CLICK TO PLAY Preview for 52-minute how-to sailing video. U.S. Coast Guard certified skipper, Capt. Jack Klang, combines innovative classroom models with real world sailing situations to explain the skills and techniques required for singlehanders to dock with confidence in any wind or current, trim cruising sails for power and speed, and retrieve a mooring alone. In a bonus segment, Capt. Jack demonstrates how a crew of two can fly, trim, and retrieve an asymmetrical spinnaker, making light air cruising faster and more fun. The QuickTime Video Download is "Chapterized" so you can easily reference different sections, just like a DVD. Purchase at Vimeo on Demand Download $9.99 | Streaming Rental $4.99 Purchase the 2-video set: Sailing Instruction with Capt. Jack that includes Cruising tips and Singlehanded Docking. Download for just $15.99. Purchase 2 DVD-US set: Singlehanded Docking and Sailing Instruction: $29.95 plus S&H. Sailing Documentaries from $2.99. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Preview for 53-minute HD voyaging video. In 1978, photographer and writer Gene Anthony achieved a personal quest. His sea story takes us on an inspirational odyssey to Cape Horn Island at the southern tip of the Americas. We voyage by way of Gene's lifelong fascination with all things nautical and his highly successful career as a maritime photojournalist. Narrated by actor and Emmy Award-winning narrator, Peter Coyote. Purchase Download or Streaming Rental at Vimeo on Demand HD Video Download $9.99 | Streaming Rental $4.99. Sailing Documentaries from $2.99. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Preview for 76-minute HD voyaging video. From the southern tip of Africa, northwestward across the Atlantic to the Caribbean island of Grenada, sail aboard the 50 foot catamaran, Suliere, on her maiden voyage. Find out what it's like to sail on one of the world's longest ocean passages. Your port of departure is St. Francis in South Africa then onto Cape Town for final commissioning. Once underway, stop in the middle of the Atlantic on the famous island of St. Helena where Napoleon was imprisoned before making your final passage to Grenada, gateway to the exotic Leeward Islands of the Caribbean. Learn and feel what it's like to live the dream of long range cruising under sail. Purchase at https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/557527510/0/thesailingchannel HD Video Download (Windows Media & QuickTime) $12.99. SD DVD (includes world-wide delivery) $24.95 Sailing Documentaries from $2.99. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY J Class - St. Barths Bucket 2013. Five magnificent and gigantic J Class sloops race in the St. Barths Bucket Regatta. Beautifully photographed by Onne van der Wal and edited by Halsey Fulton with on boat, boat-to-boat, crew comments, and aerials. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV. Sailing Documentaries from $2.99. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Filmed for Saudi Airlines in Tenerife, Canary Islands. Wonderfully choreographed and executed. The Red Epic cameras with Cooke cinema lenses make for an incredible piece. Hats off to the video and sailboat crews. Watch more free curated sailing videos at https://www.thesailingchannel.tv/free-sailing-videos/ Sailing Documentaries from $2.99. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Preview of 2-hour documentary. Transatlantic with Street - A film by Gavin Shaw. A classic Atlantic ocean 5,000 mile trade wind passage shot in 1986 aboard noted sailor/author Don Street's 1905 engineless 44 foot yawl, Iolaire. Documents Iolair's ninth Atlantic crossing from Ireland with eleven ocean islands along the way. First landfall is Vigo in dense fog. Next, a short-handed 800 mile passage to Madeira. Then enroute to the Canaries, the desolate and dangerous Salvage Islands. The trade winds fill in at 20 N and it's an easy reach to the Verdes. From there, a fast 14-day run of 2100 miles with whales, water rationing, a leaky bilge bring Iolaire safely into Antigua just in time for Christmas. Available at https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/557582054/0/thesailingchannel Streaming Rental $2.99 Video Download (mp4 & wmv) $12.99 DVD $24.95 Sailing Documentaries from $2.99. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Preview of Part 1. Originally shot in 16 mm color, the film has been restored and converted to HD video. Completed in 1976, this is a two part sailing documentary by skipper and noted Hollywood cinematographer, Gene Evens (Roots, Jeremiah Johnson, Lady Sings the Blues, Batman and many more movie and television productions) and his wife Josie aboard their 32 foot sloop, "Discubridor" ("Discoverer"). Their two-year sailing adventure takes them over 10,000 miles from southern California south to Costa Rica, offshore to Cocos Island and the Galapagos Islands, then home to San Diego. Along the way they explore remote locales, fish, struggle against storms, and on a few occasions fight for survival. In Part 1, Gene and his wife Josie, sail "Discubridor" ("Discoverer") south from San Diego down the coast of Baja California, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica where they are joined by their son Ron and a couple of friends for a 300 mile off shore sail to the mysterious Cocos Island. In Part 2, the crew explore Cocos Island, sail onto the legendary Galapagos Islands for more exploration, then Gene and Josie sail back across the Pacific alone and home to San Diego. Available at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/600days HD 1280 x 720 (Original format: 16mm color) Pt. 1: To Cocos & the Galapagos Islands Running Time: 90 Minutes Pt. 2: Cocos & the Galapagos Islands Running time: 65 Minutes Sailing Documentaries from $2.99. