Tom Cunliffe Products

Yachting Monthly's Expert Sailing Skills

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

This book is a selection of the articles that have appeared over the years in Yachting Monthly under the title ‘Expert on Board’.

They feature everything from fixing an engine to recovering a casualty from the water.

Contents include:

Rafting up, Mooring stern-to, Negotiating locks, Anchoring under sail, Radar, AIS, Climbing a Mast, Braidline splicing, Cruising Shutes, Taking a Tow, Sailing with your Partner, and How to Keep Your Crew Happy! A4 format with 179 pages of highly illustrated step-by-step photographs.

Sailing, Yachts and Yarns

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

Sailing, Yachts and Yarns is a collection of nautical wit and wisdom culled from my columns over the years in Yachting Monthly magazine. There's a lively mix of anecdote, opinion and instruction. It covers anything from the sort of tale you'd hear in the pub to lessons I learned while crossing the Atlantic in an engineless gaffer with only the stars to guide. I also manage to get in a few rants about the red tape and rules that are beginning to infringe the freedom of our seas. It's a book for dipping into. "Nobody captures the magic of sail or conveys the lessons of seamanship like Tom. He's one of sailing's great raconteurs." David Glenn, Editor, Yachting World

BOATS THAT BUILT BRITAIN

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

NEW! Blue Bird-Seven Decades at Sea

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

In 1938, Sir Malcolm Campbell, the greatest speed ace of the 1930s and one of the outstanding characters of the period, commissioned the 100-ft ocean-going motor yacht Blue Bird to go digging for buried treasure in the Pacific. War scuppered the hero's plans and his yacht ended up ferrying troops off the Dunkirk beaches in the fire-storm of 1940. The story of her next seven decades reflects the changing of the eras: periods of calm with the Renault family are followed by hard times and transatlantic adventures. Finally, the little ship has one of those strokes of luck the sea is always ready to serve up to those prepared to grab them. She was acquired by Tara Getty, whose vision saw through the shabbiness to the classic she could once again become. Blue Bird's 3-year restoration earned her top honours at the superyacht awards and Kos' images of the supremely challenging process of converting the tight confines of a 1930s vessel into a pocket superyacht are remarkable. Cunliffe rattles the tale along with characteristic pace and salty humour, lifting this lovely book far beyond the run of 'coffee-table' works about beautiful yachts.

200 Skipper's Tips

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

These are the best of the Skipper's Tips from the pages of Yachting Monthly magazine. The book is perfect for dipping into while waiting for the bus, at the dentist's, or in the 'small room'. In it, you'll find hints on how to judge distance at sea, tell if the tide has turned, how to steer clear of rocks and ensure you come alongside in style - the sort of practical tips that don't feature in the syllabus of yachting qualifications.

The book is organised into the following categories:

• Seamanship

• Navigation

• Safety

• Boat handling

• Ropes and knots

• Life on board

Topsail and Battleaxe

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

A rollicking read that traces a voyage made to Newfoundland in my 1911 pilot cutter, Hirta, via Norway, Iceland and the Greenland Sea. My crew are a vivid reflection of the Viking pirates and colonists who made the same voyage a thousand years previously. If you've read Chris Stewart's new book, 'Three ways to capsize a boat', you'll want to read this. Chris, author of best-selling lifestyle book, 'Driving over Lemons' was one of the reprobates on the trip. The story follows the Norsemen and women with their trials and tribulations as closely as it does our own. Thus, you get two tales for the price of one. The reader joins my own group of 'chancers' hacking westwards into the teeth of some awesome weather in a very old boat indeed, while enjoying a full-blooded account of the activities of the 'rape and pillage' boys based on the Icelandic Sagas.

