Imagery is powerful stuff

The inconvenience of winter proved to be a strong motivator for attending the Thistle Midwinters West last week, with 8 of the top ten crossing state lines to attend the event in San Diego, CA. Among the participants was a young family from Phoenix, who took this opportunity to compete against a national caliber fleet, with four of the top five from last year’s nationals in attendance. This family was new to the sport, but after growing up near the sailing community of Toledo, OH, it wasn’t until the move to the Arizona desert before the sailing bug fully bit. What did it take? While the interest in sailing was there, it wasn’t until viewing the movie “WIND” when they decided to take the steps to get involved in the sport.

How many kids take up baseball because they want to be like the guy they watched hit the homerun? How about folks go out into the street at half-time to throw the football, all jacked up after watching the game in HD? Imagery is powerful stuff. The television coverage from the 1987 America’s Cup set new standards, bringing us onboard to experience the feisty conditions of Fremantle, Australia that served as the backdrop for Dennis Conner’s stunning victory against the Kookaburra III team. It was powerful stuff, and countless stories were heard in how those shows were largely responsible for a period of growth in our sport.

If you are a skier (or boarder), attending the Warren Miller ski movies in the fall is how you get fired up to start planning your next trip. When I watched this year’s film, ‘Playground’, I kept thinking about how sailing could do the same thing. This film was eye candy for folks who held an interest in the sport, or were just curious what it was all about. The movie had the same formula we often see in the Scuttlebutt VIDEOS OF THE WEEK – quick editing, pounding music, exciting footage, and humor. Following the movie, which charges premium prices and shows in smaller community theaters, the audience was clearly jacked up.

We eagerly await the release of "Morning Light", the movie by Roy E. Disney and Pacific High Productions that chronicles one of the youngest crew ever to compete in the Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii, with footage also including crew selection and training. The current release date for the movie by Walt Disney Studios is October 17, 2008, and we are hopeful that this movie provides the kind of interest that gets folks off the couch, and out on the water.

Movie trailer for Playground: