Happy Hour with Stretch & Stir Fry Episode 1: Ian Walker MBE
by Stretch & Stir Fry 17 Apr 2020 04:00 NZST
Ian Walker's Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing win the Volvo Ocean Race © Matt Knighton / Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing / Volvo Ocean Race
NEW from the Global Sailing Network! Happy Hour with Stretch and Stir Fry...
Each week we will welcome a world class sailor to give Stretch and Stir Fry (two sailing legends) their views on sailing whilst telling us a few yarns, giving you a light-hearted insight to their world and lives before offering their more serious thoughts on the latest news and also the big issues in sailing.
Whilst we are no longer allowed on the water, consider this to be a great chance to sit back, crack open a bottle of rum or rose and enjoy the ramblings of two hosts whose conversational shortcomings will hopefully be rescued by their stellar list of sailing hero guests.
To lead you to the start line, you will have to put up with Stretch, an overly tall sailor, who has managed to be the handbrake on some of the world's finest racing yachts, but his lack of sailing prowess and 'pod know how' will hopefully be rescued by his multi talented co-host Stir Fry.
For those of you who don't know Stir Fry's sailing background, he is a true sailing all-rounder with 15 world championships to his name. He has won in the Etchells, J24, Melges 24 and TP52 as well as more recently back to back Dragon World Titles. He has raced for the Louis Vuitton Series at the America's Cup and finished runner up in the '92 Olympic trials. He is not just an inshore softy though, as he has also managed to be a Fastnet, Middle Sea, Giraglia and Tour de France a la Voile winner.
Our first guest for Happy Hour is Ian Walker MBE. Current RYA director of racing. He really has done it all, winning two Olympic silver medals in both the 470 and the Star. More recently he won the Volvo Ocean Race with Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing.We hope that you enjoy listening to Ian - his insight and passion for sailing is fascinating as he covers everything from youth sailing, Olympics, Volvo Ocean Race, Admirals Cup, most fun sailing moments and of course West Ham Football Club... Ian has very strong opinions on nearly everything in life, which makes him a hugely compelling guest to listen to. British Sailing is so lucky to have him operating at its core.