Good vibrations

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

A few years ago, I found myself between boats and hence well in funds, so my wife Roz and I decided to blow some of it while we could. I’d been itching to ride a Harley-Davidson across America for years, but a life at sea had restricted my US travels to the coasts. Now it was the High Plains or bust. Inconveniently, Roz had never even sat on a bike. I didn’t fancy a passenger for twelve thousand miles, and she couldn’t face clinging to me for a hundred days, so she borrowed an ancient 100cc Suzuki and made it to the Driving Test centre on her forty-fifth birthday. To her own surprise, she passed. The following morning we flew to Baltimore and she bought a yellow 883 ‘Sportster’, all leather tassels, sexy buckhorn bars and straight-through pipes. It met my Soft-tail off the ship from Southampton and we were away. The rest of the trip is about me having an improbably exciting time while Roz reached a truce with the massive reality of the US road-burner. The ride of a lifetime was soon transformed into a pilgrimage in search of the American people who the Harleys dragged from under stones, off mountainsides, out of the swamps and the prairie dust. They looked after us, rode with us, worked with us, filled us with drink, took us to church on Sunday and to the cleaners at the poker table. A few threatened us. Most treated us like royalty. The scenery was phenomenal, but it is the folks I’ll remember - and riding Death Valley with an engine air-cooled by wind 35 degrees hotter than my blood. Best selling book at the 2001 London Boat Show!' - Kelvin Hughes Four colour illustrations plus map. 381 pages

Tom Cunliffe Ropework, Knots and Splices DVD

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

A sailor’s worst nightmare is forgetting which knot to use or how to make it when the pressure’s on. I've seen people hesitate to buy this DVD because they think they know how to tie a bowline. But can you honestly say you can do it in the dark with your hands behind your back? I shot this DVD aboard my gaff cutter where there is what feels like a mile of rope. I take a look at all the everyday knots in the modern seaman’s folio and throw in one or two rarer birds to add to the fun. There are also chapters about coiling and stowing. I even shanghai my old pal, Peter Martin, the great rigger, to walk us through the essentials of splicing. Rope is lovely stuff. Properly managed, it reflects on the sort of seaman you are. Contents

Everything today's sailor needs to know about rope
State of the art and traditional techniques
Bowlines, sheet bends and Stopper knots
Turns and hitches
Splices unveiled by expert rigger Peter Martin
Coiling and Stowing
Securing to posts and winch barrels
Docklines and how to secure them
Whipping
Light lines and hefty rope
The use and abuse of jammers

Running time 95 minutes

RYA Coastal Skipper DVD

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

This film was shot back in the 1980s. This gives it a rather quaint short of charm, but make no mistake, the information is still relevant today. In it I put four prospective Coastal Skipper candidates through their paces. Great guys all. They are the stars of the DVD. Contents

Boat preparation
Yacht handling
Passage-making
Night sailing
Coping with adverse weather conditions

Running time: 1 hour 5 mins

The Electronic Yachtmaster

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

The Electronic Yachtmaster explores the safe use of electronics in small vessels under sail and power. I’ve integrated electronics with salty, time-honoured techniques to help you shape up with confidence if your boat’s wiring ever melts down. It was shot at sea from my chart table. Contents

Electronics in an integrated navigation plan
Position, datums and plotting with confidence
Electronic tidal heights
Using GPS to offset tidal streams
Safe use of Waypoints and Routes
Pleasures and pitfalls of Cross-Track Error
Different breeds of Electronic Chart
Maximising the Chart Plotter's potential
Electronics in Fog, with basic Radar option
Contingency plans for electronic melt-down
Choosing a Plotter

There is a North American version. Please contact me if you'd like to buy in this format. It has also been dubbed for a Russian version.

Complete Day Skipper 3rd Edition

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

A totally practical hands-on manual & very down-to-earth. This fully revised new edition has become required reading for all skippers in their early years. Contents

What's in a Boat
Moving the Boat
Beginning to sail as a skipper
Seamanship
Essential navigation theory and Practical Navigation
Arriving in port
Etiquette
Weather
Boat Handling
Fog
Emergencies and how to prevent them

'If you're going to take the course, this would be the perfect companion.' Sailing Today 'Having this book on board is like having an experienced hand beside you to help you through.' Shetland Times Illustrated with colour photographs and charts. 164 pages

Complete Day Skipper

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

Digital Exercises CD-ROM The publisher now only sells this in conjunction with the book The Complete Day Skipper. Sorry about this for all folks who want to purchase it separately. It's a case of 'Don't tell I, tell 'e!' This innovative CD-ROM uses a friendly, interactive style to test you and see if the lessons in the book have been understood. Animated solutions highlight the most likely mistakes and explain the correct procedures. Contents

Can you work out how deep the water should be to drop your anchor on a falling tide?
Will you be competent to bring a boat alongside in a strong stream?
Are you confident that you can reef a mainsail quickly?
Do you know how to raft up to another yacht without inconvenience or embarassment?
Are you sure what 'over the quarter' really means?

