Marion – Maiden

Striking yet another blow showing women make darn good sailors, Marion's choice of Maiden was ideal. The story of how an all woman crew took a 65 foot ketch around the world in a yacht race and won several legs of the race was truly inspiring. It was Bob Fisher, who wrote for various yachting magazines and newspapers on sailing, who had dismissed their efforts as just a “bunch of smart tarts” but when they won a leg of the race he changed it to  “a bunch of fast smart tarts” which strangely appealed to Tracey Edwards.  It also showed how Tracey had overcome issues in her life to triumph at the end through sheer determination.

Certainly a film worth watching.

Roger – The life aquatic

This is an adventure film (or a comedy or a drama or all three). There was an echo of Moby Dick as the lead character goes to kill the “Jaguar shark” which ate his best friend.  Roger had liked the film and thoroughly recommended it, possibly as the humour was off the wall and the whole movie was a little strange and thought-provoking and worked on several levels. It apparently has a cult following and could well be one to watch especially when you can concentrate on following a convoluted plot.

Phil – Captain Ron

The anarchic Captain Ron movie would obviously have appealed to Phil as especially would the misadventures of the family encountering sailing for the first time.  Phil clearly had experienced similar mishaps himself and seemed to relish watching the anchor and line go over the side without being secured.  As if such a thing could ever happen to any member of the club!

After numerous misadventures in cruising around the Caribbean, Ron decides the “hero” of the film is undervalued by his family and so feigns sickness, leaving the hero to show just what he can do.  Needless to say he rises to the challenge. 

The finale, where the family have outgrown Captain Ron and decide they like the life and carry on sailing : turning the boat round, under sail in the marina and setting off again, while in the distance a smartened up Ron is now doing the hard sell of himself on an inexperienced  couple who have a motor boat.

Jackie – All is lost

A desperate film with Robert Redford as the only actor, adrift in a life-raft after striking a container and holing and sinking his yacht.  Jackie enthused about Robert Redford in his early days suggesting he remained pretty attractive now; and it was clear if he had wanted company in his raft he would not have been short of volunteers, the Commodore among them! The presentation by Jackie majored on Redford but as the only actor in the whole film it was understandable. The clip showed how Redford was rescued at the very end but kept you in suspense with numerous setbacks and disasters along the way. Not one for the nervous who think the boat is going to sink while they cross the Solent.

Richard – Mutiny on the Bounty

Richard's chosen excerpts combined sex and violence.  The violence, which made many wince, occurred when Trevor Howard as Bligh insisted on keel hauling a sailor (which I had always thought meant being pulled under the boat one side and up on the other, but here seemed to be from bow to stern). The suffering from scraping along the barnacles would have been horrendous but fortunately he was eaten by a shark before it went on too long. 

Richard then turned to the pleasanter view of a throng of hula hula girls hula hu-ing for all they were worth to the evident enjoyment of the cast (who presumably were being paid to show enjoyment) and most of the audience who were showing similar enjoyment without being paid a penny.

A near factual film of strong contrasts and worth following up for the details of the actual incident, as Bligh had subsequently sailed a 20 foot open boat some 3000+ miles for rescue.  A rare feat of seamanship.