Sailing Races

Sailing Races
90 minutes - $24.95

This DVD includes the three programs described below.

Straight of Georgia Race
30 minutes - 1976

Welcome aboard the 12-meter sailboat WEATHERLY, winner of the 1962 America's Cup, as she competes in the 1976 "Strait of Georgia Classic" between the mainland and Vancouver Island.
Once used as a training vessel for the merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, she also served as a sparring partner in the 1967 and 1970 America's Cup trials. The WEATHERLY gained lasting fame as underdog winner against the GRETEL in the America's Cup trials.

Here's an excerpt from the show by writer/narrator Don McCune: “67 feet overall, her slender racing lines topped by an 89-foot mast, the WEATHERLY represents what was once considered the ultimate in offshore racing. For the WEATHERLY, the race marked a return to the past, and an opportunity to relive again that which she was born to do. JOLI had started well. The 61-FOOT C&C owned by Bill Neimi was faster in light air and also faster on the wind and far more youthful than her veteran rival. Now, she led the pace. Yet the WEATHERLY had faced similar odds before. As an America's Cup defender, she had cut her teeth in big-boat competition. At the end of the first hour, JOLI was already a half-hour ahead of the fleet. Barring any sudden windshifts she would be difficult to overtake. Rounding the Sisters Islands, JOLI made her first mistake.” Originally aired under the KOMO title “WEATHERLY”.

Swiftsure Race
30 minutes - 1971

Exciting foul-weather footage captures the most demanding of all northwest sailboat races, the 136-mile Swiftsure Classic, from Victoria, B.C. to the Swiftsure Banks and return, across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Aerial footage of the roughest waters in the world shows boats heeled over so far the entire keel is visible! Exciting foul weather footage as more than 150 sailboats leave Victoria in 40 mph winds.

Here's an excerpt from the program by writer/narrator Don McCune: “We didn't know it at the time, but rough seas had already played havoc with the starting lineup of the race. The first mast fell within minutes after the starting gun, and others followed. From the deck, we could see the tide rip-roaring off Race Rocks. There's always some rip tide there even on a calm day, but this was the meanest we had ever seen: Ten feet high and ten feet apart! Just before they hit, the skipper gave the order to ease the sheets to run the boat off a bit so it wouldn't be slamming directly into the chop. But the strain was too much for the wooden spreader, and the tip broke.” Originally aired under the KOMO title “Swiftsure”.

Hobie Cat Race
30 minutes - 1975

What began as a windless excursion in the 1974 Can-Am, from Port Angeles, Washington to Victoria, B.C., ended in a race for survival! Unexpected winds gusting up to 85 mph surprised the Hobie Cats in their round-trip race across the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Here's an excerpt from the show by writer/narrator Don McCune: “Looking back, it seemed like a set-up right from the start, a typical ploy on the part of the Strait of Juan de Fuca: Benign one minute, and blasting you out of the water the next! But starting out, there was no way of knowing, and by the time they did, it was too late. Out of the 12 boats that started, only six finished. Three were set adrift, two were towed to Victoria and one was towed to Port Angeles!” This spectacular footage of these catamarans was chosen for national distribution by the Hobie Cat Company.
Originally aired under the KOMO title “Fly, Hobie, Fly."