NEW! Complete Yachtmaster 7th ed.

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

It has been a bestseller since first publication and has established itself as the standard reference for Yachtmaster students as well as skippers of all levels of experience. In this fully revised seventh edition, Tom Cunliffe brings together all the essentials of modern cruising in one volume. Subjects include an analysis of what makes a good skipper, the theory and practice of sailing, seamanship, navigation including chart plotters and PCs, meteorology, heavy weather, yacht stability and coping with emergencies. It guides examination candidates as authoritatively and reassuringly through the RYA syllabus as a sea pilot bringing a ship to harbour. Required reading for all skippers whether on board or in the classroom. Contents

The Theory of Sailing
Boat handling under Sail and under Power
Ropes and ropework
Anchoring
Yacht engines
Heavy weather sailing
Charts, publications and chart-table tools
Tidal heights and streams
GPS and Radar
Passage planning
Pilotage
Man overboard and emergencies
Weather

‘A gem, distilled from decades of experience’ Yachting Monthly ‘Cunliffe’s competence and authority radiate from the pages... thoroughly recommended’ Little Ship Club 'There are all too few authors who not only know their subject but can write well about it, Tom Cunliffe is one’ Cruising

G36 RYA Manual Of Seamanship

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

Have you ever wondered how to organise a night-watch system, or what the advantage of setting a trysail is, or even how to set about going aloft? All the answers to these questions, and many more, are in this book. Don't be put off by the word 'manual', it's written in an easy, readable style. 'There can be few authors better qualified to write on this subject than Tom Cunliffe who has a lifetime not only of skippering yachts but also imparting those skills in a clear informative and inimitable style.' James Stevens RYA Training Manager and Chief Examiner

Pilots Vol. 2

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

Schooners & Open Boats of the European Pilots & Watermen The second volume of a truly remarkable proposed 3-volume reference work describing the world's pilot vessels during the age of sail and oar, and the men who crewed them, in huge detail - massively researched and sumptuously illustrated. Unfortunately, the first volume is out of print and the third never saw the light of day as the publisher folded. This volume describes the pilot schooners and the open boats of the European pilots . Contents

Pilot schooners from Europe: German North Sea coast, the Netherlands, Belgium, Dunkerque, Portugal
British small craft such as the Deal Luggers, East Anglian yawls, the Humber dusters, the northeast pilot cobles, the Scottish vessels, Mersey gigs and the Irish small craft
Hooghly brigs of Calcutta

Lavishly illustrated with fine paintings, photographs and line drawings. Large format. 347 pages 'If you were on a desert island, this book would keep you enjoyably occupied until the longed--for pilot cutter came along and rescued you!'

Rocks and Rivers

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

A Bird's-Eye View of the West Country The South coasts of Devon and Cornwall are the first or the last sighting many mariner has of England. Whether running up-channel, bound east for London and Northern Europe, or beating ever westwards out into the stormy Atlantic, these shores have been a haven, a guide and occasionally, the source of ruin. All we who have made the traverse or have sought shelter in the multitude of harbours between Portland Bill and the Isles of Scilly, have had to carry out our pilotage from the decks of a vessel of some sort. How often we have longed for the wings of a sea eagle, to see what we cannot see. Powered flight has finally given us this chance, and Patrick Roach, the maestro of the airbourne camera has so excelled himself with this series of images that our mutual friend the publisher has had little choice but to bind us into one volume to share the wonders he has revealed. Contents

