Welcome to this sample audio clip, which comes from the series entitled, Multihull Conversations with Jim Brown. In this segment, Jim interviews catamaran sailor Fred Yeates.

This short mp3 is taken from a much more extensive dialogue, where Fred shares his tale of being caught in a terrible storm within the Gulf of Tehuantepec, off the coast of Mexico.

In the complete 2-hour audio (which is featured in 2 parts), we discover, among other things:

— How Fred got into multihulls, along with a few stories of his cruising life in a self-built Searunner 44 Catamaran

— what it was like to participate in the once-yearly “Trade Winds Race” (put on by the late multihull designer, Peter Spronk) in the Caribbean

— How Fred first heard about (and then eventually built with a friend) a brand-new Searunner 44 Catamaran (this includes the story of how Jim Brown came to become very impressed with large sailing cats)

As you listen to Fred, you’ll see how the 1970s, which constituted the closing of an era of largely unregulated marine activity for freedom-loving sailors, has slowly evolved into the present, more regulated atmosphere we live in nowadays. (You’ll note Fred’s chronicle of the subtle changes in the sailing world that have taken place from the 70s up to the present).

Audio Clip: Excerpt from Jim Brown’s Interview with Fred Yeates