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Preview of Part 2 Originally shot in 16 mm color, the film has been restored and converted to HD video. Completed in 1976, this is a two part sailing documentary by skipper and noted Hollywood cinematographer, Gene Evens (Roots, Jeremiah Johnson, Lady Sings the Blues, Batman and many more movie and television productions) and his wife Josie aboard their 32 foot sloop, "Discubridor" ("Discoverer"). Their two-year sailing adventure takes them over 10,000 miles from southern California south to Costa Rica, offshore to Cocos Island and the Galapagos Islands, then home to San Diego. Along the way they explore remote locales, fish, struggle against storms, and on a few occasions fight for survival. In Part 1, Gene and his wife Josie, sail "Discubridor" ("Discoverer") south from San Diego down the coast of Baja California, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica where they are joined by their son Ron and a couple of friends for a 300 mile off shore sail to the mysterious Cocos Island. In Part 2, the crew explore Cocos Island, sail onto the legendary Galapagos Islands for more exploration, then Gene and Josie sail back across the Pacific alone and home to San Diego. Available at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/600days HD 1280 x 720 (Original format: 16mm color) Pt. 1: To Cocos & the Galapagos Islands Running Time: 90 Minutes Pt. 2: Cocos & the Galapagos Islands Running time: 65 Minutes Sailing Documentaries from $2.99. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Preview of 91-minute classic sailing documentary. Beyond the West Horizon - A film by Eric and Susan Hiscock. In the late 1950's, very few "middle class" sailors had taken small sailing craft on long voyages. British Sailors, Eric and Susan Hiscock became pioneers in making long trans-oceanic passages in a small sailboat to what was then quite remote destinations. Their sailing adventures paved the way for future generations of cruising sailors who would follow in their wake, making blue water passage-making the more common experience it has become today. The Hiscocks shared their sailing adventures in several books and made a 16mm color documentary about their second circumnavigation aboard their 30 foot sloop, Wanderer III. The couple departed from Yarmouth Isle of Wight on the 19th of July 1959 and returned on August 8th, 1962. Prior to their departure, the BBC provided some camera training, a 16mm windup camera, and 4000 feet of color film stock. During their 30,189 mile circumnavigation, Eric and Susan meticulously filmed their voyage and their many land falls. On their return, the BBC edited a 91-minute documentary based on a script and narration written by Eric. The finished film aired on BBC television in January 1963. Working with the Beaulieu Film and Video Library at the UK National Motor Museum Trust, TheSailingChannel.TV has restored "Beyond the West Horizon" and digitally remastered it to HD. Watch free interviews with Lin and Larry Pardey about the Hiscocks, and Thies Matzen and Kicki Ericson - current owners of Wanderer III. Available at https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/99155700/0/thesailingchannel Streaming Rental $2.99 | Video Download (mp4 & wmv) $12.99 Sailing Documentaries from $2.99. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Heaving To From Don Street's Streetwise Tips Vol.1 by Sailing Quarterly. In this clip, Legendary skipper and sailing author, Don Street shows you how to quickly "park your boat" at sea so you can rest and regroup in rough weather. In his full 56-minute how-to sailing video, Don covers: Heavy Weather Preparation and Sailing Tactics; Foredeck Work; Mainsail Flaking Systems; Sail Repairs; Navigation; and Jibe Prevention. For more Don Street sailing tips, check out Don Street's Streetwise Tips Vol. 2. Available at https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/557582046/0/thesailingchannel Streaming Rental $2.99 | Episodes $0.99 Download-to-Own (mp4) $12.99 | Episodes $2.99 DVD US $27.99 | DVD INTL $34.99 (includes S&H) Get The Complete Street - all 5 Don Street Videos for just $49.95 Available at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/thecompletestreet Sailing Documentaries from $2.99. