Ep 38 - Leah Fanstone and Keryn McMaster

Leah Fanstone (nee Newbold) and Keryn McMaster were trailblazers for New Zealand women’s offshore sailing in the 1990s. The pair notched up two laps each around the globe in the Whitbread Round the World Race, once together on the all-women’s crew on board EF Education, and they tell their stories from those epic races in this episode of Broad Reach Radio.

None of those circumnavigations were particularly easy, as they battled a catalogue of bad luck, breakages and broken promises, not to mention old-fashioned attitudes, but they made a big statement for women’s sailing. Leah and Keryn have so many memorable stories from those races and talk about everything from mutinies and swimming in the Southern Ocean to haul sails back on board to messages from the American first lady and getting smothered by rotten fish. They also delved into various important topics around women’s sailing including how female sailors can get noticed as well as last week’s news that women’s teams will be involved in the next America’s Cup.