Andy Schell

Sweden, United States

Co-Host at On the Wind Sailing

Professional Sailor⛵️ // Runner // Dog Lover 🐕 // Host the #OntheWindPodcast // DAD

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Articles

Breaking the Cardinal Rule of Cruising

2 weeks ago | sailmagazine.com | Andy Schell

In February, Falken, our Farr 65, made landfall in Falmouth, Antigua, sailing just over 3,000 miles in 16 days from Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, in brochure-perfect tradewind conditions. It was Falken’s fifth Atlantic crossing in just 24 months and successful by every measure. And yet, as I write this, there is some uncertainty whether she’ll leave the dock on time for her next passage thanks to a suddenly wonky windlass and some mechanical gremlins.
How to calibrate the depth sounder

2 months ago | sailingscuttlebutt.com | Andy Schell

Published on March 10th, 2025by Andy Schell, SAIL magazine Since I was a kid and for my entire professional sailing career, I took for granted that depth sounders read the water depth. Like, the actual water depth, as measured from the waterline. Obviously this requires a bit of adjustment since the sensor is never at the actual waterline, but normally a few feet below it, usually amidships just forward of the keel.
How to Calibrate the Depth Sounder

2 months ago | sailmagazine.com | Andy Schell

Late last year, 59º North had our first annual “staff training” weekend aboard our Farr 65 Falken and an interesting debate emerged…how to calibrate the depth sounder? Since I was a kid and for my entire professional sailing career, I took for granted that depth sounders read the water depth. Like, the actual water depth, as measured from the waterline.
How to Calibrate the Depth Sounder

2 months ago | sailmagazine.com | Andy Schell

Late last year, 59º North had our first annual “staff training” weekend aboard our Farr 65 Falken and an interesting debate emerged…how to calibrate the depth sounder? Since I was a kid and for my entire professional sailing career, I took for granted that depth sounders read the water depth. Like, the actual water depth, as measured from the waterline.
Boat Shopping, Part 2

Jan 22, 2025 | sailmagazine.com | Andy Schell

If you missed Boat Shopping Part 1, . If the worst part about buying a boat, as my friend and business partner August Sandberg says, is that the search is over, then surely the best part is the excitement of having found the right boat. Last issue I teased the fact that I thought Mia and I had found it, a 1971 Olle Enderlein 36 lovingly restored in Sweden. I didn’t have a specific model, designer, or even era in mind when we started shopping.
Boat Shopping Part 1

Dec 2, 2024 | sailmagazine.com | Andy Schell

“The worst part about buying a boat is that the search is over!” Isbjørn’s skipper and one of my business partners, August Sandberg, had that to say when he and I recently recorded a Quarterdeck podcast on boat shopping. This is where August and I differ; of the five boats I’ve been involved in buying, either for myself or for the business, I never actually shopped. I found a boat I fell in love with immediately and I bought it. Ready, fire, aim, as my friends tease me.
At the Helm: Bring Back the Racer-Cruiser!

Oct 16, 2024 | sailmagazine.com | Andy Schell

Picture this: We’re anchored Swedish-style, bow up against the rocks, stern anchor pulled tight on the starboard quarter, pine trees gently rustling in the light summer breeze, parked up in the outer Stockholm archipelago. Our 4-year-old son, Axel, is climbing up and down the bow ladder, onto and off of the rocks, on repeat. Mia is in her wetsuit and goggles, swimming laps behind the boat in the 62-degree water, training for an open water swim later in the summer.
At the Helm: Bring Back the Racer-Cruiser!

Oct 16, 2024 | flipboard.com | Andy Schell

Culture4 hours agoDiscover the Viking Age in Finlandlifeinnorway.net - David Nikel • 4hFinland may not be the first place you think of when it comes to Vikings, but its rich Viking-era history—marked by trade, cultural exchanges, and …entertainment newsNowCBC Stocks Streamer Gem With Euro Dramas ‘All And Eva,’ ‘Cheaters’ & ‘Families Like Ours’Deadline - Jesse Whittock • 51mEXCLUSIVE: Canada‘s CBC is stocking its streaming service with dramas from Scandinavia and the UK.
Learning to Sail with a Pole

Sep 30, 2024 | sailmagazine.com | Andy Schell

It was during my eighth and most recent transatlantic, this one a classic trade wind route from Mindelo, Cape Verde, to Barbados in the Eastern Caribbean, that the beauty of rigging a downwind pole really shone through. “The bonkers tradewind sailing continues, faster and steadier than ever,” I wrote in the log during the middle of that passage. “Each time I check the log for the previous 24-hour distance run, the numbers get bigger. From 10pm yesterday until 10pm today we’ve covered 213 miles.
At the Helm: A Refreshing Kind of Club Culture

Aug 11, 2024 | sailmagazine.com | Andy Schell

It’s late May in Sweden, the sun is shining, and boats are launching. Sweden, with its thousands of miles of spectacular coastline and DIY culture, has a wonderful—and wonderfully unpretentious—sailing scene. Mia and I have a Norlin 34 called Spica that we keep 20 minutes from our house, and when we’re not out sailing for work on Falken or Isbjørn, we’re messing around on Spica (according to Axel, our 4-year-old son, it’s “his boat”).