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Don Street Sailors' Knots From Don Street Sailors' Knots. Filmed in Martinique aboard Iolaire, his 46 ft engineless wooden yawl, master sailor Don Street teaches you and your crew everything you need to know about sailors' knots and more in just 50 minutes. Don starts by covering 8 basic knots then adds more advanced knots like the rolling hitch, fisherman's bend, and tow boat hitch. With a down to earth style, he teaches you how to tie each knot and most importantly, when to use it, making a sometimes difficult subject easy and pleasurable. First Don demonstrates at normal speed then he shows you a slow motion close up that makes the knot's path easy to follow and learn. Don also covers proper line handling, dock line throwing, sail stops, halyards, and how to repair a chafed rope. Don gives you the critical knot and line handling skills every skipper should know. Available at https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/557582044/0/thesailingchannel Streaming Rental $4.99 | Download-to-Own (mp4) $9.99 DVD US $29.95 | DVD INTL $39.95 (includes S&H) Get The Complete Street - all 5 Don Street Videos for just $49.95 Available at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/thecompletestreet Sailing Documentaries from $2.99. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Don Street Antigua Race Week 1985 Preview From Don Street Antigua Race Week 1985. A one hour award-winning documentary by Charles Croft which lets you share the intense sailing action aboard Don Street's 80 year old, 44 foot, engineless yawl, "Iolaire" during Antigua Sailing Week, 1985, Iolarie's final appearance in one of the world's top sailing events. Built in 1905, Don had sailed and raced "Iolaire" throughout the Caribbean for forty years while he developed his famous Imray-Iolair charts and the first comprehensive cruising guides that opened up the Caribbean to modern sailors. Antigua Sailing Week races became an annual event for Street and Iolaire since the first regatta in 1957. In 1985, Street decided to retire Iolaire from racing and they both went out in style, finishing only 5 points out of first place at race week's end. This award-winning documentary shows you what Caribbean racing was like in its golden years when the skippers all new each other and racing was more fun than business. Available at https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/557582042/0/thesailingchannel Streaming Rental $4.99 | Download-to-Own (mp4) $9.99 Get The Complete Street - all 5 Don Street Videos for just $49.95 Sailing Documentaries from $2.99. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Suliere - Cruising the Exhumas & Jumentos Trailer for 83-minute cruising video. Sail with Paul and Lesley aboard their 50 foot catamaran, "Suliere," as they cruise the Bahamas exploring the Exhumas and sparsely populated Jumentos cays. Available at https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/557582038/0/thesailingchannel Streaming Rental $1.99 | Download-to-Own (mp4) $9.99 Sailing Documentaries from $2.99. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Voyage of Entr`acte: The Partnership Trailer for 103-minute cruising video. The Partnership is a story of love and friendship, discovery and improbability. Ellen and Ed Zacko met while playing in the orchestra of a Broadway musical and hatched a scheme to take a temporary brake from the hectic New York scene and explore the world together. Their adventure aboard a Nor Sea 27 foot sloop led them to discover a different side of life that would change their lives forever. Entr'acte - The musical interlude performed between two acts of a play. Join Ellen and Ed on a seven year saga: three years to build Entr'acte and four years to sail her - from a stormy Atlantic crossing to the tranquil French canals. Sail with them as they explore the Mediterranean then follow the trade winds on their return to the Caribbean and sail up the U.S. east coast to home. The Zackos draw upon their musical and show business background to combine over 800 slides with original music and snappy narrative, creating a highly entertaining multimedia experience. Available at https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/557582036/0/thesailingchannel Streaming Rental $1.99 | Download-to-Own (mp4) $9.99 Sailing Documentaries from $2.99. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Voyage of Entr`acte: The San Blas Islands and The Panama Canal - Trailer Trailer for 71-minute cruising video. A Film by Ellen & Ed Zacko. Join the crew of Entr'acte for a journey between two oceans. "The San Blas and Panama Canal" begins in Grenada and crosses the Caribbean Sea to the enchanting San Blas Islands. There Ellen and Ed Zacko re-unite with old friends Paula and John on Mr. John VI to explore the jungle of Panama and transit the Panama Canal together. Travel with them to this un-spoiled, primordial area inhabited by the Kuna Indians. Experience the magnificence of the Panama Canal from the deck of a small sailing vessel. Available at https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/557582034/0/thesailingchannel Streaming Rental $1.99 | Download-to-Own (mp4) $9.99 Sailing Documentaries and How-To Videos. