Ari Huusela // First Finn to Finish the Vendée Globe

Ari Huusela is an aircraft mechanic and commercial airline pilot from Helsinki, Finland. He did not start sailing until the age of 24, but went on to become the first person from the Nordic countries to have finished the brutal Vendee globe round the world race. During the race he became known as the Super happy sailor thanks to his positive energy and optimism. He joins August remotely from the Norwegian Arctic, where he is skiing out of his Campervan. -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Offshore Passage Opportunities and Rutgerson Marin. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!

Matt Rutherford is back again, this time to talk about perhaps his most audacious plans yet - to sail solo and nonstop around the Arctic. That's back-to-back through the Northwest Passage and NorthEAST passage (above Russia). I caught up with Matt in person to talk about his plans (and lots more, like we always do), back in October in Annapolis. Matt continues to inspire and push me as a sailor. He makes his adventures look easy, does them on a shoestring and is always very humble about the whole thing. Enjoy our chat and follow/support Matt through oceanresearchproject.org. -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Offshore Passage Opportunities and Rutgerson Marin. Support the show by supporting our sponsors!

James Evenson, aka Sailing Zingaro on YouTube, has sailed tens of thousands of miles on a variety of boats and had countless adventures. Several of those adventures have ended either in disaster or heroics, depending on your perspective, and it got me wondering - what is true seam'nship? James and I sat down face to face in Annapolis and had a ranging and thoughtful conversation on his life before sailing, what he learned in the Navy, how to make a living on YouTube and how to define the line between bravery and stupidity. -- Check out James' new book at www.bethecaptain.com! -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This episode is sponsored by Orca. Visit getorca.com to modernize your onboard navigation with the Orca Display and Orca Core. We've got them on SPICA & ISBJØRN and so far are LOVING the experience of proper tablet navigation, waterproof wireless charging, logged passages and slick charts and instruments.

Pär Nyman is a Swedish sailor who recently bought the Rustler 36 Lazy Otter and signed up for the 2026 Golden Globe race. He sailed from Sweden to Bergen, Norway, to sea trial his boat, gain experience, and to meet up with fellow Golden Globe competitor Daniel Alfredsson from Bergen. August met him there to talk about his upcoming big dream voyage. -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This episode is sponsored by Orca. Visit getorca.com to modernize your onboard navigation with the Orca Display and Orca Core. We've got them on SPICA & ISBJØRN and so far are LOVING the experience of proper tablet navigation, waterproof wireless charging, logged passages and slick charts and instruments.  This episode is also supported by Buldano Turkish Towels. Use the promo code "onthewind" to get 20% off their website at buldano.com! Make sure to say hi to Michael if you're at Annapolis Sailboat Show too!

The rumors are true - 59º North has bought the Schooner Woodwind business in Annapolis! Andy, Mia, founder Jen Kaye & new GM Ryan Ellison share some behind-the-scenes at the top of today's show. Come help celebrate with us at Annapolis Sailboat Show, and meet today's podcast guest Mara, who will be at the show and hanging around with 59º North in tent O-8! Mara Løvenskiold is a Norwegian athlete-turned-sailor, getting ready to start the next edition of the nonstop round-the-world Golden Globe Race in 2026. She's been a professional fencer and bobsledder and turned to sailing after a chance encounter got her on a catamaran headed around the world. After circumnavigating over three years with Sailing Ripple Effect, Mara set her sights on her next big challenge in the Golden Globe. Andy talked to her from Sweden about her career and GGR prep. -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This episode is sponsored by Orca. Visit getorca.com to modernize your onboard navigation with the Orca Display and Orca Core. We've got them on SPICA & ISBJØRN and so far are LOVING the experience of proper tablet navigation, waterproof wireless charging, logged passages and slick charts and instruments.  This episode is also supported by Buldano Turkish Towels. Use the promo code "onthewind" to get 20% off their website at buldano.com! Make sure to say hi to Michael if you're at Annapolis Sailboat Show too!

