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Sunday, January 28, 2007
Isle-trained crew sets sail on film project
By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Remind Steve Manson what all of this has to do with
sailing. That's Manson, a 22- year-old sailing
instructor from Baltimore, shuffling sideways from wall
to wall with a thick elastic band tethering his legs
together. That's a determined Manson heading back
the other way now, looking less like Dennis Conner
than an arthritic crab.
Explain to 20-year-old Australian Jeremy Wilmot,
inheritor of a rich family tradition of professional
sailing, how catching and tapping a basketball off a
backboard applies to conquering the high seas.
And, please, spell out for 18-year-old Punahou
student Mark Towill how standing on a balance ball
and throwing medicine balls back and forth is going to
help the youngest crew ever entered to win in the
prestigious Transpacific Yacht Race — while carving
a niche in cinematic history, to boot.
Culled from a field of nearly 540 applicants from
around the country, Manson, Wilmot, Towill and a
dozen other young sailors are participating in an
ambitious and — filmmakers hope — inspiring
documentary project spearheaded by inveterate sailor
and frequent Hawai'i visitor Roy E. Disney. Yeah,
Disney, nephew of Walt.
The crew members, ages 18 to 22, were in Hawai'i
this month for two weeks of intensive training in
preparation for the 2,225-mile biennial Transpac race,
which starts July 9 in Los Angeles and wraps up in
Honolulu more than a week later. Their experiences in
coming together for the event are being captured for
"Morning Light," a full-length documentary film —
being made by Disney's Pacific High Productions in
association with Disney Studios — tentatively
scheduled for release early next year.
Filmmakers Disney and Leslie DeMeuse, both
Transpac veterans, are co- producing the film. Mark
Monroe ("Beyond the Glory") directs.
In addition to taking part in an intensive, three-day
safety program (required for certification) the crew
spent its time in Hono-lulu getting acquainted with
their 52- foot racing boat, the Morning Light, and
enjoying the grueling hospitality of 24 Hour Fitness
trainer Janell Petalver.
It was Petalver, an accomplished triathlete, who put
together customized workout regimens for each of her
charges, designed to allow each sailor to handle the
rigors of a variety of onboard assignments, be it the
quick, athletic movements of a bowman to the power-
based duties of a grinder, who cranks the big winches
that trim the sails.
"The training has been really tough," says Wilmot,
who has been sailing since he was 5. "But we all
enjoy it because we all understand what we want to
achieve."
At an average age of 21.2 years — a year below that
of any other crew to attempt the race — the Morning
Light crew will be sailing against the competitive
winds.
The team's 13 men and two women, hailing from all
corners of the nation, have just four monthly training
sessions to hone their skills and coalesce as a unit.
"Where we're at right now, we're still melding
together," says Wilmot. "Not everybody comes with
the same experience, but each day someone
surprises me with what they can do."
INSPIRING NEW SAILORS
DeMeuse, an Emmy-winning producer while at ESPN,
first participated in the Transpac in 1973 at the age of
15.
Disney entered for the first time two years later and
will participate in his 16th Transpac in July, aboard his
boat Pyewacket.
"It's a different event every year," Disney said. "Some
years, it can be totally weird. No two waves are alike,
no two puffs of wind are alike. The race is moment to
moment."
Disney and DeMeuse said they hope the film will help
dispel some common misperceptions about sailing,
while at the same time inspiring a new generation of
sailors to embrace the ocean as a teacher.
"It's a sport that requires tremendous physical and
mental endurance, and it can have a huge impact on
young people's lives," DeMeuse said. "It's a
condensed version of life — how to get along with
people, how to deal with adversity. You can't just walk
off a boat. If something goes wrong, you have to
resolve it.
"It changed my life, and I've found myself repeatedly
going back to that experience," she said. "I never
realized it would have such an impact on my life, but
it has. Rising to the challenge, accepting others and
accepting differences not as weaknesses but as
strengths — these things make you a better human
being."
DAYS OF RIGOR AT SEA
Veterans describe the race as four hours of bench-
pressing followed by four hours of fitful sleep, over and
over and over again, for 10 days. And that's if the
sailors are lucky. Disney recalls the 1979 race, when
difficult conditions left him and his crew out on the
ocean for 17 days.
Thanks to Disney, the crew is learning at the feet of
some of the best sailors in the world, including boat
managers Dave Tank and Jim Slaughter, sailing
manager (and Olympic gold medalist) Robbie Haines,
premier navigator Stan Honey and off-shore sailing
coach Ralf Steitz.
Come race day, however, the crew will be on its own.
"When we shove them off, that'll be the scariest
moment," DeMeuse says, laughing. "We've got a lot
of mother hens around here."
A 17-person production crew has been following the
team since the final round of cuts last November and
will continue to track them through training to the race
itself.
"It was intimidating for about the first five minutes,"
Clark said. "But after that, it was just motivational. No
one wants to look bad on camera."
Disney and DeMeuse said they have no idea how the
story will unfold. They are adamant, however, that
nothing be predetermined or contrived. To that end,
and for safety's sake, they resisted the temptation to
orchestrate drama by selecting sailors whose
personalities would likely conflict. Rather, they hand-
picked applicants who would be able to subvert their
egos for the sake of the team.
"We were looking for experience first, but a lot of it
was very subjective, and we wanted to find people
with character," DeMeuse said. "There were some
with little or no experience but great character and a
willingness to learn."
"This isn't like reality TV," said team member Chris
Clark, 21. "The only way to survive is absolute
harmony."
Disney said he also hopes that the film will dispel the
myth that sailing is restricted to affluent white people.