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Practicing Heaving to from the Pardey Offshore Sailing Series Larry Pardey talks about the importance of practicing heaving to before you set off across an ocean. Heaving to allows you to park your boat at sea in any weather so you and your crew can rest, eat, and make repairs. Practicing heaving to includes becoming familiar with setting up your para-anchor and other gear at the dock so you know how it all works and you can check that all lines are running clear. Then you should practice heaving to underway, preferably in at least 30 knots of wind. Larry's comments are followed by some historic footage of the Pardey's sailing with a very nice classical 12 string guitar background. The Pardey Offshore Sailing Series consists of all 5 Pardey videos as downloads or DVDs at a package discount price. The videos include Get Ready to Cruise, Get Ready to Cross Oceans, Storm Tactics, Cost Control While You Cruise, and Cruising Has No Limits — over 6 and a half hours of blue-water sailing instruction and adventure from two of the world's most experienced cruising sailors. Sailing Documentaries and How-To Videos. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Sail Trim & Performance Sailing with Gary Jobson From the popular Sailing Quarterly Series, this 66 minute how-to sailing video, features America's Cup champion Gary Jobson covering all aspects of sail trim that will help you improve the performance of your boat whether you race or cruise. Gary takes you aboard a variety of sailboats from Solings to Maxis, demonstrating how to use your sails to get the most out of your boat's performance. Detailed graphics show the finer points of adjustments. Watch now and get your boat out in front. Topics include Mainsail trim, Headsail trim, Spinnaker trim, Spinnaker sets and takedowns, Downwind mainsail trim, Light air racing upwind and downwind, and Trimming for performance. (R1Z) Sailing Documentaries and How-To Videos. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Sailvation: Charter Boat Hand-Over This 39 minute how-to video provides background on all technical aspects of a typical charter boat hand-over. The video is not designed to replace your live hand-over, but with the information it provides, you'll be better equipped to understand the hand-over process and ask more detailed questions about your charter yacht when you arrive. Sailvation was formed by a team of dedicated sailors with years of experience, not only in cruising but also in chartering and managing boats from popular base stations. They know what sailing is about, what life aboard entails, and what you will experience while chartering. They are the people that you meet on the first day at your charter briefing. About the Founder Sailvation was founded in 2008 by Incila Oezmert. Following a circumnavigation in 1999, Incila has been involved in the charter business as operation manger and base manager with several charter companies in Turkey. She consults in setting up the operations department of charter companies, and has extensive experience with technical problem solving for charter sailors. Incila has been a professional charter skipper since 2002. Introductory special for the first 100 buyers through our Vimeo On Demand store. https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/74988843/0/thesailingchannel One week only: Sept. 20 − 27, 2014. Download-to-Own (mp4) 20% off (normally $18.99 USD). Click BUY. Sign into Vimeo.com or join if you don't have an account. It's free. In the BUY window, click Have a discount code? and enter: SAILVATION-SPECIAL Sailvation downloads also available as mp4 and wmv at www.thesailingchannel.tv/sailvation Download free technical tips and other useful information about chartering. Sailing Documentaries and How-To Videos. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Around Santa Cruz Island A film by Marc Hersch. This 68 minute production is THE video cruising guide to southern California's Santa Cruz Island. Positioned in the middle of the Channel Islands National Park just 25 miles off the Santa Barbara coast, Santa Cruz Island is often referred to as "the Galapagos of North America". The Island is home to twelve species found no where else on earth and more than a thousand species of other plants and animals. Sail along with Captain Marc Hersh and his crew as they cross the Santa Barbara Channel aboard Songline, a beautiful J42 fitted out with all the cruising amenities. Over the next 5 days, they circumnavigate Santa Cruz Island, explore some 15 pristine anchorages, and take day-hikes ashore. Santa Cruz Island offers its visitors 96 square miles of natural wonder. The largest of the eight Channel Islands, Santa Cruz is administered by the National Park Service and the Nature Conservancy. It's surrounding waters are part of the Channel Islands NOAA Marine Sanctuary. FREE EXTRAS include interviews with island officials. DVD available at www.thesailingchannel.tv/store2 under Cruising & Visitor Guides. https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/79426718/0/thesailingchannel Special Vimeo discount to TheSailingChannel eNewsletter and Video Podcast subscribers through our Vimeo On Demand store. Until December 31, 2014 get 20% off the regular price on rentals and downloads. Click RENT or BUY. Sign into Vimeo or join (it's free). Click Have a discount code? and enter: ASCISPECIAL Around Santa Cruz Island also available as a download and DVDat www.thesailingchannel.tv/santa_cruz_island Sailing Documentaries and How-To Videos. