Film & Video Collection

 

The IYRS Maritime Library has a collection of over 90 films and videos, ranging in date from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Approximately 70 of these films are from the collection of George O’Day, the Olympic and America’s Cup sailor and boat builder. As well as being a keen film maker himself, O’Day was also a collector of vintage films, so while the majority of this collection relates to his competitive sailing and business projects there are also some notable pre-war films in the group. These include: unique color footage of the Herreshoff catamaran ‘Amaryllis II’ filmed in 1933; extensive color film of the 1937 America’s Cup races; and rare footage of ‘Monitor’, the first sailing hydrofoil boat, filmed circa 1956.

 

Yankee

 

The collection also includes film of the launching and early cruises of the Sparkman and Stephens ketch ‘Bolero’, as well as uncommon construction footage of a Bill Tripp-designed Block Island 40, all of these films commissioned by John Nicholas Brown. We also have amateur footage of cruising and racing in Buzzards Bay in the 1920s, and a collection of private films from the Gubelmann family that includes extensive footage from the late 1930s of the 168’ full-rigged ship ‘Seven Seas’.

 

Bolero

 

The collection is currently in the process of being digitized, and as this takes place these films are being added to our YouTube channel. Additional information on many of these films can also be seen here.