Harbour views from the River Exe to the Bishop Rock

Paperback 48 pages

Shell Channel Pilot 6th Edition

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

This is the sixth Imray edition and covers the South Coast of England, the North Coast of France and the Channel Islands. This time, the text has been organised into sections. Each is prefaced by passage notes which are more comprehensive than previously, lifting the work far above any simple harbour guide. Every harbour has a handy information box where you can find tidal information, streams, depths, contact details and difficulty of entry. Best of all remain the pilotage notes, the plans, the aerial and approach shots for harbours great and obscure, plus frank remarks about shoreside facilities. The net result is unique - rigorous navigation advice to pilot you safely through the rocks, spiced with a light touch guaranteed to raise a salty chuckle on winter evenings while you plan next summer's voyaging. Contents

Over 120 ports
Customs and formalities
Tidal stream diagrams
Firing ranges
Shipping lanes
Public holidays in UK and France
Weather
Wildlife
Headlands
Port directions and facilities
Chart information
Ferry information

Hardback. Full colour photographs and harbour plans. 402 pages

Ocean Sailing

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

It could be said that the British RYA Ocean Yachtmaster Syllabus contains all anyone who speaks English needs to make the jump from coastal passagemaking to worldwide cruising. Certainly, with the exception of detailed instruction regarding ice navigation, my own experience has borne this out. Ocean Sailing was put together as a concise guide to illuminate the RYA syllabus. As such it handles the theory and practice of navigation, weather, passage planning and a number of other associated topics. It does not set out to be a compendium of all you could ever want to know about deep-water seafaring. The book begins with a large section on celestial navigation which is, to all intents and purposes, my original text for the same publisher on that subject (see below), so don't buy both books. It goes on to discuss ocean weather, passage planning and making, plus the realistic use of GPS in an ocean context. Navigators coming to terms with 'astro' might be relieved to learn that maths was never my strong point. This vital area is therefore written from my own experience of navigating around the Atlantic in the days before GPS was heard of. Ten pages in, you already have your sextant in your hands. Thereafter, the practice marches hand in hand with a theoretical explanation based on as few numbers as possible. The publishers have done a fine job with full colour and a number of leading schools are recommending the book as a course companion. I hope Ocean Sailing helps you out. Contents

Celestial Navigation
Deep-water Meteorology including tropical revolving storms
Ocean Passage planning

Colour photographs and charts. Paperback 95 pages

Celestial Navigation 3rd ed.

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

Celestial navigation is the one of the oldest of the mariner's arts - and one of the most awe-inspiring. To guide a small boat across the trackless oceans using only a simple measuring device - the sextant - and the knowledge of the sun, moon and stars is a skill that borders on the magical. The book uses almost its entire content to cover the astro side of the RYA ocean syllabus. Equally relevant to the US-based student, this is a hands-on book for the beginner at sextant navigation. It assumes a sensible level of coastal navigation skills. Given these, a sextant, an almanac and a set of sight reduction tables, Celestial Navigation supplies all you need to find your way around the oceans in the age-old way using sun, stars and planets. Don't wait to begin practising until your GPS goes out the port-hole, though. Like any worthwhile skill, this most beautiful one of all demands more than a last-minute swot-up if you are to do it justice. Contents

How to use the sextant
Noon sight
Position lines and plotting
Sun sights
Planets, Moon and stars
Compass checking on the ocean
Great circle

Revised text, colour graphics, photographs and tables. 65 pages

Inshore Navigation 2nd Edition

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

The object of this book is to give sailors and motorboaters enough knowledge to navigate safely on short inshore poassages. It gets you on the water as soon as possible and keeps you out of trouble while you learn the essentials. All the time-honoured navigational concepts are covered, but this modern book is based on the assumption that you will be using GPS and possibly an electronic chart plotter too. If you wanted to sail without either, all you need is here, but I recognise that time moves on and this book embraces the new ways with enthusiasm. It's heavily illustrated which suits the modern market down to a tee. Contents:

The ins and outs of charts and almanacs
The magnetic compass and plotting instruments
Dead reckoning
Man-made aids to navigation
Pilotage
Tides
EPs and the traditional fix
Electronic chart plotter
Passage planning

Colour graphics, photographs and chart illustrations. Compact paperback of 120 pages

Coastal and Offshore Navigation

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

Coastal and Offshore Navigation 3rd Edition is designed to raise the game of a basic inshore pilot to a fully fledged offshore navigator capable of handling any passage short of an ocean crossing. The book follows on from its companion work Inshore Navigation. Contents:

A review of the basic arts of navigation
How to predict the tide - and make it work for you
How to keep a realistic check on your navigational accuracy & modify your tactics accordingly
Safe and constructive use of electronic aids to navigation
Passage planning for an enjoyable, satisfying voyage
Passage making: a systematic, no-nonsense approach.