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Racing Tactics with Gary Jobson A video by Rob Dubin with Gary Jobson. From the Sailing Quarterly Video Magazine library. In this 59 minute how-to sailing video, America's Cup champion Gary Jobson covers the racing tactics and technical skills you and your crew need to improve the performance of your boat in both fleet and match races. Gary takes you aboard a variety of sailboats to provide hands-on lessons. He uses animation and graphics to visualize concepts like wind shear and starting techniques that will help you get your boat out in front. Topics include the Role of the Tactician... Tools and Tactics for Reading the Wind... Tuning up your boat and crew... Starting tactics... Mark Roundings... Match Racing... Instruments & Polars... Target boat speed... and Tactics for Offshore Racing. Racing Tactics with Gary Jobson also available as a download and DVD at www.thesailingchannel.tv/sailing_quarterly/r2z/ Sailing Documentaries and How-To Videos. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Boat Maintenance DIY with Gary Jobson A video by Rob Dubin with Gary Jobson. From the Sailing Quarterly Video Magazine library. Hosted by America's Cup Champion, this 76 minute how-to sailing video contains a wealth of expert information about boat maintenance for the do-it-yourselfer. Topics include: DIESEL ENGINE MAINTENANCE & TROUBLE-SHOOTING including periodic checks and how to troubleshoot common problems. Taught by engine experts from Mastery Engine Center, Florida, using floor model engines and graphics for hard to see details. HOW TO CLEAN A WINCH What products to gather before you start, how to disassemble, clean and reassemble to keep your boat's winches working smoothly. RIGGING CHECKS FROM MASTHEAD TO DECK Find trouble spots before fittings and shrouds break. FIBERGLASS REPAIRS Step-by-step instructions from filling the holes to polishing the gelcoat. HOW TO FIX A MARINE HEAD Step-by-step instructions on assembly, on repairs and maintenance so fixing the head is no longer such a dreaded task. VARNISHING Step-by-step instructions on varnishing to keep your boat's brightwork shining. All practical and well explained procedures that you and your crew can use to keep your boat in tip top shape. Download to your computer, tablet, and phone for onboard use. See how to do it yourself. Learn about your boat and save money. (M1Z) Boat Maintenance DIY with Gary Jobson is also available as a download and DVD at http://www.thesailingchannel.tv/boat-maintenance-diy/ Sailing Documentaries and How-To Videos. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Jean-du-Sud in HD Trailer A film by Yves Gélinas NOW IN HD. 100 Minutes. Professionally scanned from a pristine 16mm print to 1920x1080 full HD. Rent / Buy at https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/99136944/0/thesailingchannel Update for FREE if you previously purchased the SD version on Vimeo. TheSailingChannel is honored to offer what many consider to be the finest sailing film ever made. Jean-du-Sud is a two-time winner of the prestigious Palme d'Or at the Larochelle Sailing Film Festival as well as eight other international film awards. Both English and French versions included. This 16mm feature-length documentary celebrates the filmmaker's 28,000 mile single-handed circumnavigation through the roaring forties and around Cape Horn aboard his Alberg 30 sloop. Shot in 16mm color film with sync sound, Jean-du-Sud puts you in the cockpit: Yves speaks as he would to a fellow crew member. Unless you do it yourself, this is as close as you'll ever get to a solo circumnavigation. Jean-du-Sud in HD is also available as a HD Download, Blu-Ray disc and DVD at http://www.thesailingchannel.tv OTHER CLASSIC 16 MM DOCUMENTARIES IN HD… Beyond the West Horizon - Eric & Susan Hiscock's 1959-61 circumnavigation. https://vimeo.com/ondemand/beyondthewesthorizon 600 Days to Cocos & the Galapagos Islands - Gene & Josie Evan's 1973-75 voyage to remote islands. https://vimeo.com/ondemand/600days The Sailing Podcast speaks with Yves Gelinas about the re-release of his classic sailing movie 'With Jean-du-Sud around the world' in High Definition (HD). Yves also discusses the Cape Horn windvane, a self-steering device he first designed to meet his needs while sailing solo around the world and has since sold to thousands of ocean sailors. Presented by TheSailingChannel.TV Browse our VOD collection Join our eNewsletter for news and discount offers. Sailing Documentaries and How-To Videos. