning NACRA 17 Olympic champion Santiago Lange of Argentina. Santi discuses the delay in the Games, and how the postponement is effecting his build up, before delving into that incredible Olympic history. Lange has competed at six Olympics, Tokyo will be his seventh campaign, but it was his gold medal win in Rio that is perhaps the most remarkable of Olympic success stories.
Just a year before the Olympic Regatta, Lange was diagnosed with lung cancer, and underwent surgery that put his Olympic dreams in severe doubt, but still managed to sail to victory in what was one of the most popular medal wins of all time.

It wasn't until 1988, at the Korea Games, that sailing held it's first ever dedicated Women's Class, sailed in the 470 dinghy. In dramatic and challenging conditions, it was American Lynne Jewel Shore and her helm Allison Jolly that took the win, claiming the only gold medal for an otherwise disappointed US Sailing Team. In her interview with Robertson, Lynne reflects fondly of a rigorous and intense build up to the Games, as the duo tried to prepare for the treacherous Korean conditions...
"I can't watch the footage, I look at it and I think 'what the heck were we doing out there', it really was dangerous conditions, it was crazy. I went there feeling very comfortable and confident that we had done everything we could to be prepared for the moment."
Three of Robertson's interviewees have had their Tokyo 2020 Olympic campaigns completely disrupted by the postponement of the Games to 2021. The podcast wraps up with defending 49er Olympic Champion Blair Tuke, discussing how the postponement allows full concentration on the defence of the America's Cup, and talks about the logistics of running simultaneous Cup and Games campaigns. He delves into his partnership with Pete Burling, how the pair won silver in London 2012, and then didnt lose another regatta, all the way through to claiming gold in Rio by an unprecedented Olympic points margin.

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