Paperback with colour photographs, chart illustrations and readouts from electronic instruments. 160 pages in a compact volume

Heavy Weather Cruising

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

Many sailors dread the day when they find themselves caught out at sea in a gale. But if you are well prepared and know what to do, there is no reason why heavy weather should be a nightmare. I wrote this as a sort of 'pocket book' for practical cruising sailors. Much of the material considers the realities of bad weather on coastal passages in ordinary boats, but those looking to wider horizons will find plenty to help cope with breaking waves and high winds far out at sea where land is not an issue. The concise section on yacht stability demystifies the business of why yachts occasionally fall over, and might be considered required reading for all skippers. Contents

Making the boat seaworthy
Yacht stability
Avoiding the worst weather
Handling the boat and looking after the crew
How to deal with emergencies ranging from dismasting to man overboard
How to collaborate with the Air and Sea Rescue Services
How to survive in a liferaft

Full of graphics and photographs. The book has not been properly updated since first published in 1988, so I'm afraid it's still black and white, but now that Wiley have taken over Fernhurst Books, I'm hoping to burst into full colour soon. 93 pages

Boat Handling Under Sail & Power

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

Don't be misled by the title. This book is for sailing boats only - under sail and power. Bill and I will in all probability earn less from the royalties on this work than we have spent making good the results of our own pitiful manoeuvres over the years. Although the yachts we sail are totally different - one a light-weight flyer, the other a heavy gaff cutter - we agree on the basics of boat handling. This book will help you handle your yacht smoothly, safely & without fuss. Contents

How to assess your boat's individual handling characteristics
How to read the wind and stream
How to cope when the engine fails
Manoeuvring under sail
How to recognise the impossible manoeuvre - and avoid attempting it
How to cope with trick situations without a family row

Published by Fernhurst in 1995 which explains why it is in black and white. Don't be fooled by the old-fashioned look, it is solid gold. The book is still a winner, but don't buy it if your boat is blessed with a bow thruster. Until it's updated, they will not be covered. Full of photographs and graphics. 95 pages

Hand, Reef and Steer

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

A beautifully illustrated text book on sailing gaff-rigged craft, published by Adlard Coles. Even if gaffers aren't your 'bag', any sailor must surely be fascinated by the traditional boats we see more and more. Numerous fine replicas are now swelling the fleet of originals, and the number of owners building new cruising yachts with the old rig is quietly increasing. For most of my life, I've had connections with gaffers. I've crossed oceans in them, raced them, loved them, cursed them, then gone out and bought bigger ones. They can be absolute bears to sail, or they can be surprisingly easy. Much depends on you, but in either case the emotional rewards of getting it right are enormous. Hand Reef and Steer is not a dry statement of every kind of gaffer, it is a hands-on manual of how to survive gaff rig and to glory in getting it right. It can help you make a cutter point higher, or a schooner reach faster, and even if you never intend to sail either, it will certainly enrich your understanding. By the way, the title is a quote from a long-forgotten definition of a proper seaman - 'handing a sail' is taking it in - and a sailor of calibre was said to be able to 'hand, reef and steer'. Winner of The Best Book of the Sea Award Contents

Setting up the rig
Sail handling skills
Heavy and light air sailing
Manoeuvring a long-keeled boat and dealing with heavy displacement
Losing way, scandalizing and steering with sail
Topsails, watersails, single-luff spinnakers and fisherman staysails

Illustrated with colour photographs and water-colour sketches of the rig Paperback 174 pages

