My Final Video as Sailing Zingaro

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 16:58:21 +0000

After 10 years and 90,000 nautical miles, this is the last video under the Sailing Zingaro name.

In 2016 I bought a catamaran, pointed a camera at myself, and made a promise: I'll go, and I'll take you with me. The good, the bad, the ugly. You watched me sail to Ecuador, Easter Island, and Pitcairn. You watched me lose that catamaran off Hawaii. You watched me refit an Oyster 485 over five years, write a book, and become someone with something to say about the ocean.

The promise doesn't change. The name does.

This channel is now BE THE CAPTAIN: true stories from the sea. Real disasters, real survival, real investigations, told hour by hour by a delivery captain who has stood watch in the same waters and made some of the same mistakes. Every story traces the failure chain back to where it actually started, and what it teaches you about judgment under pressure, whether you sail or not.

First up: Rose-Noëlle. 1989. A trimaran flips in the Southern Ocean and four men spend 119 days inside the upturned hull. Everyone gave them up for dead. It's one of the greatest survival stories ever told, and almost nobody knows it.

⚓ THE BOOK
Be The Captain, winner of the 2026 Eric Hoffer Award: https://bethecaptain.com/

⚓ RECOMMENDED GEAR
Defender Marine has been outfitting boaters since 1938: https://defender.com
Get 10% off your next Defender order when you purchase Be The Captain at bethecaptain.com

Much love. See you next week for the first story!

- James

0:00 The FIRST Video
0:36 Retiring the Sailing Zingaro Name
0:57 Zingaro Was Never a Boat
2:09 Where My Heart is At
2:44 The Honest Reasons
3:38 Luna, and a House in the Mountains
4:15 Are you Quitting Sailing? (63° South)
4:57 The New Direction: Storytelling
6:21 Every Story Gets the Full Treatment
6:45 New Brand: "Be The Captain"
7:08 The Door Is Always Open
7:40 First Story: Rose-Noëlle
8:06 Hi, My Name Is James