Ari Huusela // First Finn to Finish the Vendée Globe

Ari Huusela // First Finn to Finish the Vendée Globe

From On the Wind Sailing by 59º North Sailing Podcasts

January 20, 2026 · 1h 16m · Episode 488

About this episode

Ari Huusela shares his journey as the first Finn to finish the Vendée Globe race and discusses his positive outlook on sailing and life.

Ari Huusela is an aircraft mechanic and commercial airline pilot from Helsinki, Finland. He did not start sailing until the age of 24, but went on to become the first person from the Nordic countries to have finished the brutal Vendee globe round the world race. During the race he became known as the Super happy sailor thanks to his positive energy and optimism. He joins August remotely from the Norwegian Arctic, where he is skiing out of his Campervan. -- Support the podcast & become a member of The Quarterdeck , where Andy, August & Mia dive deep on the art of seam'nship. Nerd out with us on our members-only forum and talk boats, gear, safety-at-sea, meet like-minded sailors, find crew, and more. Check it out on quarterdeck.59-north.com . See you there! -- This season of ON THE WIND is supported by our friends at Offshore Passage Opportunities and Rutgerson Marin . Support the show by supporting our sponsors!

People in this episode

Host: August

Guest: Ari Huusela

Topics covered

  • sailing
  • adventure
  • sports
  • optimism
  • travel

Keywords

  • Ari Huusela
  • Vendée Globe
  • sailing
  • Nordic countries
  • optimism
  • adventure
  • aircraft mechanic
  • commercial airline pilot

Sponsors

Offshore Passage Opportunities, Rutgerson Marin

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Quarterdeck

Places: Helsinki, Finland, Norwegian Arctic

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