La Nioulargue

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

To Tom Nitsch coming from the Baltic in the early 1980s, the Mediterranean scene was like an electric shock. The golden age of yachting had returned with a vengeance - enormous vessels, marvellous craftsmanship and large crews. A world which everyone thought was dead forever. By the time Tom showed up with his camera and I arrived to crew aboard one of the boats, La Nioulargue regatta was already the annual high-spot of this renaissance, featuring spectacular craft from the drawing boards of Fife, Nicolson, Alden, Stephens, Herreshoff and many others. These were great days, when the new excitement of it all filled every fibre of deckhands and spectators alike. All present agreed that what was happening was unique and very precious. It was a celebration of cultural values, demonstrating the positive potential of humanity in one of the few areas where art and utility can combine forces. In short, it was magic! The film nobly recaptures all this, introducing the viewer to the yachts, their aesthetics, the competition, the crews, and to the 'après-sail' activities of St. Tropez. You are there, sitting in a waterfront cafe-chair, a part of these scenes from another era .... This film won Silver at Houston World Fest awards in 1993.

The Creation of Alithia

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

When a family decided to embark on a circumnavigation aboard a new high performance cruiser, the venture offered a remarkable opportunity to study modern developments in yacht building in a unique historical setting. This superyacht project brought the camera to venues all around the world to meet the team formed by Jens Cornelsen - Abeking and Rasmussen in Hamburg the builders, naval architect Bill Tripp in Connecticut, interior designer Andrew Winch in London, sail making from North in the US and Denmark. The carbon mast is by Marten Spars in New Zealand, where we finally see ALITHIA racing during the Millennium Cup. The Creation of Alithia won the Platinum Award at the WorldFest in Houston 2004

Robbe and Berking Classics

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

The Baltic annual Classic Yacht Festival calendar has become a tight one since the late 1990s. Flensburg Fjord offers the ideal location for one of the highlights of the German events, The 'Robbe & Berking Classics'. Numerous exotic guests show up from the Med, England and the USA, which makes for a lot of international communication but never detracts from the essentially family atmosphere of what remains at its heart a friendly meeting. The film makes a point of showing the 'fun' aspects of the event, which is a sort of cross between La Nioulargue and an 'Old Gaffers' festival. This is a fascinating movie made in Tom Nitsch's own back yard.

Tracks of Borkumriff IV

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

If I have a favourite among Tom Nitsch's movies, I guess this is it. An unusually knowledgeable owner chooses a legendary yard to build his vision to specifications defined by an outstanding team of naval architects and interior designers, who describe their working together as if they were involved in a family business. After the design, build and the almost ethereal delivery across Holland have been described, the yacht sails into the bay of Gloucester, following the tracks of schooner history up the East Coast of the U.S.A. It is as if a magical circle has been completed: a spirit has been discovered alive and well which seems to linger on from the schooner heydays, reflecting the enthusiasm behind BORKUMRIFF IV. Tracks of Borkumriff IV won the Gold Remi Award at the WorldFest, Houston 2004 Filmed by Tom Nitsch. Narrative by Tom Cunliffe

Styles and Trials

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

Tom's camera recorded a number of very different yachting projects in 2001- 2003. They represented refreshingly different styles of yachts and building methods. In particular, they revealed the contrasting ways the various craft are sailed and enjoyed during the sea-trials. This film is built up from all of them to deliver a unique insight into the world of the superyacht. Each project is groundbreaking in its own way. We wrote the narration to guide you subjectively through this catalogue of wonders as if you had a glass of wine in your hand. Filmed by Tom Nitsch Narrated by Tom Cunliffe

The Return of The Lady Anne

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

One of the great highlights of yachting in the early 1900s was the racing of craft built to the new 15 metre rule. Nineteen had originally hit the starting line, including the King of Spain's Fife Tuiga, but only a very few survived to recent times. Tom Nitsch was in the 'Fairlie Restorations' yard during the making of 'Enchanted By The Dragon' and he watched as the finishing touches were applied with an adze to the new keel for The Lady Anne. The owner and the skipper agreed to have him film the whole process of her return to original. She was launched in 1999 to race against her old rival Tuiga in the Mediterranean. The whole story is filmed here - crew, builders, researchers, sailors and, of course, the sleeping beauty herself being kissed awake ..... by more than one prince ..... The Return of The Lady Anne won the Gold Special Jury Award at the WorldFest, Houston 2001 Filmed by Tom Nitsch Narrated by Tom Cunliffe

