Andrew Matthews/PA Wire/PA Images
A
new documentary film
detailing the incredible
voyage of Robert Manry,
who set the record in 1965
for the smallest boat to ever
cross the Atlantic non-stop,
has been released.
Manry at Sea features
footage shot by the
American sailor during his
crossing in the 13.5ft
Tinkerbelle, along with
archive news footage of his
arrival in Falmouth
(thousands of people
turned out to welcome him)
and interviews by the film’s
producer and director Steve
Wystrach.
“He was really a DIY
boater. I am not much of
one myself but he inspired
me – his love of sailing, his
tenacity and careful
planning. He is a very
inspiring character,”
Wystrach told PBO.
The premise for the film
came in the mid 1990s
when Wystrach, himself an
offshore long distance
sailor, was re-reading hiscopy of Manry’s best selling
book, Tinkerbelle, which
charts the record breaking
78-day voyage from Falmouth,
Massachusetts to Falmouth,
Cornwall.
“There is an extensive
appendix including an
equipment list, and I read that
he took with him a 16mm
movie camera and 52
magazines of film. A bell went
off in my head – where was
the film? This started a twoyear archival journey to
track it down,” explained
Wystrach.
Eventually located at
Manry’s brother’s house in
Canada, the film included
footage of some of the
storms Manry had to
endure.
“I started interviewing
people who were involved
in the story and found all of
the news footage shot at
the time, and I saw that I
had enough for an
interesting film which was
not only about Manry and
his dream to cross the
ocean, but about how the
news media picked up the
story and took one man’s
adventure and turned it into
a media frenzy,” said
Wystrach, adding: “His
voyage was the last hurrah
of basic seamanship.”
Wystrach has applied to
show the film at the
Edinburgh International
Film Festival in June.
The trailer can be seen at
robertmanryproject.com.Douglas Innes (pictured left),
director of Stormforce
Coaching Limited,
has denied four counts of
manslaughter by gross
negligence at Winchester
Crown Court.
Stormforce Coaching
operated the Beneteau 40.7,
Cheeki Rafiki when the yacht
capsized in mid-Atlantic in May
2014 while returning from
Antigua Sailing Week.
Skipper Andrew Bridge, 22,
from Farnham, Surrey, James
Male, also 22, from Romsey,
Hampshire, Steve Warren 52,and Paul Goslin 56, both from
Somerset, all died. Their
bodies have never been found.
Cheeki Rafiki was found after
an extensive search and
rescue operation. The liferaft
was still on board and the
yacht’s keel was missing.PBO writer
wins prize
Roger Hughes’ article A
Change of Rig (PBO August
2017), which detailed how he
converted his Down East 45
Britannia from a ketch into a
staysail schooner, has won
second prize in the 2017
Boating Writers International
Awards. Hughes won in the
Boat Projects, Renovations &
Retrofits category.Practical Boat Owner • http://www.pbo.co.uk 9NEWS
Visit the PBO website to find more free practical content, watch
videos from last year’s Beaulieu Boat Jumble Ask the Experts Live, or
wade into the reader forums and get your questions answered.Cheeki Rafiki manslaughter retrial
Robert Manry on the silver screen
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