Kevin Le Poidevin sails an Open 40, Roaring 40 and a Sigma 36 Rogue Wave. He sailed in the 2014 and 2018 Solo Trans Tasman Challenge New Plymouth to Southport, the 2021 and 2024 Sydney Hobart, the 2023 Global Solo Challenge, and the 2025 Melbourne to Osaka Race. He has also solo sailed around Australia and Malaysia, as well as from Osaka back to Australia. He supports the Brain Tumor Alliance Australia, Pankind, and Soldier On charities.

We talk about getting into sailing, breaking the boom on the way to the Melbourne Osaka Race, his Open 40, bridge heights in The Netherlands and how not to hit them, sailing the Open 40 in 60 knots, sailing her upwind, preparing the boat for the Global Solo Challenge, sailing in the 2023 GSC, falling down the companionway, what is fun about sailing an Open 40, sleeping when sailing solo, a typical day in a long solo race, whales and orcas, a purple sunset, why racing boats are unforgiving, tacking an Open 40, converting a racing boat to a cruising boat, food and eating, safety, lifejackets, the 2027 Global Solo Challenge, Soldier On, Brain Tumor Australia Alliance, and more.

Photos and links are at paultrammell.com/oscpodcastshownotes

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Guy deBoer is a professional sailor active in offshore racing. He was in the 2022 Golden Globe Race, but went aground in the Canary Islands and had to retire from the race. He eventually saved and rebuilt the boat, Spirit, a Tashiba 36.

We talk about his new (to him) Cheoy Lee and how old full-keel boats are sometimes free or nearly free, racing in the Two Star in a Jenneau 45, dealing with the cold, jibing asymetric spinnakers, the 2026 Golden Globe Race, sponsors, the GGR documentary film, the Race to Alaska, the Everglades Challenge, crocodiles alligators and pythons, dealing with living in the heat on a boat, air conditioners, dealing with sleep apnea, sailing in Newport, sailing Fazizi, raising money, and more.

Photos and links are on the shownotes page

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Tom Cunliffe is a living legend among offshore sailors. He has lived his life at sea, mostly sailing traditional boats. He learned to sail on a 22 ft gaff sloop when a teenager on the Norfolk Broads. He studied law in university, but then ran off to sea. He has worked as mate on a coasting merchant vessel and skippered private yachts as well as having been a delivery and charter skipper. He was a sailing tutor for many years, progressing from running a dinghy sailing school in the south of France to becoming a senior offshore instructor at the British National Sailing Centre in Cowes. He has been a yachmaster examiner since 1978. He is the author of about 30 books about sailing, including "The Complete Yachmaster" and "Celestial Navigation."

We talk about the harbor in Denmark where we was waiting out a storm, sailing in the Baltic Sea, classic boats, history, sailing into St Petersburg Russia, navigating in the Baltic islands without modern technology, sailing a 1911 pilot cutter, the difference between navigating today vs before GPS, the benefits of using paper charts for passage planning, the joy of finding your destination with celestial navigation, heaving-to, surviving a hurricane, the benefit of a heavy mast, his Mason 44, why he has always sailed full-keel boats, using the code zero, what he would choose if he were to buy a boat today, his upcoming novel "Hurricane Force," and more.

Photos and links are on the shownotes page

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