Podcasts / Ep 2. Pete Goss, MBE

Ep 2. Pete Goss, MBE 'The Everest of Sailing'

For Episode 2 we welcomed Pete Goss to the show. A Gentleman of the sea and an old friend of the brand, over the years Pete has captivated us with his innate ability to tell extraordinary stories

04.02.2021

58:38:00

Hosted by Lawrence Stafford

Sound Design by John Sampson a.k.a CJ MIRRA

Listen now

A sailor recognised and revered for his seamanship and triumph over adversity, Pete is also an adventurer in the truest sense of the word. A former Royal Marine, Pete has walked to the North Pole, kayaked around Tasmania, built arguably the most advanced sailing catamarans ever, in Team Phillips, and sailed from Cornwall to Australia in a small wooden 19th Century Lugger.

Pete is perhaps best known for his heroic rescue of Frenchman Raphael Dinelli in the 1996 Vendée Globe - one of the most gruelling sailboat races in the world - testing the limits of strength, courage and faith. For his bravery he was awarded the MBE by Her Majesty the Queen and the Légion d'Honneur by the French President.

With the 9th edition of the Vendée Globe currently in the water, and at the time of recording fast approaching Cape Finisterre and the finish line, we dialled in with Pete to look back on his 1996 circumnavigation and the trials and tribulations that have shaped a lifetime of adventure.

His storytelling is one that resonates with a broad audience and his philosophies and approach to life and living are as inspiring today as they were 25 years ago. One of changing course, tenacity and resilience.

As Pete would say, 'put on the kettle’ and take a moment - here’s our conversation with Pete Goss on The Everest of Sailing.

There are hurricane force winds coming, there’s nothing you can do – once you’re in it you’re up to your ears in mud and bullets. It’s times like that when your imagination runs away. When you do these races there’s always one big storm and you instinctively know once you’re in it. This was the big storm without question… from that point came this epic struggle and fight to get Aqua Quorum back to Raphael’s location and try find him.
The thing about the Vendee is that it throws up this very visible cold face of innovation and technology – which is a tough cold face. A part of pushing boundaries is failure – it goes hand in hand, but out of every failure comes a lesson – what the Vendee does is give you this very visible insight into that process – and out of it we all benefit.