Film about engineless sailing
A project to shoot a 12mm movie about engineless sailing will go ahead after it won a UK Arts Council grant. Wind, Tide and Oar will premiere in 2024 on the Cutty Sark in Greenwich. The launch will be followed by “a 10-week, sail-powered, screening voyage” onboard the Thames sailing barge Blue Mermaid (pictured below), which is operated by the Sea-Change Sailing Trust. Around 120 young people and adult trainees will join as crew to deliver the barge to English ports, where the public will be invited onboard for screenings. As well as Blue Mermaid, the film will feature the ketch Birubi, Looe lugger Guide Me, ga-rigged Defiance, Leigh bawley Helen & Violet and Essex smack Fairy. Director Huw Wahl, who is making the film with sailor Rose Ravetz, describes the project as “an artists’ documentary film that will explore the absorbed attention and artistry of engineless sailing”. windtideandoar.com