I’m actually pleasantly surprised by how much movies get right with rowing and sailing in movies.
The one that does make me roll my eyes is the scenes where characters are chilling in the galley or bed and then suddenly run up because they hear/see a problem through a porthole. I always get pretty grumpy with the idea of folks being actively under sail and simply ‘tying’ the wheel or tiller and going under the deck. Only the incredibly expensive sailboats can truly get away with that. A small, affordable to a middle class type, yacht will have that with a motor, but sails are not so forgiving. If the wind changes you could have a pretty bad day, and even a perfectly ‘straight’ tiller will likely have you turning circles ere long. That’s not even considering how poor of a decision that would be unless you were a military ship in the middle of the ocean and others would get out of your way. Just because collisions are super de duper unlikely doesn’t mean they’re impossible.
Sailing, maybe, but rowing doesn’t have to be upper middle class. I’m solidly lower middle class, if that, and I get by. With the club, it’s about the same as a gym membership subscription at the end of the day.
I’m actually pleasantly surprised by how much movies get right with rowing and sailing in movies.
The one that does make me roll my eyes is the scenes where characters are chilling in the galley or bed and then suddenly run up because they hear/see a problem through a porthole. I always get pretty grumpy with the idea of folks being actively under sail and simply ‘tying’ the wheel or tiller and going under the deck. Only the incredibly expensive sailboats can truly get away with that. A small, affordable to a middle class type, yacht will have that with a motor, but sails are not so forgiving. If the wind changes you could have a pretty bad day, and even a perfectly ‘straight’ tiller will likely have you turning circles ere long. That’s not even considering how poor of a decision that would be unless you were a military ship in the middle of the ocean and others would get out of your way. Just because collisions are super de duper unlikely doesn’t mean they’re impossible.
Rowing and sailing they get right because they are upper middle class activities, form which screenwriters are almost exclusively picked
I constantly get surprised looks from the people I deal with when they learn I don’t know anything about sailing.
Sailing, maybe, but rowing doesn’t have to be upper middle class. I’m solidly lower middle class, if that, and I get by. With the club, it’s about the same as a gym membership subscription at the end of the day.
Still in the ‘acceptable in a polo at the lawn party’ crowd
That said, if someone told you “I was on the rowing team back at university” you’d have decent odds his name would be Chet or similar.