Gunnar Christensen is a career yacht captain and racing sailor who is in the midst of pivoting to sail solo, nonstop around the world in the upcoming Golden Globe Race. Gunnar and I talked about his origins as a sailor in New England, his varied career on yachts and racing boats and about the prep on his Bob Perry-designed boat for the round-the-world voyage. Gunnar is the first guest we've had on the show who came to record in-person at the new Mission Control in Sweden! Follow his progress in the GGR at gunnarsails.com. -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Schooner Woodwind and BVI Yacht Sales. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!

Conrad Humphries is a career sailor and his adventures have truly run the gamut. He's done everything from Whitbread round-the-world racing to re-enacting the famous voyage of Captain Bligh for a BBC television series. I was connected to him through a mutual friend while Conrad was skippering the racing yacht HOUND, one of my all-time favorite boats (look it up!). Despite his love for sailing fast, Conrad actually bought the replica BOUNTY launch after the filming and sails it on the southwest coast of the UK. Check out his latest adventures on bountyproject.co.uk. -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Schooner Woodwind and BVI Yacht Sales. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!

Ben Doerr, friend of the pod, of Sail Bainbridge out in Seattle, returns to the show to talk about a near-miss he and his friends had recently in Alaska. On what should have been Day 1 of their latest Sail 2 Ski adventure, a mile or so outside the harbor the boat caught fire in the engine room. Thanks to some quick-thinking and a lot of good luck, they managed to save the boat, did no harm to the crew, and even managed to get in some skiing later in the week. This is the story. -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Schooner Woodwind and BVI Yacht Sales. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!

Most sailors obsess over boat gear and weather routing — but Andy Schell argues the single most important factor in a successful offshore passage is something almost nobody talks about: your mental state. Drawing on marathon training philosophy, solo circumnavigation stories, and his own mid-Atlantic spiritual awakening, this seminar reframes ocean sailing as an emotional journey with predictable stages — and teaches you how to navigate each one. This episode was originally recorded as a live seminar back in 2014, before 59º North was even a thing. You can read the full transcript and learn about Andy's insights, what has changed in the 12 years since first published this, and more as a Quarterdeck member! -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Schooner Woodwind and BVI Yacht Sales. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!

When Matt first went around the America's in his Albin Vega in 2011 (becoming the first and only person, still to this day, to do it solo and nonstop), he didn't have a radar despite all the icebergs. "I'd also rather have a Valiant 42"! he'd joke when people asked about it. Well, now he does! Matt is about to set forth on another epic adventure, aiming to circumnavigate the Arctic, above the Northwest & NorthEAST passages, on a Valiant 42 on loan from a friend (and 59º North crew I should add). I talked to Matt, with our mutual friend Ryan Finstad in attendance, in Annapolis two weeks ago to get an update. -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Schooner Woodwind and BVI Yacht Sales. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!

ISBJØRN is back out sailing after a cold winter and a busy recommissioning period in Bergen! August talks about the projects that were done on the boat over the winter, and gives tips on winter storage and maintenance. Sign up with us on Quarterdeck.59-north.com to learn more! Sponsored by BVI Yacht Sales! Go to www.bviyachtsales.com to buy or sell your boat. HOLD FAST!

Could this Feeling 486 make all of your dreams come true, or is a horrible mistake? in this episode, Andy, Mia and August continue to review boat listings from Quarterdeck menbers. If you want to see the video version of this and see the screenshare and the photos we are discussing, sign up with us on Quarterdeck.59-north.com. As a member you can also provide your own listing for us to dissect and join the discussion! Sponsored by BVI Yacht Sales! Go to www.bviyachtsales.com to buy or sell your boat. HOLD FAST!

The boat listings continue! Andy and August dissect boat listings provided by our shipmates on the Quarterdeck. In this week's episode they take a look at a C&C 44. Join us to learn how to shop for boats online, what to look for, and which boats are suited for what purpose. To provide your own listings and join our community, become a member at www.quarterdeck.59-north.com! First two weeks free! Sponsored by BVI Yacht Sales! Go to www.bviyachtsales.com to buy or sell your boat. HOLD FAST!

In this episode Andy chat with our skipper Jojo Pickering about their shared passion for celestial navigation. Are you a seasoned celestial navigator, or just looking to start learning? Either way this is the episode for you! Join Andy's or Jojo's celestial navigation courses here: https://59-north.com/events/celestial-nav-workshop-annapolis https://islandswiftsailing.co.uk/index.php/courses/ Sponsored by BVI Yacht Sales! Go to www.bviyachtsales.com to buy or sell your boat. Join us at The Quarterdeck to learn seam'nship! https://quarterdeck.59-north.com/

Check out this sweet one-off Ted Brewer 35! This season, Andy and August dissect boat listings provided by our shipmates on the Quarterdeck. Join us to learn how to shop for boats online, what to look for, and which boats are suited for what purpose. To provide your own listings and join our community, become a member at www.quarterdeck.59-north.com! First two weeks free! Sponsored by BVI Yacht Sales! Go to www.bviyachtsales.com to buy or sell your boat. HOLD FAST!

