Podcast: Who's going to win the Medals at Tokyo 2020?

While most events are suffering, could the Vendee Globe actually profit from the strange circumstances that we're facing? Mark Jardine joins with Andy Rice to see how the sailing world is coping in the virtual world forced by the coronavirus pandemic lockdown....

Andy Rice & Mark Jardine discuss a rapidly changing world held in the grip of coronavirus, and celebrate the fact that the 18ft skiffs still competed on Sydney Harbour for the JJ Giltinan Trophy. Andy & Mark also ask if it's still OK to go sailing out of your own club, or if we should be pursuing self-isolation under all circumstances...

Nick Thompson is Great Britain’s top Laser sailor and he’ll be representing his country at the Olympics in Rio 2016. "Winning the Worlds was monkey-off-the-back moment, really, because it is something I’ve been chasing so hard for a long time...."

"It’s been very gratifying to coach in China. I have coached in the US and other areas but there is such basic knowledge in China that the people out racing don’t know the racing rules and don’t know how to tie a cleat and so when you turn around and you get these guys that actually have gone out of the race course you get their tying cleats right, they are actually setting up the boat and doing proper maintenance on the boat. It’s not often you see them jump up and level because they feel as equal as anybody else. It is very gratifying to your self esteem to see there is huge jump in ability and the Chinese really want to learn..."

In the last few days leading up to the Vendée Globe, shouldn’t Michel Desjoyeaux be preparing to sail around the world and attempt to win the race a third time? Instead we found the ocean racing legend on the other side of the world at the China Cup, at the helm of a Beneteau 40.7. His first time in China, his first time in Asia indeed, Michel tells Andy what he’s up to and his thoughts on the massive rise of the sport in the Far East...

Ed Smyth wins with Vatti Sailing in the highly competitive Beneteau 40.7 division at the China Cup...

In the last few days leading up to the Vendée Globe, shouldn’t Michel Desjoyeaux be preparing to sail around the world and attempt to win the race a third time? Instead we found the ocean racing legend on the other side of the world at the China Cup, at the helm of a Beneteau 40.7. His first time in China, his first time in Asia indeed, Michel tells Andy what he’s up to and his thoughts on the massive rise of the sport in the Far East...

Andy grills Justin on his way back to Spain after finishing a reporting stint at the Paralympic Games in Weymouth. There were some clear winners but also a lot of controversy in deciding some of the Paralympic medals. Justin and Andy analyse the three events, the medal winners, and the level of media coverage for the sailing event in Weymouth.

Australia became the most successful sailing nation at the Olympic Regatta after Mat Belcher and Malcolm Page secured gold ahead of GBR in the men's 470. Then it was New Zealand's turn for gold, Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie winning the medal race of the women's 470, with Britain's Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark having to settle for silver, with the Dutch team taking bronze. The Olympic Regatta is nearly over, bar the women's match racing, as Justin and Andy look back at today's light-wind drama....

Sailing never gets any coverage in the national newspapers, particularly not a tabloid 'red top' paper like The Sun. But with Justin away with his bucket and spade on Weymouth beach, Andy asks The Sun's reporter Bob Harris why Olympic sailing has finally caught the imagination of the general public. Listen out too for Kate Laven of The Daily Telegraph who gatecrashes the interview....

The Danes won a tense battle for bronze in the 49er Medal Race in the lightest winds yet seen in Weymouth since the start of the Olympic Regatta. Justin and Andy discuss the 49er race, the match race that's in store between GB and NZ in the women's 470 a couple of days from now, and the failure of the USA to win a single medal at this Olympiad. The winner of the most sailing medals in the history of the modern Games, the last American hope vanished with the surprise exit of Anna Tunnicliffe's match racing team at the quarter final stage....

Controversy surrounded the Medal Races for the RS-X windsurfing today, and no, it wasn’t the presence of British prime minister David Cameron. Zofia Noceti-Klepacka had won the bronze medal but then found herself being protested by the Ukrainian sailor - for the most bizarre of reasons. Questions too about the Australian 49er. Justin and Andy dig behind the headlines in Weymouth....