Max Shaw is a yacht broker, longtime ocean racer and world cruiser. He and his family spent seven years cruising the South Pacific on *Fluenta*, and he cut his teeth in East Coast distance racing on board the Royal Canadian Navy's Sail Training Vessel *Tuna*.
Max joins Chris Maier and discuss how the cruiser and racer labels do more harm than good. He explains what racing brings to cruisers: trim as primary propulsion, weather-routing methodology, watch rotations and helm skills that pay off on a long passage. Then he flips it : what cruising teaches racers about patience, systems and deciding when not to push.
Along the way: crewing on other boats as the fastest way to learn, sailing alongside Sir Peter Blake's old crew in Tonga, what it feels like to be a beginner again on an all-carbon catamaran, the market for boats that race on Wednesday and cruise on the weekend, and why the sport is getting older.
For the Salty Dip, Max tells the story of his first transatlantic : scheduled gales, no GRIB downloads, sustained Force 12 and a diversion to Falmouth : and the conviction that the most dangerous thing on a boat is a schedule.
A conversation about distance racing, offshore racing and racing preparation that lands on a simple point: we do this for fun.
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Max ShawGuestChris MeyerHost