"In South Australia I was born", the baritone voice of Jim Thom, skipper of S.Y.Mariquita carried across the water. "Heave away Haul away" echoed from the crew hauling up the gaff and main sail aboard the last of the four original 19 meter Fife Yachts, fast approaching her centennial anniversary of 2011.

 The shanty commonly sung by Cape Horners departing port and now a modern tradition aboard Mariquita, created the momentary illusion for me of actually going back in time to the era when these magnificent yachts were built and sailed solely for the sport of kings, yacht racing.

 

 On this day, the second of the Inaugural Westward Cup, Mariquita would traverse the same course sailed a century before with three other classic sailing yachts including Mariette of 1915. Owners at the helm with skippers at their side worked the tide, winds and currents on the Solent. If one could ignore the fleet of RIBs and safety boats then it would be possible to travel back in time and see the sport through the eyes of Mr. Charlie Barr and Sir Thomas Lipton.

 

For me, a maritime artist, the illusion of going back one hundred years was as real as I could imagine and even more enhanced by the presence of a steam launch from the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club. Suddenly it was as though the magnificent black and white photographs by Beken of Cowes had suddenly come to life  and in living color with Kenneth Beken, grandson of the master photographer in attendance.

 

Tim Boagey, at the wheel of Mariquita's support RIB, a 12 meter twin turbo easily delivering fifty knots on the throttle, got me around the course with plenty of time to find the perfect point of view, mark to mark. In all, I recorded over four thousand reference images for a series of oil paintings to celebrate the regatta named for the famous Herreshoff yacht Westward and showcasing her 2006 built replica S.Y.Eleonora. Despite losing her top masts on Sunday before the Cup, Eleonora, Mariette, Mariquita and Tuiga enjoyed a great weeklong event with Tuiga taking the honors.

 

 All that quickly the week passed, the Cup ended and I crossed back to England on the Red Funnel and on to Heathrow.

 

The seven hour flight between Reykjavik and Seattle provided my first opportunity to review the images from the weeks sailing. I penciled out notes at 43 thousand feet and 62 degrees latitude for twenty potential paintings. At the top of the list would be a painting of Tuiga. I had four frames of S.Y. Tuiga, the lovely Fife yacht and flagship of Yacht Club de Monaco becalmed on flat water just off Cowes. The Solent reflected her tea colored sails in perfect light. From these four shots I imagined a rather nice painting so I could hardly wait to get home and into the studio.

 

Curious to learn more about this enchanting yacht Tim Boagey affectionately called "Little Tuiga" I followed the trail of breadcrumbs in Google which eventually lead me to the SeaKeepers Society. They had recognized HSH Andrew Prince II of Monaco for his support of their mission the year before. What I was seeing was a lot of common ground and mutual interest. Later as my painting began to emerge from bare canvas I began a conversation with Michael T. Moore, a Ft. Lauderdale maritime-aviation attorney and Chairman of SeaKeepers. It looked like collaboration would soon follow.

 

As a maritime artist I regularly donate original artwork to support maritime issues to "give something back". Living on Washington's pristine Puget Sound brings close to home the concerns about the health of our oceans. Twice each day the tide brings something new to my beach and occasionally some things which cause concern. On the morning that three discarded motor oil bottles in a plastic bag lodged on the beach trailed by a skim of oily sheen on the water I made my decision. One of the resident harbor seals that regularly hunt herring and provide a wonderful distraction was taking on synthetic blend 30/50 weight motor oil with her morning's catch. That day I wrote Mr. Moore and offered the painting as a donation to SeaKeepers.