Sailing a boat calls for quick action, a blending of feeling with the wind and water as well as with the very heart and soul of the boat itself. Sailing teaches alertness and courage, and gives in return a joyousness and peace that but few sports afford.
I did a few documentaries as co-director and cameraman. I started off shooting a film about the war in Rhodesia. Then I did a film about an 'around the world' yacht race with a friend, and we spent nine months on a yacht. The film was about how people get on in confined spaces under extreme stress.
The America's Cup World Series was created in 2011, with an eye toward conjuring more off-cycle interest and marketing opportunities. It coincided with the ascent of foiling catamarans, a type of boat that goes faster and looks almost Photoshopped, the way it practically floats in air when it races.
I would love to be a grinder on some race yacht.
I am not a yachting person, by nature, but I have just enough experience on the sea under sail to feel a certain nostalgia for it when I see a big white racing yacht heeled over at cruising speed on the ocean, and I can still tie a mean bowline knot on just about anything in less than 10 seconds.
Yachting may call to mind champagne flutes and seersucker, but danger and risk have always been a part of the America's Cup.
Sailing became one of the mainstreams of my life. I suppose my father was an influence. I remember seeing a photo of him at home sailing a big boat to Bermuda in his 20s. I still have it.
Dennis Conner is Pete Rose in deck shoes.
My wife's an Australian and a very competitive lady, and she wants to sail in Sydney-Hobart. I say, 'We have the boat, do as you wish.' I'll let her run the show.
In typical sailing races a long time ago, you'd come in and go out, and the first thing you'd do is probably have a cold beer. The first thing we do now is have a protein shake and our recovery drink.
I come from the 49er, where there is a high error rate in the sailing but the best sailor still wins, and that's why I'm attracted to these kind of boats.
I think Malta is great for a song. It's got very nice and narrow roads with beaches. So if you personally ask me, I would shoot action there. It can be very exciting since there's water all around and there can be boat chases. Even travel films like 'Before Sunset' can be shot there.
The fact is, an America's Cup team is more than a sailing team. It's anywhere from sort of 80 to upward of 100 people; of designers, engineers, boat builders, an incredible group of people, and there are a lot of nationalities in New Zealand's team.
My family had a membership to the Riverside Yacht Club where my brother, Sandy, learned to sail, and I competed in local swim races. My sister, Marcia, became a competitive springboard diver, and my brother excelled in water polo.
I'm a big yachting fan.
Yachts are job creators.