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY Suliere: Cuba and the Ragged Islands https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/106054766/0/thesailingchannel A film by Paul Burgess In this 2.5 hour cruising guide series, Sail with Paul and Leslie Burgess aboard Suliere, their 50 foot ocean-going catamaran as they voyage to Cuba's Hemingway Marina, tour old Havana and the Cuban countryside, then sail on to the remote Ragged Islands of the Bahamas. Part 1 provides comprehensive information about entering Cuban waters, navigating the tricky entrance to Havana's Hemingway Marina, and yacht provisioning and maintenance facilities within the marina complex. From the marina, travel with Paul and Leslie as they tour old Havana. Learn about shopping in local markets, finding good restaurants, and living cheaply on the CUC, Cuba'a local currency. In Part 2, go inside Cuba with Paul and Leslie as they drive a rental car deep into the interior, staying with local Cuban families in particulares, the Cuban version of a bed & breakfast. Tour the countryside by horseback, visiting farms and a local cigar factory. Then it's on to Trinidad, the Salsa music capital of Cuba. Traveling back along the coast, learn that most harbors are closed to foreign sailors. Finally, explore the charming town of Sancti Spiritus before returning to Hemingway Marina. In Part 3, sail with Paul and Leslie aboard Suliere from Havana, south along the Cuban coast, then offshore to the Bahama's sparsely populated Ragged Islands in search of paradise. FAMILY EDITION Included is a 2-hour, two-part version of Paul and Leslie's visit to Cuba and the Ragged Islands of the Bahamas for non-sailors, which excludes some 40 minutes of detailed sailing and navigation information. FREE EXTRA - watch the extended 7-minute preview. https://feeds.feedblitz.com/~/106054766/0/thesailingchannel/135744915?autoplay=1 Sailing Documentaries and How-To Videos. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY A film by Rob & Dee Dubin Take four U.S.-Mexico West Coast cruising adventures: San Francisco Bay, the Sea of Cortez, the Channel Islands, and Ensenada, Mexico. Hosted by America's Cup Champ and sailing commentator, Gary Jobson. From the Sailing Quarterly Video Magazine series. Your voyage begins with a cruise of San Francisco Bay from the Golden Gate Bridge to remote coves far from the city's center. Next, sail south to Mexico's Sea of Cortez. Enjoy a crewed charter that takes you to the villages and islands of this rugged and beautiful cruising ground. Returning to southern California sail to the uninhabited Channel Islands. Explore the diverse flora and fauna on Santa Cruz Island, often referred to as the Galapagos of the North. Complete your West Coast cruise with a one-day flotilla sail from San Diego to Ensenada, Mexico. Tour this popular cruising destination and the surrounding countryside. Finally, cast off for the picturesque Todos Santos islands and a flotilla raft up before sailing home. (D5Z) Watch the Extended Trailer. Check out more Sailing Quarterly destination and how-to videos ABOUT SAILING QUARTERLY Produced in the late 1980's, Sailing Quarterly Video Magazine's 24 one-hour programs set the standard for sailing television. It's content represents over 200 years of sailing knowledge from its hosts and presenters such as Gary Jobson, Don Street, Tristan Jones and John Rousmaniere. We've taken individual stories, and grouped them under instructional categories and cruising destinations. The complete series includes nine instructional volumes, eight destination volumes, and the 24 original SQ one-hour programs. This is timeless content that will benefit every sailor, racer or cruiser. Presented by TheSailingChannel.TV Browse our VOD collection Join our eNewsletter for news and discount offers. Sailing Documentaries and How-To Videos. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY A film by Rob & Dee Dubin U.S. - Canada lakes cruising with Gary Jobson as your host. Cruise from the Great Lakes to Utah including Canada's Georgian Bay, Lake Superior's Apostle Islands, Lake Michigan's Traverse Bay, and Utah's Lake Powell. From the Sailing Quarterly Video Magazine series. Your cruise starts in the North Channel of Canada's Georgian Bay. Located on the north coast of Lake Huron, this rugged cruising ground features forested shorelines and scattered islands. Onboard an ODay 35 sloop, we take brisk daysails to picturesque anchorages. Next we're off to Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands National Lake Shore, a collection of 22 pine-covered islands, mostly undeveloped. We provision in Bayfield, a quaint town that is the gateway to cruising the Apostles. Using mostly line of sight navigation, we island hop through this remote archipelago featuring dramatic north woods scenery. Our next stop is Traverse Bay in northern Lake Michigan. In Traverse City, we meet expert sailing instructor and charter skipper, Captain Jack Klang, who acts as our guide on a chartered Morgan 38. The area features two bays with numerous islands, inlets, harbors and small towns to explore. Clear waters, and a northern landscape of alternating rolling fields and forests greet the cruising sailor. Our final segment is a family cruise on southwest Utah's Lake Powell. This man-made lake offers a desert landscape with 1900 miles of meandering shoreline for trailer