This late 1930s or early 1940s film AWAY WITH THE WIND features various ships and water activities. It includes rare footage of clipper ships at the 10 second mark, and square riggers. Fishing on the Grand Banks is seen at the 1:00 mark. The Gertrude L. Thebaud is seen at the 1:08 mark. This is an American fishing and racing schooner built and launched in Essex, Massachusetts in 1930. A celebrated racing competitor of the Bluenose, it was designed by Frank Paine and built by Arthur D. Story for Louis A. Thebaud, and named for his wife, Gertrude Thebaud. In their first meeting at Gloucester, Massachusetts, in October 1930, the Gertrude L. Thebaud bested the Bluenose 2-0 to win the Sir Thomas Lipton International Fishing Challenge Cup. However, in 1931, two races to none, and again in 1938, three races to two, the Bluenose defeated the Gertrude L. Thebaud to remain the undefeated holder of the International Fisherman’s Trophy.
At 1:40 various sailboat racing is shown, including at 1:50 racing on Long Island Sound. Long Beach is seen at 2:00, with spinnakers billowing in the wind. Newport Rhode Island and the America’s Cup is seen at 2:50, with the Endeavour II and the Ranger competing. Ranger was a J-class racing yacht that successfully defended the 1937 America’s Cup, defeating the British challenger Endeavour II 4-0 at Newport, Rhode Island. It was the last time J-class yachts would race for the America’s Cup.
At 3:40, Honolulu is seen with outrigger canoes and early footage of surfing at the 4:43 mark. Beautiful images of long boards in this material, which likely contains footage of Duke.
At 5:45, power boat racing is seen on the Hudson River. The President’s Cup on the Potomac River is seen at 6:40. The President’s Cup was contested by Unlimited hydroplanes between 1926 and 1977, with time out for World War II (1941-1945). After 1977, the President’s Cup became a Limited event for several years.
A man named William A. Rogers is considered to be the “father” of the President’s Cup Regatta. Mr. Rogers convinced his fellow Corinthian Yacht Club members to host the race and persuaded President Calvin Coolidge to sponsor the trophy.
Most of the President’s Cup races were contested on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., adjacent to Hains Point, except for a few pre-war races that were run in Annapolis, Maryland. The first-place trophy was traditionally presented to the winner by the nation’s Chief Executive. The President that demonstrated the keenest interest in the race was undoubtedly Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose love for aquatics is well known. At 7:00, the fastest boat of the era the Bluebird II is seen, piloted by Donald Malcolm Campbell CBE (23 March 1921 – 4 January 1967). Campbell was a British speed record breaker who broke eight absolute world speed records on water and on land in the 1950s and 1960s. He remains the only person to set both world land and water speed records in the same year (1964).
At 7:50, the Miami to Nassau race is seen, known as the Nassau Ocean Cup Race. The yacht Windstark is seen, as well as the multi-winning Stormy Weather (won 1937-1941).
We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example like: “01:00:12:00 — President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.”
This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
