@onnevanderwal’s journey to becoming a #CanonExplorerOfLight: “Why was this image so influential at the beginning of my career?
I was a full-time professional yachtsman and crewing on the 76-foot racing sailboat Flyer. While at anchor in Marblehead, Mass, a knock on the hull revealed three men in suits asking to see the boat. They told me they were the publishers of SAIL (the world’s largest sailing magazine) and if I would be so kind as to give them a tour of the already famous ocean racer. At the end of the tour, I showed the editor my images of our recent transatlantic training passage, his eyes lit up and he smiled! To cut a long story short they got back to me the next day and asked if I would shoot the upcoming Around the World Ocean race on Flyer for them. I was blown away and surprised and said yes! The owner of the boat Conny van Rietschoten also loved the idea, and I became the boat’s official photographer on top of my regular crew duties. Little did I know that this important meeting on the deck of Flyer in 1981 with the three men from SAIL magazine would be the beginning of my ongoing 35-year nautical photography career!
I received a brick of slide film from SAIL, to photograph the 1st of 4 legs that would take us around the world on this epic race. One of my tasks onboard Flyer was to handle the sail maneuvers and changes on the foredeck (pointy front end of the boat) plus go aloft (up to the top of the mast) in all conditions to check on the rigging and sails. This image was taken on one of these aloft inspections while thundering down a large Southern Ocean swell at 25 knots (29 mph).
Once my inspection was complete, I yelled down to the guys on deck who had control of the halyard (rope holding me at the top of the mast) to not lower me down quite yet as I wanted to do a little shooting of this stunning view from well over 100 ft off the deck of Flyer and the boiling ocean below. Well, this image was selected for SAIL’s cover (my first cover ever), and my new career was launched!”
Ciao, Nihon.