How would you deal with a sudden crash in the middle of the ocean in the pitch black of night? And how does it feel to have a camera pushed in your face in the middle of a crisis? And how does a six-time competitor in The Ocean Race live with sea sickness? Niall Myant-Best from The Ocean Race’s Offwatch series puts all these questions, and more to Chris Nicholson.
This is a fascinating and frank conversation with Chris who has represented Australia in 2 Olympic campaigns (2000 and 2004), and won 6 world championship titles in the 505 and 49er classes.
The Ocean Race
He relays his experience of having to ‘abandon’ Movistar, and he shares the details that everyone wants to know, about that fateful night when Team Vestas Wind collided into St. Brandon Island, Mauritius in the 2014/15 edition of The Ocean Race. Chris has competed in every edition of the race since 2001. His first Ocean Race appearance was as a watch captain in 2001/02 on Amer Sports One, skippered by Grant Dalton. He was subsequently watch captain in 2005/06 on board the Spanish entry movistar, and again on PUMA in 2008/09 before skippering Camper with Emirates Team NZ to second place overall in 2011/12. In the 2017/18 edition he finished 4th on AkzoNobel, breaking the 24hr distance record at 602NM.
Previous Volvo Oceans Races:
2014-15 Team Vestas Wind
2011-12 Camper with Emirates Team New Zealand
2008-09 Puma Ocean Racing
2005-06 Movistar
2001-02 Amer Sports One
This is his story.
Subscribe at The Ocean Race and check out the full video catalogue here.
Like The Ocean Race on Facebook, and follow on Twitter and Instagram
[Podcast with a Pro: Chris Nicholson]