boaters. Lake Powell features warm waters, sandy beaches and dozens of canyons for both water and onshore exploration. (D6Z) Check out more Sailing Quarterly destination and how-to videos ABOUT SAILING QUARTERLY Produced in the late 1980's, Sailing Quarterly Video Magazine's 24 one-hour programs set the standard for sailing television. It's content represents over 200 years of sailing knowledge from its hosts and presenters such as Gary Jobson, Don Street, Tristan Jones and John Rousmaniere. We've taken individual stories, and grouped them under instructional categories and cruising destinations. The complete series includes nine instructional volumes, eight destination volumes, and the 24 original SQ one-hour programs. This is timeless content that will benefit every sailor, racer or cruiser. Presented by TheSailingChannel.TV. Browse our VOD collection Join our eNewsletter for news and discount offers. Sailing Documentaries and How-To Videos. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY A Video Series with John Rousmaniere Based on his famous book and hosted by the author, this award-winning instructional DVD series is now available as a Digital Download. As the old salt says, "rocks don't move." Though made nearly 15 years ago, Rousmaniere's milestone series teaches basic sailing techniques handed down by generations of sailors. A must for newbies and a solid reference for those who want to freshen up their sailing skills. "Will help Sailors be more confident and even enjoy sailing in heavy weather." - Gary Jobson. New sailors may want to begin with Volume V, Sailing Daysailors. This video provides a great introduction to the principles and mechanics of sailing, which is much easier to grasp and understand sailing a small boat. You can then apply these basic skills to larger craft and having a solid foundation for the sailing skills presented in the other four volumes. View trailers for each volume. New sailors may want to begin with Volume V, Sailing Daysailors. This video provides a great introduction to the principles and mechanics of sailing, which is much easier to grasp and understand sailing a small boat. You can then apply these basic skills to larger craft and have a solid foundation for the sailing skills presented in the other four volumes. The five program series includes: Vol I: Cruising Under Sail Vol. II: Heavy Weather Sailing Vol. III: Safety At Sea Vol. IV: Sailboat Navigation Vol. V: Sailing Daysailors About John Rousmaniere As one of the sport's most acknowledged authorities, John Rousmaniere has covered more than 30,000 miles of blue water and written fifteen books about the sea and sailing. Yacht Racing and Cruising World Magazine awarded Rousmaniere its Medal of Achievement for his Contribution to Yachting. Presented by TheSailingChannel.TV Browse our VOD collection Join our eNewsletter for news and discount offers. Sailing Documentaries and How-To Videos. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY A film by Claire Roberge and Guy Lavoie.A human adventure meeting the indigenous people of the North. Join Claire and Guy aboard their steel-hulled sailboat, BALTHAZAR as they sail 7000 nautical miles from Gaspé, Quebec Canada to Alaska's Bering Sea via Greenland and the legendary Northwest Passage. Purchase or rent the full 81-minute documentary on Vimeo On Demand. Version française incluse. Un film documentaire de Claire Roberge et Guy Lavoie. Une aventure humaine qui rencontre les peuples indigènes du Nord. Rejoignez Claire et Guy à bord de leur voilier à coque d'acier, BALTHAZAR alors qu'ils naviguent à 7000 milles marins de Gaspé, au Québec, en passant par la mer de Béring en Alaska par le Groenland et le légendaire passage du Nord-Ouest. TESTIMONIALS: "Brilliant, your movie, impeccable, intelligent and very relevant story. I learn a lot, thank you" -- F. Rousseau “A movie to be seen! Thank you, it is really a great privilege to witness this great adventure. You shared it with a big generosity." -- M.R. Lepage ABOUT CLAIR, GUY, & BALTHAZAR After spending 7 years building their 10.5 meter sailing vessel, Claire Roberge, Guy Lavoie and their 2 daughters, Joelle and Chloe set off in September 1999 on a 5 year circumnavigation. Crossing 3 oceans the family sailed to 34 countries. Ten years after their return, Claire and Guy set off once more, this time to take on the mystical Northwest Passage - Canada's Arctic archipelago linking the North Atlantic with the Pacific. Presented by TheSailingChannel.TV Browse our VOD collection Join our eNewsletter for news and discount offers. Sailing Documentaries and How-To Videos. