Thrill-seeker Ewan McGregor gets ready for daring new TV challenge

By JOHN PAUL BRESLIN, WEEKEND NEWS EDITOR - SCOTLAND Published: 18:59, 11 August 2026 | Updated: 19:14, 11 August 2026 Ewan McGregor has outlined the gruelling training he’s undergone as he prepares to embark on a new adventure – sailing from Scotland to Brazil. The actor, 55, will be part of a crew of four, including his childhood friend Eric Strickland, a producer and cameraman, that will sail from Oban across the Atlantic to Rio de Janeiro at the end of this month. Opening up on the preparations, McGregor said his friend Mr Strickland, 54, who is an experienced sailor, will be the captain of the 55ft yacht, but that he has a lot to learn. He said: ‘The thing is I don’t know how to sail. So, I’ve been spending the last few months learning to sail a boat. I might crash it into a dock or something. We’ll see how it goes. ‘We’ve done all sorts of things. We did a survival course in a wave tank where they throw you in, put the waves on and turn the lights out. ‘There are rain machines and you’ve got to try and get into a life raft and other kinds of scary scenarios. ‘But they’re good - they teach you the importance of wearing your life jacket and not falling off the boat.’ The trip will be filmed for a new sailing documentary called True Wind, which is being produced by the same team who made his Long Way motorbike trips with Charley Boorman. The Trainspotting star pictured during a 'sailor experience' with the Emirates Great Britain Sail GP Team McGregor was pictured on day one of the Mudabala New York Sail Grand Prix in New York in May McGregor with his childhood best friend Eric Strickland. The pair will sail from Oban, Argyll, to Rio De Janeiro on a restored 55ft yacht later this month McGregor said the idea for the trip came about as the pair discussed fixing up a boat Mr Strickland inherited from his father and which was damaged during lockdown. Speaking on US chat show Jimmy Kimmel Live, McGregor said: ‘When he found out, he was he was telling me how much money it was going to cost to restore this boat and he couldn’t find the right people to work on it. ‘So, I said to Eric, sort of as a joke, “What we should do is we should make a documentary. We’ll do the boat up and sail it across the Atlantic”. ‘And both of our eyes went, “Oh, so now we’re doing just that”.’ However, while the idea for the trip initially involved using Mr Strickland’s boat, it later emerged it was going to cost too much money to fix it. Instead, the team bought a 1988 55-foot oyster boat for just £1 that required far less work. McGregor said the other two crew members are Dave Alexanian, who is one of the producers from his Long Way motorbike documentaries, as well as a cameraman. Apart from the preparations the team has been making, McGregor revealed some of the living arrangements they will have during the adventure. He said: ‘We’ve got a cabin each. There’s four of us on it. ‘We’ve got one freezer, like a chest freezer, one fridge, and then under the floors there’s all of this space for cans of food and dried food and stuff. We’ll be fine.’ McGregor has taken on a number of other adventures in front of TV cameras before. He did four series of the Long Way motorcycle expedition series with Mr Boorman. There is already a book planned alongside True Wind about the 5,000 mile journey. It has not been stated what channel or streaming platform will show the new series.