This month, another two part podcast sees Shirley Robertson visits Swiss America's Cup powerhouse Alinghi Red Bull Racing at their base in Barcelona as they prepare to Challenge for the 37th America's Cup.As the only team to have ever launched a successful challenge to the America's Cup at first attempt, they're also the only European team to have ever won it, but for over a decade Swiss America's Cup syndicate Alinghi have been waiting, watching, following developments.  And now, they are back, relaunched as Alinghi Red Bull Racing, and already well established in the host city of Barcelona.  In this month's podcast, double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson visits the Swiss team and talks to several key players, to hear just what it is about AC37 that has rekindled interest, and to look at how one of the most successful Cup teams of the modern era is launching a bid to reclaim the illusive silver ware.In Part One Robertson chats to principal helm, Arnaud Psarofaghis and to Sailing team manager Pierre Yves Jorand, then in this, the second part of the podcast, she kicks things off with Yves Detrey, Alinghi team veteran and winner of the Cup with the Swiss syndicate in 2003 and 2007.  The pair share memories of the Cup wins, in a conversation that takes in the immensity of those Cup victories at home in Switzerland, as well as the challenges to overcome in the new Cup arena. Robertson also talks AC75 design with America's Cup naval architect Adolfo Carrau from Botin Partners, the design house of choice for Alinghi Red Bull Racing.  Driving the design team for American Magic in the last Cup, Carrau's discussion on the evolution of the second generation AC75s will leave the listeners impatient for a glimpse of the new boats.  This edition is then wrapped up with team board member Brad Butterworth, a key component of the Swiss syndicate since the earliest days of campaigning.  Butterworth, as ever, has interesting views on key aspects of this Cup cycle, including the nationality rule, the other Challengers, and collaboration with Formula One teams.This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website - www.shirleyrobertson.com/podcast or via most popular podcast outlets, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast and aCast. The podcast is produced and written by Tim Butt - for further enquires, please contact [email protected] the show

This month, Shirley Robertson visits Swiss America's Cup powerhouse Alinghi Red Bull Racing at their base in Barcelona as they prepare to Challenge for the 37th America's Cup.They're the only team to have ever launched a successful challenge to the America's Cup at first attempt, and the only European team to have ever won it, but for over a decade Swiss America's Cup syndicate Alinghi have been waiting, watching, following developments.  And now, they are back, relaunched as Alinghi Red Bull Racing, and already well established in the host city of Barcelona.  In this month's podcast, double Olympic gold medallist Shirley Robertson visits the Swiss team and talks to several key players, to hear just what it is about AC37 that has rekindled interest, and to look at how one of the most successful Cup teams of the modern era is launching a bid to reclaim the illusive silver ware.Robertson starts the two part podcast with the team's principle helm, Arnaud Psarofaghis.  No stranger to racing fast foiling yachts, Psarofaghis is visibly excited at the development process of a Cup campaign, as the pair discuss the way the team have learned to sail their first generation AC75...:"When you are on the boat, you start to accelerate, 12 knots, 14 knots, 15 knots, and it's incredible because the boat is big, noisy, it's quite a brutal environment, and I remember the first time we got to take off speed and suddenly there is a moment of silence.  Nothing is happening...you feel like it's a dinghy...you have that moment of joy for ten seconds, and then you come back to reality!"Sailing team manager Pierre Yves Jorand then discusses the challenges ahead for the team, as well as revealing the process that saw Alinghi owner Ernest Bertarelli re-enter the America's Cup arena...:"We were listening, we were watching the America's Cup, we were reading the protocols and Ernesto (Bertarelli) always said that once the protocol will be right, we'll be back. A couple of years ago he mentioned the America's Cup is like climbing Everest, and to be successful you need a good forecast.  And for us the weather forecast is the protocol, and this time, the protocol seems to be fair, and we decided to come back.  We are super excited to be back."In Part 2 of this edition, Robertson talks to Yves Detrey, Alinghi team veteran and winner of the Cup with the Swiss syndicate in 2003 and 2007, she talks AC75 design with America's Cup naval architect Adolfo Carrau from Botin Partners, the design house of choice for Alinghi Red Bull Racing.  and she wraps things up with team board member Brad Butterworth, a key component of the Swiss syndicate since the earliest days of campaigning.  This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website - www.shirleyrobertson.com/podcast or via most popular podcast outlets, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast and aCast. The podcast is produced and written by Tim Butt - for further enquires, please contact [email protected] the show

