On Course: Episode 33

The On Course series takes a regular look at the sailing world with show host Matt Sheahan. Here is the Episode 33 description:

PlanetSail crosses ‘the pond’ to the Big Apple, New York where two major events at opposite ends of the scale were putting pressure on the status quo.

The race back across the Atlantic from New York to Les Sables d’Olonne was a crucial one for some IMOCA skippers who were yet to qualify for the Vendée Globe. Among them were some of the big rock stars in the class who, perhaps rather surprisingly, were under greater pressure than normal to deliver. And while a transatlantic dash should have been a walk in the park for many of them, the trip back was anything but.

With huge splits in the fleet, and a wide variety of tactical approaches, the New York Vendée was also a clear illustration as to why many believe that the 2024-25 Vendée Globe will be the most competitive to date.

Meanwhile, in New York the SailGP fleet saw yet more pressure on the big guns at the penultimate regatta in their 4th Season. The once dominant Australians are under attack from all sides as a number of teams demonstrated that improvements at previous regattas had been no coincidence.

Plus, we take a look at classic match racing on the World Match Racing Tour and remind ourselves how much fun it is to witness other peoples’ shouting and close quarters contact.

We also take a look at the breezy Round the Island Race and of course we have our regular helping of Docktalk.