Fraser Flight, Preparing for the Global Solo Challenge
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
Release Date: 03/10/2025
Etienne Messikommer, Golden Globe 2026 Entrant
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
Etienne Messikommer is an entrant in the 2026 Golden Globe Race. He also won the 2021 Globe 5.80 Transtat. We talk about his first boat (which was steel), selecting his GGR boat (a Tradewinds 35), refitting and preparing the boat for the GGR, converting from wheel to tiller, reefing and furling, reinforcing the chainplates, antifouling, getting advice from previous GGR competitors, books, the rules of the GGR, the Globe 5.80 Transat, the importance of preparation, why he wasn't tempted to do the MGR, why he wants to do the GGR, fear, safety, training for the GGR, Etienne's dream boat,...
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Captain Coconut aka Mark Sinclair, Following the Mini Globe Race
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
Mark Sinclair is following the Mini Globe Race in his Lello 34, Coconut (the boat he raced in the 2018 GGR). He was in Antigua last time we spoke (in February 2024) and he was in Darwin, Australia when we spoke this time. We talk about the Mini Globe Race, Darwin Australia, his sail from Antigua to Australia, sailing every other leg with his girlfriend, provisioning, transiting the Panama Canal, Ahe (in the Tuamotus), Tahiti, sailing through the South Pacific, Fiji, Thursday Island, sailing the Globe Mini 5.80 boats, modern navigation, avoiding jet skis and charter catamarans, using a lead...
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Gunnar Christensen, Offshore Racing vs Offshore Cruising
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
Gunnar Christensen is an entrant in the 2026 Golden Globe Race. He owns a Hans Christen 34 and is also a professional sailor and skipper of racing sailboats. We talk about his Baltic 42, a Southerly 42, The Bahamas, the value of a swing-keel, RORC races Gunnar has been competing in, racing a Farr 60, how seamanship differs between racers and cruisers, how racing boats are less forgiving than cruising boats, surfing at 15 knots on a J109, the hard work of sailing a J109 downwind, asymmetrical spinnakers vs symmetrical spinnakers, the Fastnet Race, sailplan for sailing downwind in the Hans...
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Kevin Le Poidevin, Sailing an Open 40
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
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...
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Guy DeBoer, Offshore Racing, GGR 2026?
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
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...
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Tom Cunliffe, Sailing and Writing and his new novel Hurricane Force
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
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...
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Jolly Holly, Show Me Your Dinghy
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
Jolly Holly sails a 72' carbon fiber trimaran now, and has a history of restoring old boats and solo sailing. She is also the owner of ShowMeYourDinghy dinghy navigation lights, which I use and approve of. We talk about sailing in the Caribbean, getting knocked down, sailing solo vs with crew, observing fishing regulations, Sunfish, Tritium - her 71' carbon fiber catamaran, backlash from skeptics, refitting Tritium, what it feels like to sail a giant racing trimaran, anchoring and sizing an anchor for the trimaran, weight distribution, using the coffee-grinder, getting hit by a boat...
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Daniel Turner 2, Mini Globe Race, Fiji
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
Daniel Turner is currently in second place in the Mini Globe Race, another Don McIntyre circumnavigation race. He was in Fiji when I interviewed him, right befrore the start of Leg three, Fiji to Cape Town. We talk about sailing from Antigua to Panama, dealing with a roller-furler malfunction, sailing to Fiji, a storm in the Tuomotus, using a drogue, helmets, preventers, response to the skeptics, the route and obstacles to Cape Town, sailing solo and how his enjoyment of it has changed during the race, Starlink, how sailing changes us, boat balance and reefing and sailing more...
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Ask an Electrician, Owen Murphy, Part 2
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
This is part two of my conversation with marine electrical engineer Owen Murphy. We talk about meeting John Kretschmer, the influence of electrical systems and electronics on sailboat value, wiring diagrams, the risks of modern high-output systems, fuses, what electricity is, amps, electrical fields, panconsciousness, sailing in the South Pacific, sailing into an atoll, a tiger-shark story, grey sharks, a near-death experience while surfing, a strategy to stay in the South Pacific long-term, and more. Owen's website is Support the show through
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Ask an Electrician, Owen Murphy of Meridian Marine Electrical, Part 1
Offshore Sailing and Cruising with Paul Trammell
Owen Murphy is an ABYC certified marine electrical engineer and technician who offers both onsite and remote electrical system consulting, maintenance and installation. He sails a Pacific Seacraft 34 and is currently in Fiji. Owen answers questions from Patrons about their electrical systems. These include charging an AGM starter battery with LiFePo4 house batteries, saving weight on race yachts in the elctrical system, how to avoid electrical fires, the safety of Lithium batteries, explain the difference between grounding and bonding, what components need to be upgraded when converting...
info_outlineFraser Flight was born and raised in Zimbabwe, where he up on a tobacco farm. He started sailing as a young boy on a lake alongside giraffes and rhinos. He progressed to competetive internationl dinghy racing as a child and offshore racing as an adult. He earned a Master of Yachts license, has logged over 80,000 miles on sailing and motor yachts, and has crossed the Atlantic 15 times. He is now entered in and preparing for the Global Solo Challenge, a solo nonstop circumnavigation race.
We talk about learning to sail in Zimbabwe, sailing on an African lake, elephants, the inspiring story of his grandfather's circumnavigation and settling in Zimbabwe, working on large motoryachts, entering the Global Solo Challenge, the rules of the GSC, shopping for a class 40, training for the OSC, practicing polyphasic sleeeping, meditation and its efficacy in polyphasic sleep training, sailing heros, sailing from Cape Town to Brazil, dealing with a broken boom and continuing under jury rig, sailng back to Africa, dealing with a storm and losing a spinnaker, climbing the mast in rough conditions offshore, working as a chief officer on a luxury motoryact, favorite places, bucket-list destinations, and more.
Photos and links are on the podcast shownotes page here.
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