Shirley Robertson this month talks to a man that has sailed in a remarkable six America's Cup campaigns, as she sits down to chat with New Zealand grinder Jono Macbeth.  As the pair discuss, Macbeth's career in sailing was in no way scheduled, starting after a chance encounter with the legendary Sir Peter Blake.  Team New Zealand had just won the 1995 America's Cup in San Diego when Blake invited a young Macbeth to join an exciting new venture in Auckland.  The pair first met after a random encounter at an Auckland kayak shop....:

"I was down in a squat position and I was about to try and pick up this fridge all by myself and I hear this big booming voice behind me..."Do you need a hand?"  And without turning around I said "Yeah, that'd be good mate", and glanced over my shoulder and low and behold there was (Sir Peter) Blake, standing over me, arms folded."

What followed is one of the most exhaustive Cup careers in the sport. Blake invited Macbeth to join the team, and since that first Team New Zealand defence of the Cup in 2000, Macbeth has been a regular feature competing for the illusive trophy, and has lived through some of the modern era's most fascinating campaigns.

Macbeth stayed on at Team New Zealand as Russell Coutts and Brad Butterworth left the team to sail with ultimate 2003 Cup winners Alinghi, and then again sailed in the Cup match after New Zealand won through the exhausting 2007 Louis Vuiton Challenger Series in Valencia.

As the future of the Cup went through the courts, and a Deed of Gift match looked likely, Macbeth joined Russell Coutts at BMW Oracle, and began sailing the monster 90ft trimaran that would ultimately win the two team Deed of Gift battle in Valencia.  It was a fascinating period, as designers, sailing teams and shore crew all came to grips with the introduction of the wing sail.

Jono's story spans almost two decades of Cup campaigning - Part 1 wraps up after that Deed of Gift victory, before Part 2 gets underway in San Francisco 2013.

This edition of the podcast is in two parts and is available to listen to via the podcast page of Shirley’s own website, at www.shirleyrobertson.com/podcast or via most popular podcast outlets, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcast and aCast.

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