Sleepy Sport is a calming sports history podcast where we uncover the stories behind the sports you love — but never knew. Each week, we explore surprising origins, forgotten legends, and classic moments from the world of sport, told slowly and softly to help you unwind. From ancient arenas to modern stadiums, discover the hidden history and timeless tales that shaped the games we play and watch today.
The Vendée Globe: The World's most Dangerous Sailing Race - Part Two
Across the loneliest waters on Earth, where the Roaring Forties become the Furious Fifties and ice drifts in the dark, the Vendée Globe enters its most brutal chapter.
In Part Two of our two-part special, sports historian Michael Wiltshire guides you through the modern era of the world’s hardest solo race, from the rise of high-speed foiling yachts to the legendary rescues, heartbreaks, and miracles that unfold far from land.
Drift through the stories of sailors who faced the Southern Ocean at its fiercest, including Jean Le Cam’s dramatic mid-storm rescue, the tragedy of boats lost to rogue waves, and the breathtaking final sprints back up the Atlantic.
Explore the psychology of extreme solitude, the fragile beauty of the empty horizon, and the powerful bond between humans and the sea.
A calm, immersive journey into the heart of modern ocean racing, and the wild, indifferent waters that will always command respect.
18 Jan 2026
The Vendée Globe: The World's most Dangerous Sailing Race - Part One
Far from land, where the sea turns grey and the horizon disappears into mist, a handful of sailors attempt something almost impossible: to sail alone around the entire planet without stopping.
In this calm and cinematic episode of Sleepy Sport, sports historian Michael Wiltshire drifts through the beginnings of the Vendée Globe; the world’s most dangerous solo sailing race.
Travel softly through the early dreams of circumnavigation, the tragic Golden Globe Race of 1968, the birth of the Vendée Globe in France, and the lonely journey into the Roaring Forties, where storms roar, swells tower overhead, and solitude becomes a companion.
This is the story of the sailors who set out to meet the ocean at its fiercest point, and discover themselves at the edge of the world. A gentle, atmospheric exploration of courage, isolation, and the quiet beauty of the Southern Ocean.
11 Jan 2026
The Dakar Rally: Dust & Danger - Part Two
After the shock cancellation of 2008 left the Dakar Rally without a home, the world’s toughest endurance race was forced to reinvent itself. In this calming second chapter of Dust & Danger, sports historian Michael Wiltshire follows the Dakar across continents, from the towering Andes to the Atacama Desert, and finally into the vast dunes of Saudi Arabia.
This gentle, atmospheric episode explores how the legendary Paris-Dakar Rally survived exile, political upheaval, sandstorms, altitude, and the harshest terrain on Earth to become a new kind of motorsport epic. Drift through stories of motorcycle warriors, car and truck champions, navigation battles, modern tragedies, and the breathtaking beauty of the Empty Quarter; the endless Arabian desert that reshaped the rally once again.
A slow, immersive journey through the modern history of Dakar, the evolution of desert racing, and the spirit of adventure that still defines the world’s most dangerous and iconic rally.
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