Bermuda Cockleshells (1957)

• 57%
• 1957
• Documentary
• Harry W. Smith

A documentary look at the sailboats raced at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club - the Bermuda Fitted Dinghy, light, narrow, 15 feet long, plus a ten-foot bowsprit. The mast is 40 feet high and the boom is 21 feet long, so there's up to 1000 square feet of sail. It only goes in the water when it's ready to sail, because it needs a crew of 4 to 9 to weight the dinghy and keep it upright. We watch crews of youth - the Firefly fleet - prepare their own 12-foot version of the racing dinghies. The shallow draft and center-board construction make for racing thrills. The physics of boats sailing into the wind is explained.