Morning Light Opens This Weekend

There is frequent coverage of racing boats in the half hour before and after they cross the starting line of big races, and in the half hour or so after they finish. But what’s it like the other 99% of the time, during the preparation for the event and in the middle of the ocean? That’s the question that Roy and Leslie DeMeuse Disney have tried to answer with their 90-minute documentary Morning Light. To make the story all the more compelling, the Disneys picked 11 untried sailors — with an average age of under 20 — from a big pool to sail the boat.

Morning Light follows the story of how the youngsters are selected to be part of the team in last year’s TransPac from Los Angeles to Hawaii. They are introduced to the tricked out TransPac 52 Morning Light, then given a winter’s worth of instruction in Hawaii by Robbie Haines and Stan Honey, along with other experts, on all the sailing arts. Disney solved the problem of how to get good mid-ocean sailing footage by having the late Steve Fossett’s maxi cat PlayStation/Cheyenne, set up as a motor vessel, track Morning Light all the way to the Islands.

After the obligatory premiere in Hollywood a week ago, Morning Light was presented again on Saturday as part of the Mill Valley Film Festival. Roy and Leslie were in attendance to answer questions following the showing. As we were sidelined with the flu, we had to turn the review over to Doña de Mallorca and Alan Olson, two lifelong sailors.

"Everyone loved it!" said de Mallorca. "And it was a true documentary, not a scripted, cheesy reality show where each self-absorbed character tries to be nuttier than the one before. Morning Light is about learning and teamwork, and racing in the middle of the Pacific, no matter how light or strong the winds are. As Roy and Leslie said after the film, it wasn’t meant to be a movie about sailing, but about lives being transformed in the course of preparing for and competing in a sailing event. And I was inspired. In fact, I want to do the next TransPac! Morning Light had its hilarious moments, too, because the boat was crewed by kids, and kids say the funniest things without even trying."

"I give Morning Light both of my thumbs up," said Alan Olson, who has spent much of his life introducing non-sailors to sailing, much of it offshore sailing. "After the movie, Roy said that their goal was to not just make a film for sailors, but for non-sailors alike, so they could relate and understand what it’s like to come together as a team and sail offshore. Roy and Leslie wanted to emphasize how such experiences can be life-changing, something I’ve witnessed many times before. And they succeeded. Everyone, not just sailors, who sees this film will really like it."

Morning Light will be released in 55 theaters starting October 17. Check it out! And tell your friends, sailors and non-sailors alike.