Part 2 of this month's podcast that sees Shirley Robertson talk to one of the sport's most recognisable talents, as New Zealand's Dean Barker reflects on a career spent chasing the illusive America's Cup.In Part 1 the pair discuss his formative years growing up in Takapuna, Auckland, and coming to the attention of Russell Coutts, the helm of a New Zealand team that would go on to successfully challenge and then successfully defend the America's Cup.Part two of the podcast kicks off with chat about the marathon Challenger Series in 2007 which saw Barker helm Team New Zealand to twenty seven wins from thirty two matches, to reach another America's Cup match.  Barker and Robertson then go on to reflect on the remarkable events of San Francisco 2013, a Cup that saw Emirates Team New Zealand concede eight losses in a row against eventual winners Oracle Team USA.  The build up to the 2013 Cup was a remarkable period of development that had seen Barker's Team New Zealand innovate in the extreme, the end result, the fast, powerful fully foiling AC72 that stunned sailing fans across the globe...:"To say the boats were under control would be a massive over statement, they were so hard to manage on that reach across from the start to the turning mark off St Francis Yacht Club...the speeds and the power and everything, and how out of control you felt at times...you're thinking if it goes wrong here, we're going to be picking up pieces off the waterfront here in San Francisco!"The result of the 35th America's Cup is well documented, and is much talked about from many of the protagonists here on Robertson's podcast, but the effect of the very public loss on Dean Barker has been profound, a fact that he discusses with Robertson as he looks back on what was a difficult time.Bringing his career up to the present day, Barker also discusses the campaign with American Magic, at home in Auckland, along with a cautionary tale of his fight with colon cancer throughout the build up to that Cup.  This edition of the podcast is another fascinating look into the life of one of the sport of sailing's biggest names, Barker's honesty and sincerity adding significantly to stories from a long and remarkable career.This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website - www.shirleyrobertson.com/podcast or via most popular podcast outlets, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast and aCast. The podcast is produced and written by Tim Butt - for further enquires, please contact [email protected] the show

This month, Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast hosts one of the sport's most recognisable talents as New Zealand's Dean Barker talks to double Olympic gold medallist Robertson about a career spent chasing the illusive America's Cup.From his formative years growing up in Takapuna, Auckland, Barker was soon sailing at a high level, and was inspired in no small part by the likes of Russell Coutts and the generation of remarkably talented New Zealand sailors making their presence felt on the global stage.  Barker discusses these early days through to the moment when Russell Coutts asked him to helm the final match of Team New Zealand's successful Cup Defence against Luna Rossa in New Zealand...:"It was quite incredible, it was something that I will never ever forget, just having the chance to be a part of it was pretty special....but to be on the boat when we crossed the finish line...it was a huge weight off the shoulders...it was the first time I had touched the Cup and it was the start of a pursuit of trying to do that again."From that Cup win, Dean Barker would spend two decades chasing the illusive trophy, in a career that would see him gain a reputation as one of the most clinical match racers in the sport.Robertson and Barker discuss many of the key campaigns that have punctuated his career, including his appearance at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, and his Match Racing world title.  They wrap up this, the first of two parts, as Dean discusses what his Olympic appearance meant to him personally, and how tough it was to qualify amongst the rich pool of sailing talent from his native New Zealand.In Part 2 the pair inevitably go on to reflect on the remarkable events of San Francisco 2013, a Cup that saw Emirates Team New Zealand concede eight losses in a row against eventual winners Oracle Team USA.  The build up to the 2013 Cup was a remarkable period of development that had seen Barker's Team New Zealand innovate in the extreme, the end result, the fast, powerful fully foiling AC72 that stunned sailing fans across the globe. before also discussing the campaign with American Magic, at home in Auckland, along with a cautionary tale of his fight with colon cancer throughout the build up to that Cup.  This edition of the podcast is another fascinating look into the life of one of the sport of sailing's biggest names, Barker's honesty and sincerity adding significantly to stories from a long and remarkable career.This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website - www.shirleyrobertson.com/podcast or via most popular podcast outlets, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast and aCast. The podcast is produced and written by Tim Butt - for further enquires, please contact [email protected] the show

Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast continues with Part 2  of the fascinating chat with one of offshore sailing's most active campaigners,  a sailor who's career spans two decades at the highest level of the sport and includes a record equaling five Vendee Globe starts.  Alex Thomson, widely known for his Vendee campaigns sailing a series of iconic Hugo Boss IMOCA, has done much to raise awareness of offshore sailing and with his team, has been responsible for some of the most innovative developments the monohull  IMOCA Class has ever seen.Part 1 of  of Thomson's discussion with Robertson takes in Thomson's remarkable career path, time spent sailing with Sir Robin Knox Johnston and his early Vendee Globe campaigns.In this edition, Thomson talks all about the progression in design and build of the IMOCA Class, the now foiling monohull class that he and his team have been key protagonists in developing over the past twenty years of racing.  The duo also cover Thomson's remaining attempts to win the Vendee Globe, and of course discuss the series of sailing stunts that have netted Thomson millions of views on YouTube, taking in the evolution of the idea, the execution of the stunts themselves and Thomson's desire to bring new audiences to his offshore campaigns are all talked through in this revealing chat...:"Hugo Boss had done a trick shot video with Martin Kymer, the German golfer, and put it on the internet and they told us they had fifty thousand views....and I went back to the team and said 'we've got to come up with an idea, put it on the internet and get more than fifty thousand views'...so we got a couple of suits...shot it....and we put it on the internet and...a million views in a week!."This is a fascinating insight into the career of a man that has spent over two decades chasing a dream to win one of offshore sailing's biggest accolades, he's gone against convention, pushed boundaries of design, and suffered some well publicised failures, but most interestingly in this chat with Robertson, Alex Thomson also suggests that when it comes to trying to win the Vendee Globe, he's not quite done yet.This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website - www.shirleyrobertson.com/podcast or via most popular podcast outlets, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast and aCast. The podcast is produced and written by Tim Butt - for further enquires, please contact [email protected] Support the show