IOD History Slide Show Heads to Bermuda, Fishers Island, and Nantucket…
Fishers Island sailor, John Burnham, began sailing in the IOD class in 1988 as a member of the Norwegian Wood syndicate. Last fall, he was invited to speak at the Sailors Series at the New Bedford Whaling Museum and decided to put together a slide show on the class’s history. He was inspired by the flood of photography from around the world that the class has seen through its social media accounts recently. But he also based much of the talk on his own years of sailing in the class and his reporting on it periodically for Sailing World magazine as well as the IOD class newsletter. He named the talk “The International One-Design – 80 Years Young” and delivered it in early April to good reviews.
“I was generously supported by a range of photographers,” says John, “including photos of racing in the 1930s through 1960s from the Rosenfeld Collection of Mystic Seaport. Current photographers were also hugely helpful in allowing me to show the range of great venues in which our boats currently sail.” One of John’s other top resources, he says, was the IOD history book, published on the class’s 75th anniversary (and still available on the class website).
John will present the show in May during Bermuda Race Week at the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and also plans to show it at Fishers Island and Nantucket this summer. The show is evolving before every stop, says John, as he learns more and adds new photos, such as shots he recently received of one of Bermuda’s greatest sailors, Bert Darrell, sailing with HRH, the Duke of Edinburgh at the helm.
If John’s presentation peaks your interest, and you would like to own a copy of the official class history, you can buy one here.