Enchanted by the Dragon

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

In the grey summer of 1998, the renaissance of the Classics brought a fleet of yachts back to the Clyde near Glasgow where they had been designed and built by the Fife dynasty - some of them almost 100 years ago. They are still considered to be the most beautiful yachts ever produced. Lance Lee, the famous American guru, got it right when he said they represent functional art. The first meeting of the Fife yachts in 1998 at the place where they were originally built offered an unusual opportunity to record and recall the story of these sailing masterpieces, as well as their painstaking restoration by people committed to holding on to the values of their origins - immaculate, beautiful, powerful, fast, seaworthy and strong enough to stand the tests of tempests. Enchanted by the Dragon won the Gold Special Jury Award at the WorldFest, Houston 1999 Filmed by Tom Nitsch Narrated by Tom Cunliffe

Atlantic Challenge

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

In 1997 the re-run of the first official Transatlantic Race of 1905 left no doubt that the 'Golden Age' of sailing had returned. This was the best opportunity possible to establish the way this film series can combine current events with the history of yachting. Perhaps the most interesting element was the participation of Adix, a yacht very close in size and rig to the three-masted schooner Atlantic which won the 1905 race in the record time of 12 days - 4 hours from New York to the Lizard in England. This was the great challenge for a fleet of the world's finest yachts to beat. The main camera was on board the Max Oertz schooner Aello whose skipper pointed out to his crew that this would not be a race around the cans. He was right. Aello lost her topmast and encountered more structural problems later on. The action includes footage shot on several other yachts, and the overall effect can only be described as spectacular. Atlantic Challenge won Gold Award at the WorldFest, Houston 1998 Filmed by Tom Nitsch Narrated by Tom Cunliffe

Athena - The Rebirth of Grandeur

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

The creation of the 295' three-masted schooner Athena at Royal Huisman Shipyard in Holland is a project that seems to point in opposite directions. Athena represents a rebirth of the grandeur of the glory-days from before World War I, while delivering a vivid spirit of moving on - finding new developments and levels of perfection for answering yachting's old questions: the search for speed, seaworthiness, style and quality. The film locates Athena in the stream of history in an entertaining way, emphasising the manner in which her designers and builder have brought the standards of the Golden Age to new heights. Filmed by Tom Nitsch Narrated by Tom Cunliffe

Sailors, Classics and the Walligator

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

From ´92 through ´95, Tom Nitsch was collecting material during various Mediterranean regattas. The result was an unconventional film with the classics in perfect counterpoint to 'push-button sailing' aboard the ultra-modern cruiser/racer Wallygator. Instead of a narration, this movie is built around a dialogue of sailors, skippers and owners generated from their remarks 'to camera'. Nitsch's genius at selecting music plays its part and the result is something not seen before in this genre - too 'avant garde' for TV - but it won gold at the world´s largest independent film festival in Houston and was declared 'Video of the Year' by the ”Kreuzerabteilung” of DSV. This homage to boats -old and new - and the men and women who sail them catches the spirit of the St.Tropez event, the ambience, the philosophies, from what it takes to handle these vessels to the visual joy and beauty of the spectacle.

The International Rule

Thu, 17 May 2012 22:30:29 +0000

The 'International Rule´ was created at a meeting in London in 1906 by all the leading sailing nations. It gave birth to the so-called `Metre Classes´ which could race internationally without a handicap system. Although the U.S. did not participate at the beginning, the formula became a tremendous success, creating beautiful, comparatively seaworthy yachts of thrilling performance. 100 years later the metre yachts are still very much in vogue: new boats are designed and built, spectacular fleets gather at the start line and their use for cruising is still popular. The film follows the development of the Rule while taking you aboard some stunning representatives on racetracks from the Baltic to the Mediterranean. Featured yachts include the 19-metre Fife gaff cutter Mariquita to the 6-metres and many others that are still generating great racing into the 21st century. Filmed by Tom Nitsch Narrated by Tom Cunliffe