Winds of knowledge

As the chief executive of the Transpacific 52 Class, former Newport Beach resident Tom Pollack traveled around the globe for the past six years to watch world-class sailors pilot the high-performance 52-foot sloops in sailing regattas across the world. The king of Spain owns a Transpac 52, as does the king of Norway.

“I would notice these guys on the boats were older pros, but there were thousands of younger people on the docks,” Pollack said. “I thought to myself, ‘Wouldn’t it be great to find someone who would hand over the keys to a group of young people and say: Here you go.’ ”

Pollack took his idea to producer Leslie DeMeuse and Roy E. Disney, sailing enthusiast and former vice chairman and head of animation for Walt Disney Co. Three years later, Pollack’s vision has been transformed into “Morning Light,” a documentary that chronicles the adventure of one of the youngest crews to ever sail in the Transpacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu. A crew of 15 promising sailors in their teens and 20s were chosen from a field of more than 500 for the film. “Morning Light” documents the challenges the young crew faced as they sailed a 52-foot sloop by the same name across the Pacific Ocean in 2007.

The Regency Lido Theatre will host a screening of the film tonight with proceeds benefiting the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum. The museum is planning an exhibit on the Transpacific Yacht Race in 2009. Disney also is a member of the Nautical Museum Board of Trustees. The event at the Regency Lido will feature a question-and-answer session with Pollack, Disney and DeMeuse, who will be joined by the Morning Light crew. A live auction will feature the opportunity for one winning bidder to be an official starter of the 2009 Transpacific Race in Long Beach.

The 15 young sailors underwent six months of intense training for the 2,500-mile race.

“Most young people don’t have enough experience for a race like that,” Pollack said. “Most people that do the Transpac are over the age of 30. The film gave young people an opportunity to figure out how they’re going to get there — you figure out all those decisions.”

The Transpacific Yacht Race is no pleasure cruise. During the grueling race, the crew slept only a few hours at a time, lived off dehydrated food rations and wore the same clothing for days on end.

Twenty-four-year-old Morning Light crew member Piet van Os, who was 23 at the time of the race and co-navigator, slept a few hours a night during the race as he examined weather patterns and steered the boat the fastest way to Hawaii.

“We had such a huge amount to learn in a short period of time,” said van Os, who was an experienced sailor before he became part of the Morning Light crew but had never sailed on a boat the caliber of a Transpac 52 before.

“I felt like I was cramming for some sort of college final — you have to soak up every bit of knowledge you can get,” he said.

Van Os has seen the film four times and said he is pleased with how it turned out.

“I wasn’t expecting it to turn out this well,” van Os said. “It does a great job of taking a year of my life and putting it into an hour and a half, and it didn’t leave anything out, which is amazing.”

Van Os, who also will be on hand for tonight’s screening, said he hopes the film will help people learn more about the world of sailing.

“Our sport is really misunderstood,” he said. “People think it’s a rich man’s sport and that we just go out with some wine and cheese and sail around a bay. It’s an intense sport and you count on your team for survival. There’s no 9-1-1 out there.”

WHAT: Pre-screening reception and screening of “Morning Light,” followed by a question-and-answer session.

WHEN: The reception is at 5:30 tonight; screening is at 7:30.

WHERE: Regency Lido Theatre, 3459 Via Lido, Newport Beach

TICKETS: Sponsorship packages begin at $250. For sponsorship information, call Rita Stenlund at (949) 675-8915, ext. 108. Individual tickets are available at $75 per person. Proceeds will benefit the Museum’s programs and Transpacific Yacht Race exhibit in 2009.

RSVP: (949) 675-8915, ext. 350 or at www.nhnm.org

For more photos, click here.

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].