Onne van der Wal // From Whitbread Race Crew to Renowned Photographer

On the Wind Sailing

Andy Schell

Sports, Wilderness, Places & Travel, Society & Culture

4.8 • 593 Ratings

🗓️ 1 November 2022

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

#376. Onne van der Wal is one of the world's foremost yachting photographers, but he started his career as a vagabond sailor. Growing up in South Africa, Onne rarely went to school and instead hitched rides on whatever racing boats he could, amassing a storied career and finding a home on the high seas. His racing career peaked with his involvement in the second FLYER campaign, where he also first made a name for himself in photography. Andy talked to Onne aboard his Grand Banks motorboat in Annapolis in October to hear his story and philosophy. We were joined by Onne's wife Tenley, Ship's Photographer James Austrums, and Schooner WOODWIND owner & captain, Jen Kaye.

If you liked this conversation you'll LOVE The QUARTERDECK, 59 North's 'deep dives on the art of seamanship.' Join our interactive community and get involved in the conversation at quarterdeck.59-north.com. First two weeks FREE, then multiple pricing options thereafter.

ON THE WIND is presented by our old friends Forbes Horton Yachts and Weems & Plath. Learn more about both sponsors on the show, or follow the links above.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Because I'd been offered a ride from the Royal KPR Club to do what became the Cape to Rio race on a 72 footer.
0:08.8	But if I didn't pass my trade test in the three years, then I'd have to finish the fourth year.
0:15.6	So they always gave you a shot, one trade test, two days of working on making stuff, very tight times, very tight
0:23.1	dimensions. And if you, if you nailed it, you passed, but a very small percentage of the
0:29.1	guys passed.
0:30.7	Ahoy, shipmates, welcome back to another episode and another season of the On the Win podcast. Big thanks to Sam Levine for his continued
0:41.1	production support. Sam, of course, helped us record the seamanship panel in Annapolis at the
0:46.8	Boat Show a week or two ago, and he's going to be producing this season of the podcast as a
0:51.9	pro this time. The last season, Sam also produced, but as an
0:55.9	unpaid apprentice, and he has earned his way into being paid for his production support.
1:01.6	Super excited to have Sam on the team for another season and see ultimately where his audio
1:06.5	production career takes him. So thanks to Sam. We have an update on the Falcon launch. It keeps
1:13.4	getting delayed, but we have now reached the limit of our delays, as we've kind of expected with
1:18.4	this refit. She's going to launch on December 13th. Rig's going to go in on December 16th. As I record
1:25.2	this, I'm still at my dad's house in PA, but we're flying back to
1:27.6	Sweden tonight. So I am headed to the UK at the end of next week to get my hands dirty and make
1:34.0	sure that we get the boat out of the shed and in the water on time. Big thanks to everyone who has
1:38.3	been signing up to sail with us in 2023 and 24. We are super excited to launch this new phase of the business with the new boat
1:46.9	and are really excited to share it with everyone. We only have a couple spots left on the first two
1:52.2	Falcon trips with me, Nikki, and Adam. So if you want to be the first crew to sail on the new
1:58.0	boat, sign up at 59-north.com slash sign up. We also have two spots for
2:04.2	the January up-Heli-a passage on East Bjorn, sailing from Bergen, out to the Viking Fire Festival
	...

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