"Yachting is seen as a white-bread, rich-man's sport,"
Disney said. "That may be true of the owners, but not
the crews. There is a very diverse mix of people that
participate."
LATE BLOOMER
Many of the crew members were born into the sailing
life, gaining their sea legs almost as soon as they
could walk. And then there's Manson, who, like many
from his Baltimore neighborhood, grew up around the
water without ever experiencing its wonders.
"The water is too dirty to swim in," Manson said, "and
unless you know someone, it's difficult for a city kid to
get on the water."
It wasn't until he applied to the Downtown Sailing
Center, a summer program that teaches sailing to
teenagers from impoverished urban areas, that
Manson heard the siren call. He quickly came to love
the sense of freedom, the ability to separate himself
from the drudgery of his day-to-day world.
Manson returned the next summer to earn
certification as a sailing instructor. Now on staff at the
center, he shares his knowledge and his passion with
other Baltimore kids.
He admits to feeling the added pressure of
representing not just his community, but black
Americans in general in a sport in which they
continue to be underrepresented.
"My folks at home said, 'You're going to represent the
whole African-American community,' " he said. "But
I'm just going to take it one step at a time and let
things fall into place. I'm not out here trying to make
anything out of it, but if more African-American or
urban kids see this and want to sail, that's fine.
"I just want to encourage them to go out and do
whatever they want to do, whatever they're interested
in, no matter what color they are," he said. "As long
as they don't hurt anybody, what's wrong with that?"
Manson said it took him a while to get used to the
quick, coordinated reactions required when racing big
boats. Still, he persevered. Just as he persevered in
overcoming a bigger problem for a man of the sea: not
knowing how to swim.
Manson doesn't consider himself an accomplished
swimmer yet, but he did acquit himself well when,
during a "man overboard" drill, he found himself in the
middle of the ocean, drifting with the current in one
direction while the lifesaver device, and the boat to
which it was connected, plowed along in the other.
"I just had to remember to relax," he said. "Once I
relaxed, it was a lot easier to stay afloat."
After sharing long days of workouts, safety-education
skill development, sailing practice and boat
maintenance with his teammates, Manson had
complete faith that he wouldn't be left bobbing in the
tide. It was a matter of trust among sailors.
"It's a nice feeling to have a home away from home
and friends that you share a common interest with,"
he said. "If you pass another boat, the people on that
boat will always smile and wave. That doesn't happen
if you're just walking downtown."
THE UNDERDOGS
Not everyone in the sailing community thinks the
Morning Light project is a great idea.
"There's a lot of chatter within the sailing community
about these kids," Disney said, recalling one miffed
Internet poster who scoffed at the idea of such a
young crew attempting something as daunting as the
Transpac.
"Clearly, they're viewed as underdogs," Disney said.
"But if they do win, it will be a real shakeup."
And while the young crew members may be humble,
they are also not lacking in confidence.
"The goal is not to finish," said team member Charlie
Enright, 22. "The goal is to win."
Wilmot thinks youth might even be an advantage,
particularly in the late stages of the race.
"The others might have more experience, but we'll
have the strength and energy to push to the last bit,"
he said. "We'll push as hard at the end as we do at
the start. No one will give up."
Clark isn't making any predictions; neither is he
conceding anything to the doubters.
"Our answer will come at the finish line," he said.
Such determination should make for compelling
cinema, even if the stars of the documentary are
ambivalent about their role in the film and less than
interested about potential stardom.
"They could care less about the film," Disney said.
"For them, it's all about the sailing."
Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com. |
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Roy Disney says a win will be a "real shakeup"
for the
racing community.
Morning Light Project photos
THE MORNING LIGHT PROJECT
In July, a young crew will sail the Morning Light in the
Transpacific Yacht Race, a biennial 2,225- nautical-mile sail
from Los Angeles to Honolulu.
15 crew members were selected from more than 500
applicants after intensive tryouts in Long Beach, Calif., last
summer. They are training in Hawai'i.
Crew members will range in age from 18 to 23 at the
time of the race.
"Morning Light" is planned as a full-length documentary
film, produced by Roy E. Disney's Pacific High Productions
in association with Disney Studios. The target release date
is in 2008.
Find out more at http://pacifichighproductions.com
The 52-foot racing boat Morning Light has a 15- member
crew whose average age is 21 — the youngest ever in the
Transpacific Yacht Race.
Practicing a rescue drill, from left: Crew members
Piet van
Os, 22, of La Jolla, Calif.; Chris Branning, 21, of Sarasota,
Fla.; Genny Tulloch, 21, of Houston; and Jeremy Wilmot, 20,
of Sydney, Australia.
On the Morning Light, from left:
navigator and sailing adviser Stan Honey;
sailing manager Robbie Haines;
Steve Manson, 22, of Baltimore;
boat manager Dave Tank;
Chris Shubert, 21, of Rye, N.Y.;
Kit Will, 21, of Milton, Mass.;
Robbie Kane, 21, of Fairfield, Conn.;
Charlie Enright, 22, of Providence, R.I.;
Chris Branning, 21, of Sarasota, Fla.;
Kate Theisen, 19, of Socorro, N.M.;
Jeremy Wilmot (standing), 20, of Sydney, Australia;
Piet van Os (no shirt), 22, of La Jolla, Calif.;
Chris Welsh, 18, of Grosse Pointe Park,
Mich.; Mark Towill, 18, of Käneçohe;
Genny Tulloch, 21, of Houston; and
Graham Brant- Zawadzki, 21, of Newport Beach, Calif. |
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TRANSPAC RACE STATUS
