59° North Sailingvideo
OTW #408 - Evgeniy “Ev” Goussev // Stowaway Escape from the USSR
19 October 2023 · 1h 33m · 132 views
What this video covers
Evgeniy "Ev" Goussev, born in the Soviet Far East, began sailing at age five and escaped the USSR with his father's family on a sailboat as internal political violence and forced military conscription threatened them.9:05 Guest host Ben Doerr conducts the interview; Andy Schell provides a brief intro covering 59 North's upcoming Annapolis Boat Show presence and an open berth on Falcon for the Azores-to-Lagos offshore passage.0:27
Ev's father, a captain with Primork Shipping Company, built a sailing life in Vladivostok-area waters, raced internationally including a trip to Japan where a KGB informant was embedded among the crew, and hosted American youth sailors during the Cold War.30:25 When Moscow-linked violence and the threat of paratrooper conscription closed in, the family departed by sea.39:53 The escape route ran through Hokkaido, Taiwan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Aden, the Red Sea, and the Suez Canal.49:26 Ev later worked aboard Star Clipper, where the owner recognized his father's boat Asia from a race in Asia.58:49 He settled on Bainbridge Island, Washington, where he runs a sailing community, brokers X-Yachts, and co-owned the Race to Alaska boat sailed by Nikki Henderson.3:33 A C&C 38 rudder cable failure in 30 knots and a Race to Alaska preparation campaign aboard Grey Wolf are also discussed.1:03:46
Boats in this video
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