Show Notes
Simon van Velthooven has made an art form out of turning pedals. In a past life he was a world-class track cyclist, winning Olympic, world championship and Commonwealth Games medals. Now he’s a sailor with Emirates Team New Zealand and next week will help them defend the America’s Cup against Luna Rossa.
The 32-year-old made a name for himself as a top cyclist, highlighted by the bronze medal he won in the keirin at the 2012 London Olympics. He was involved during the emergence of the highly-successful New Zealand track cycling programme and he delves into that but also the weird and wonderful world of professional keirin racing in Japan where cyclists were essentially seen as colourful greyhounds riding on steel-frame bikes complete with padding and oversized helmets. It was all done among the backdrop of a monk-like existence and the spectre of big-money betting and the Japanese mafia.
It was Simon’s achievements on the bike which landed him an invitation to work with Team New Zealand in 2016 as they explored putting bikes on boats. He liked what he saw, hung around and found himself on the boat in Bermuda as they won the America’s Cup. Incredibly, his first sailing race was and America’s Cup race. Simon is still with the team but has had to reinvent himself as a traditional grinder, turning handles with his arms rather than his legs. Simon, though, has fallen in love with sailing and can often be found in his spare time racing keelboats, and he’s also worked in the industry beyond the America’s Cup.
More from Broad Reach Radio - The Yachting New Zealand Podcast
The number 202.9 might not mean a lot to most but is a figure Glenn Ashby has become obsessed about. The two-time America’s Cup winner is now leading a group from Emirates Team New Zealand trying to break the wind powered land speed record. They need to go faster than 202.9km/h on the salt flats of Lake Gairdner in South Australia to do it.
New Zealand has a proud tradition in the round the world race and a lot of that started with Ceramco New Zealand in the early 1980s – the first New Zealand-flagged boat to compete in the gruelling event. It was a campaign headed up by Sir Peter Blake and something that captured the imagination of Kiwis everywhere. But disaster struck on the first leg of the race when the boat’s mast came down in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean as the team were vying for the lead. It was a devastating blow for the crew, including Simon Gundry who is today’s guest on Broad Reach Radio.
Karl Budge doesn’t purport to be much of a sailor, but he is one of this country’s leading event organisers having previously turned the ASB Classic into one of the world’s best tennis tournaments. He consistently attracted some of the world’s top tennis players to this country and now he’s looking to sprinkle his magic dust on the New Zealand leg of SailGP.
Karl Budge doesn’t purport to be much of a sailor, but he is one of this country’s leading event organisers having previously turned the ASB Classic into one of the world’s best tennis tournaments. He consistently attracted some of the world’s top tennis players to this country and now he’s looking to sprinkle his magic dust on the New Zealand leg of SailGP.
Mike Sanderson is one of the most successful sailors of his generation. He’s a former World Sailor of the Year, two-time winner of the round the world race including when he skippered ABN Amro to victory in the 2005/06 Volvo Ocean Race, been involved in multiple America’s Cup campaigns, a record breaker, a successful maxi yacht skipper and now co-owner and CEO of Doyle Sails.