Sidse Johannsen is a Danish solo sailor with major plans. When Andy spoke to her in June, she was in final preparations to sail her C&C 40 from Denmark to Greenland, where she'd worked as a teacher some years ago and always longed to return to. She talks about the trials and stresses of buying and outfitting a new boat for northern sailing, what life was like teaching in Greenland and how she hopes to inspire other women sailors like herself through her books and speeches. Buy Sidse's book "Too Much & Too Wild: Alone at Sea" on Amazon! -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This episode is sponsored by Orca. Visit getorca.com to modernize your onboard navigation with the Orca Display and Orca Core. We've got them on SPICA & ISBJØRN and so far are LOVING the experience of proper tablet navigation, waterproof wireless charging, logged passages and slick charts and instruments.  This episode is also supported by Buldano Turkish Towels. Use the promo code "onthewind" to get 20% off their website at buldano.com! Make sure to say hi to Michael if you're at Annapolis Sailboat Show too!

Cole Brauer made history in 2024 as the first American woman to race solo, non-stop around the world. She crossed the line wearing a hat that read Wild Feminist — a bold and powerful statement from a sailor who'd once been told she was too short for the Southern Ocean. Clearly, she proved them wrong — and along the way, captured the hearts and minds of over 450,000 fans by sharing raw, vulnerable glimpses into her life alone at sea. We caught up in Cowes at the end of July, just before the start of the Fastnet. It's not often I get to sit down with another woman my age competing at this level — so I loved this chat with Cole. And, I have a feeling you're going to enjoy it too. -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This episode is sponsored by Orca. Visit getorca.com to modernize your onboard navigation with the Orca Display and Orca Core. We've got them on SPICA & ISBJØRN and so far are LOVING the experience of proper tablet navigation, waterproof wireless charging, logged passages and slick charts and instruments. 

Daniel Alfredsson is a commercial diver living in Bergen, Norway. He is preparing himself and his boat to sail around the world solo, unassisted, non-stop with an old boat and retro technology as a participant in Don Macintryres 2026 Golden Globe Race. I had the pleasure of meeting Daniel and to record this conversation aboard the boat that will take him, hopefully, all around the world. -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This episode is sponsored by Orca. Visit getorca.com to modernize your onboard navigation with the Orca Display and Orca Core. We've got them on SPICA & ISBJØRN and so far are LOVING the experience of proper tablet navigation, waterproof wireless charging, logged passages and slick charts and instruments. 

Dan & Kika of Sailing Uma return to the podcast to talk to Andy this time, and boy do they go deep! What started as a chance to catch up on the latest refit progress on Uma, turned into a winding tale of botched visas, border agents, airport jail cells, deportations, almost buying a new boat - in Canada! - and finally the ups and downs of rebuilding Uma, their home. Dan & Kika have never told this story before on any platform, so grab a coffee or a beer and cozy up for one of our favorite episodes yet! -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This episode is sponsored by Orca. Visit getorca.com to modernize your onboard navigation with the Orca Display and Orca Core. We've got them on SPICA & ISBJØRN and so far are LOVING the experience of proper tablet navigation, waterproof wireless charging, logged passages and slick charts and instruments. 

August Sandberg has returned from paternal leave and vacation, and together with Andy Schell they catch up and talk about anchoring in the archipelago of Sweden and Norway – something which is done quite differently amongst sailors in this part of the world. Back in summertime a video Andy posted on Instagram went viral when he showed how he had removed the bow anchor from SPICA completely. This sparked many discussions in the comments and gave a great topic to share with you all. -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck, where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com. See you there! -- This episode is sponsored by Orca. Visit getorca.com to modernize your onboard navigation with the Orca Display and Orca Core. We've got them on SPICA & ISBJØRN and so far are LOVING the experience of proper tablet navigation, waterproof wireless charging, logged passages and slick charts and instruments.