At home or at sea — which do you prefer?

by Rich Wilson | Dec 6, 2016 | Q&A, Q&A - RichWilson, Q&A-RW-wk5

Dear Chengfang: It’s unusual, when I’m on land, sometimes I dream of being at sea. Yet when I’m at sea, especially if its bad weather, I dream of being safe on land. Right now the boat is going so fast, and bouncing around so much, that I wish I was...

How do you sleep and steer the ship at the same time?

by Rich Wilson | Dec 6, 2016 | Q&A, Q&A - RichWilson, Q&A-RW-wk5

We have a device called an autopilot which will steer the boat while I am asleep. In fact it steers the boat most of the time that I am awake also! The autopilot has an electronic compass. And it is also connected to the wind instruments. So I can set the autopilot to...

Can Women participate in Vendee Globe ?

by Rich Wilson | Dec 3, 2016 | Q&A, Q&A - RichWilson, Q&A-RW-wk5

Yes. This, I believe, is the first Vendee Globe without a woman skipper, and it’s unfortunate. There have been great women skippers, like Catherine Chabaud, and Anne Liardet from France, and Samantha Davies and Dee Caffari from Britain. Samantha and Dee were in...

Did you have any difficulties in the race?

by Rich Wilson | Dec 3, 2016 | Q&A, Q&A - RichWilson, Q&A-RW-wk5

Dear DoJoon, We have had several repair jobs on the boat so far. Each takes time away from sailing/racing the boat, and yet is essential to correct. We had to replace a batten car (where the mainsail attaches to the track that goes up the mast). And had to repair a...

I noticed that your lung peak flow has increased significantly from 59 to the high 80s, and that it is consistently greater than 80 more than three weeks into the race. To what do you attribute the improved performance of your lungs?

by Rich Wilson | Dec 3, 2016 | Q&A, Q&A - 3-Asthma, Q&A - RichWilson, Q&A-RW-wk5

Dear Neal, I think that there was some reaction I had to some of the area near where we stayed before the start. Plus there was a lot of stress, and stress is a trigger for my asthma, just as smoke, or cats/dogs, trees/flowers, are. I was quite tense for the weeks...

Have you ever seen a Hammerhead shark while at sea?

by Rich Wilson | Nov 28, 2016 | Q&A, Q&A - RichWilson, Q&A-RW-wk4

Dear Alex, No, I’ve never seen a hammerhead shark at sea. I actually haven’t seen many sharks at sea, just very occasionally. We see a lot of flying fish in the tropics. The boat is now covered in scales and bits of flying fish that mistake Great American...