Q&A Live Call with 5-time Olympic Medallist and Volvo Ocean Race winner Torben Grael

Hamish Willcox & Torben Grael enjoying a drink and a cruise - they became friends after working together on the Luna Rossa America's Cup campaign in 2000 © Hamish Willcox

Torben Grael has proven that coming from a small sailing nation doesn't have to limit your ambitions. Grael is one of only three men to have won five Olympic sailing medals, along with fellow Brazilian Robert Scheidt and Great Britain's Ben Ainslie.

A winning skipper in the Volvo Ocean Race, join Torben later this week for an in-depth Q&A with the Brazilian magician, hosted by the Road To Gold team, Hamish Willcox and Andy Rice. Hamish and Andy will also be celebrating the relaunch of the 12-step online course which was picked up by hundreds of sailors and coaches around the world who are looking to keep on raising their game on the water, whether or not there's a pandemic going on.

When?

The Q&A kicks off on Zoom at 8pm UK time/ 9pm Central European Time on Wednesday evening 2 June. That's 7am Thursday morning 3 June in Auckland, where Hamish is working out the final few days of his two-week quarantine in an Auckland hotel after a successful training period in Spain working with Pete Burling & Blair Tuke on their 49er campaign for Tokyo 2021.

We'll be asking Torben about his own success across the Olympics, ocean racing and the America's Cup, as well as the other high-achieving sailors in his family, including his brother Lars and son Marco and daughter Martine who with Kahena Kunze won the 49erFX gold medal at Rio 2016. Since the modern Olympic Games began, Brazil has won 18 medals in sailing with the Grael family accounting for eight of those medals. So we'll also be asking about the perennial question of Nature versus Nurture. Is Talent born or created?

Whatever level you're currently at with your sailing, join Hamish and Andy for this 60-minute Q&A session to ask Torben your specific questions. Here's how you get on the call:

1. Make sure you're signed up to the Road To Gold Facebook Group to get the Zoom link to the call.

2. Click on the Zoom link and register to join the call this Wednesday/Thursday (depending on where you are in the world!)

Road to Gold - photo © Road to Gold