Growing Up Sailing

I learned to sail when I was six. My Dad acquired a 30 ft sailboat and named her after his daughters, Turi, Laurie and Cary.

This is Turlaca, the first boat I ever sailed on.

 My father painted this watercolor of his pride and joy.
We would spend our summer weekends sailing on Long Island Sound.

I learned to race small blue jays and lightnings in competitions up and down Long Island Sound.

An Artists Connection with Sailing

 I was thrilled when I came upon the book, Legendary Sailboats by Beken of Cowes. Wonderful reference photos for paintings. I prefer to paint from life when painting landscapes and still-lifes. I feel I get a better result, however this is not possible with moving objects. All the photos in the book are black and white so getting the drawing correct was only half the battle. Adding the color convincingly, that came from experience on the water. These paintings are of some of the outstanding Legendary Sailboats from the book.

Shamrock 23 Meter leads other big boats in the 1929 Solent, the mecca of world sailing at the time.

Astra was a 23 Meter converted into J-Class in 1931.

Shamrock a gaff cutter launched in 1908 had a sail area of 9,843 sq ft.