Podcast appearances and mentions of albin vega

Robert Perry is one of the most prolific, sucessful, and iconic sailboat designers of the modern age. He is known for designing the Valiant 40, Tayana 37, Tashiba 36, Baba 35, and many many more. His knowledge of sailboats is extensive to the point of making him a national treasure.  We talk about older crusing boats ideal for beginning cruisiers, ie: good boats for beginning offshore sailors, CCA and IOR rules, design elements, the Dufour Arpege, selling my first boat, John Vigor's book "20 Small Sailboats to Take You Anywhere," Alberg sailboats, chainplates, Albin Vega 27, small boats vs big boats, Contessa sailboats, Cape Dory sailboats, Pearson Triton, Allied Seawind, Southern Cross sailboats, foam-cored hulls, Westsail 32, the birth of recreational offshore cruising, the Mini Globe Race, sailboat statistics and ratios like sail area to displacement and ballast to displacement, different ballast types, overhangs, interiors, modern production offshore boats, the Carbon Cutter, consulting, the Norseman 447, hard dodgers, andmore.

Matt Rutherford made a name for himself when he completed a solo, 309-day, non-stop, record-breaking trip around the Americas in a 27-foot Albin Vega. Today he's focused on putting the finishing touches on a 72-foot, Brucer Roberts designed steel schooner that will be the flagship of his non-profit: Ocean Research Project. Matt and I talked about the 60-day research expedition he and Nikki Trenholm undertook from San Francisco to Japan in a 30-foot daysailer they built in about a month.

E295 Matt Rutherford is the first sailor to complete a single-handed nonstop voyage around North and South America. And he did it in a 27-foot Albin Vega! Matt's childhood was a combo of drugs, cults, truancy, and several stints in jail. At 17, his life's course would change. He bought his first sailboat, sight unseen, […]

At the age of 22, John Neal bought a 27-foot Albin Vega sloop and set off from Seattle headed for Hawaii. His book chronicling that voyage, Log of Mahina, became a best seller and people started seeking him out to ask: "How can I find and prepare a boat for ocean voyaging?" In 1976 he began conducting Offshore Cruising Seminars and in 1990, to meet the requests for hands-on offshore instruction, John established Mahina Expeditions. He’s sailed 342,000 miles in the South Pacific, Caribbean, Patagonia, Antarctica, Atlantic, Scandinavia and the Arctic, rounding Cape Horn six times in the process. John’s wife Amanda was featured in episode 14 of Out The Gate.

Interview time! Bryan Rolfe is sailing his 27 foot Albin Vega across the Carribean, bound for Panama, the Pacific Ocean, Polynesia, and ultimately a circumnavigation. We talk about life aboard a small boat, new-old ways of getting weather information offshore, preparing a boat for oceans, the sobering reality of coral reefs today, and much more! Bryan has a very enjoyable and well-produced series of videos on YouTube and can be found there and on Instagram at "The Adventures of Tarka." He is donating all proceeds from his videos to the Coral Reef Alliance, and is an all-around interesting guy. Check it out!

Manu the Flying Frenchman, a lost Albin Vega and Matt recalls his visits to Portugal and Morocco. Also this week, pumping out The Ault, the most blue-collar ocean yacht race, why you can’t get insurance as a single-handed sailor. Follow Matt’s environmental work: www.oceanresearchproject.org Let him find the perfect blue water boat for you: www.davidwaltersyachts.com

#187. Matt Rutherford is a longtime friend of the podcast and founder of the Ocean Research Project. Matt became famous, of course, for his legendary Solo the America’s voyage, during which he sailed a 27’ Albin Vega around both American continents. In our latest chat, recorded in Sweden back in January, Matt recalls the summer of 2016 in Greenland, where he & his partner Nicole piloted their research schooner Ault into the uncharted waters of the far north, nearly coming to grief in a wild Arctic storm and subsequently being rescued by the Danish Navy. Matt is one of the best storytellers we’ve had on the show, so I just let him go to town again in this one, and he doesn’t disappoint. Follow Matt’s ongoing adventures at oceanresearchproject.org. -- On the Wind is sponsored by Weems & Plath. Visit weems-plath.com to see their full catalog of fine nautical & weather instruments. Since 1928. Come offshore sailing on Isbjorn with Andy & Mia! Visit 59-north.com/offshore to see the latest passages routes and availability.

#138. I sat down with John & Amanda Neal of Mahina Expeditions, two of my favorite people in sailing and a huge inspiration both philosophically and practically in building my own offshore passage business with Isbjorn. This is the first of several podcasts I recorded in front of a live audience at the Toronto Boat Show in January, so you’ll hear some questions pop in from the handful of people we had in attendance. John & Amanda have varying and extremely interesting backgrounds that led them to the place they are today in sailing. John grew up on the west coast and did a bunch of single-handed sailing on his 27’ Albin Vega - the same kind of boat that Matt Rutherford completed his Around the America’s voyage on, by the way - and began giving lectures on how to go ocean sailing. He also became a pilot, a hobby he continues today. Meanwhile Amanda, half a world away in New Zealand, grew up cruising with her family and eventually wound up crewing on the first-ever all-female team in the Whitbread Race aboard Maiden. Their paths crossed many years later and since then the couple have sailed hundreds of thousands of miles together in their Hallberg-Rassy’s they call Mahina. Their voyages have taken them and over 1,000 crew members literally to the ends of the earth, from Arctic Norway to Antarctica and round the Horn over half a dozen times. They are consummate professionals and people to look up to if you’re interested in going offshore. Their website, mahina.com, is a treasure trove of information on all things offshore from boat design to checklists and everything in between, so be sure to check it out. As for our offshore passages, Mia and I only have 3 spots left for all of 2016 on Isbjorn. Just today we added another Caribbean trip for March of 2017, a week-long, downwind passage from Grenada to St Croix and the BVI following our trans-Atlantic from the Canaries. This week we’re gearing up for the Caribbean 600 Race, and we just completed the first two passages of 2016 with an awesome crew, despite some setbacks (check out the passages logs page on 59-north.com if you haven’t heard about it). You can find all of our passage info and sign up on 59-north.com/offshore. Thanks again for listening and I greatly appreciate the support of both my podcast fans and the awesome crews that have come sailing with us so far! Huge thanks to Ryan, Todd, Dan, Cicci, Greg, Andy & Mike for making the first two passages of 2016 so memorable and fun. With that, enjoy episode 138 with John & Amanda Neal! This episode is sponsored by Forbes Horton Yachts. Visit forbesyachts.com.