Andy and August dissect boat listings provided by our shipmates on the Quarterdeck! Join us to learn how to shop for boats online, what to look for, and which boats are suited for what purpose. To provide your own listings and join our community, become a member at quarterdeck.59-north.com! HOLD FAST!

Mia and Andy sit down in the new Mission Control to review the year that was 2025! And we're only 3 months late in doing it! Each year Mia & Andy like to record a podcast in which we reflect on the past year and share some stories. So much happens over the course a year with us and 59º North that it's tough to keep track of it all in the moment! You'll be shocked at some of the stats we come up with in this episode. So grab a coffee or a beer depending on what timezone you're listening to this in, and join Mia & Andy on reflecting on last year! -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Offshore Passage Opportunities and Rutgerson Marin. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!

Andy and August dissect boat listings provided by our shipmates on the Quarterdeck! Join us to learn how to shop for boats online, what to look for, and which boats are suited for what purpose. To provide your own listings and join our community, become a member at quarterdeck.59-north.com! HOLD FAST!

Ben Soofer joined 59 North back in 2018, working with media and on the backend of this very podcast. He then started sailing as a mate, including joining August on his first offshore passage on Isbjørn. He’s then gone on to start his own business, and working with many others. August caught up with him to reminisce about the past, share some old sea stories, and talk about how Ben’s made a unique career out of his passion. -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Offshore Passage Opportunities and Rutgerson Marin. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!

Francesca Clapcich is an Olympian, a world champion, and in 2023 became the first Italian to win The Ocean Race. She most recently skippered UpWind by MerConcept, an all-female Ocean Fifty trimaran campaign — and now, she’s set her sights on the 2028 Vendée Globe with her title sponsor, 11th Hour Racing. We caught up back in July, while she was enjoying a few final weeks at home in Utah with her wife and daughter where she lives, before heading off to co-skipper four of the five legs of The Ocean Race Europe with Team Malizia. We spoke about starting new chapters, redefining success, and her mission to do more than just sail. -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Offshore Passage Opportunities and Rutgerson Marin. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!

Troy Sears is the owner and captain of the San Diego-based Schooner AMERICA, a 144-ft replica of the racing ship that came to be the namesake of the famous Cup. Troy is a huge America's Cup nerd & history buff, delving into the history of the Cup and starting the podcast off with a question about the origins of the word 'yacht.' Troy lives aboard AMERICA with his dog and captain's the boat on daily whalewatching trips 330 days per year. We talked about how he came to buy the boat, his career sailing AMERICA all over the oceans, running the chase boat for actual America's Cup campaigns and much much more in an exciting, unexpected, and wide-ranging interview. -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Offshore Passage Opportunities and Rutgerson Marin. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!

Chris Kobusch & Sophie O'Neill are longtime friends of 59º North. Chris was in fact one of our full-time skippers for two years on ICEBEAR & FALKEN, and Mia & I recently attended their wedding in England last September. Both professional sailors, they met on the Clipper Race, where Sophie was a last-minute sub-in as First Mate and sailed across the Pacific with Chris. Since then they've led an adventurous life together, working for Skip Novak in Antarctica and buying & refitting their own steel boat OCEAN WANDERER. Like Mia & I, they're now balancing family life with their son Xander, and professional sailing, and recently announced a new project where they'll be building a Wharram 62 catamaran and sailing to the South Pacific. I spoke to them about all of this from their home base on the Isle of Wight just before Christmas. -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Offshore Passage Opportunities and Rutgerson Marin. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!

Andy Schell and Jahn Tihansky sit down in Annapolis to discuss Jahn’s long and exciting sailing career. He’s been racing and beating some of the biggest names in the sport, built successful sailmaking and sailing businesses, and served as head sailing coach at the U.S. Naval Academy for many years. -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Offshore Passage Opportunities and Rutgerson Marin. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!

Ari Huusela is an aircraft mechanic and commercial airline pilot from Helsinki, Finland. He did not start sailing until the age of 24, but went on to become the first person from the Nordic countries to have finished the brutal Vendee globe round the world race. During the race he became known as the Super happy sailor thanks to his positive energy and optimism. He joins August remotely from the Norwegian Arctic, where he is skiing out of his Campervan. -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Offshore Passage Opportunities and Rutgerson Marin. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!