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY TRAILER Lin Pardey resides on a picturesque island along New Zealand's coast. Recently, New Zealand TV filmed Lin as she reminisced about her sailing career with husband, Larry. Lin and Larry Pardey are among America's (and the world's) most knowledgeable and recognized cruising sailors. During their 40 plus year career, they sailed over 200,000 miles, including two circumnavigations east to west and west to east aboard two self-built, wooden, engine-free cutters under 30 feet. Authors of a dozen books, countless magazine articles, and co-creators of five cruising documentaries, Lin and Larry have shared their sailing experiences with tens of thousands around the globe prompting many to take up sailing and live the dream of the cruising lifestyle. The Pardey's motto is "Go simple, go modest, go small--just go". Check out the Pardey Offshore Sailing 5 Video Series. Presented by TheSailingChannel.TV rowse our VOD collection of destination and how-to sail videos. Join our eNewsletter for news and discount offers. Sailing Documentaries and How-To Videos. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO WATCH FREE TRAILER This video takes on the challenge of simplifying celestial navigation. Buckley gives the viewer just enough concept but sticks primarily to the procedure, like a chef explaining the steps in a recipe. Buckley demonstrates the following steps: 1. Take a Sight of the sun with your sextant. 2. Get your Geographical Position from the Air Almanac. 3. Select an Apparent Position along a line of latitude. 4. Refer to the Sight Reduction Tables to draw a Line of Position. 5. Plot your Exact Position. Purchase the Download and Streaming Rental at Vimeo on Demand. ABOUT WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY, JR. William F. Buckley, Jr. was an American conservative author and commentator, founder of National Review magazine, host of the long-running political TV show, Firing Line, and author of more than fifty books. He was also a passionate and experienced sailor. For more, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_F._Buckley_Jr. Check out the Celestial Navigation Simplified on TheSailingChannel.TV Presented by TheSailingChannel.TV Browse our VOD collection Join our eNewsletter for news and discount offers. Sailing Documentaries and How-To Videos. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY VIDEO SUBSCRIBE TO SAILFLIX.COM through 31 May, 2019 for a chance to win an Oceanus Brass Bow-Shackle Pen. SAILFLIX is our new sailing video subscription service powered by Vimeo OTT. SailFlix features contemporary and classic sailing documentaries and how-to videos from some of the most renowned sailors of our time. DISCOVER OCEANUS BRASS Oceanus Brass is as bold as it is thoughtful. We make timeless instruments that are both rich in heritage and innovative in design. Tools that you can use every day with proud confidence on the open ocean or in your office. Presented by TheSailingChannel.TV Subscribe to SailFlix, our new sailing video subscription service. Browse our VOD collection of destination and how-to sail videos. Join our eNewsletter for news and discount offers. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

CLICK TO PLAY A Video Series with Michael Briant A 6-part video series by Michael Briant Join British bluewater sailor and TV Director, Michael Briant as he sails to exotic destinations from the Caribbean to Asia aboard his 1980 Moody 36 center cockpit sloop, Bambola. ******************************************** Available with a SailFlix.com subscription. Buy or Rent with Vimeo On Demand ******************************************* Begin your journey sailing from Trinidad to Panama, stopping at seldom visited locales in the southern Caribbean. Next, transit the Panama Canal into the Pacific and sail on to the remote Galapagos islands. Continue across the south Pacific to the Marquesas and Tuamotus. Then explore Tahiti, Bora Bora, and the Cook Islands of French Polynesia. Complete your south Pacific crossing by visiting Sydney, Australia then sailing north along the east coast through the Great Barrier Reef and around the top of Australia to Darwin. Finally, make a tropical 500 miles passage to West Timor, gateway to Indonesia and the Indian Ocean. Contemporary and Classic Sailing Documentaries and How-To Videos. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

Ten years after Don sold her, at 0200 on July 26, 2019 - Don's 89th birthday, Iolaire was underway in heavy weather. She was sailing dead downwind in the Spanish Balearic islands along the northeast coast of Ibiza. Reports state that an inadvertent jibe caused her to head inshore, pile up on the rocks, and sink ending her 114 year old career. In this video podcast from Don's two volume how-to set: Streetwise Tips, Don demonstrates three different ways to rig a preventer that will stop an accidental jibe of the boom when running well off or straight down wind. CLICK TO PLAY. DON STREET VIDEOS Over the years Don has been involved in the production of five major sailing videos in which he passes on his decades of seamanship knowledge. Iolaire is featured in two of these: "Antigua Race Week 1985" and "Transatlantic with Street". Three others contain dozens of how-to sailing tips: "Streetwise 1 & 2, and Sailors' Knots & Line Handling. You can stream Don's videos, and purchase Downloads and DVDs with a SailFlix subscription. You can buy or rent individual Don Street videos through Vimeo On Demand. MAIN BOOM FOREGUY/PREVENTER Over a half century ago, when Don purchased Iolaire in St Thomas, he realized that the large, heavy main boom (leftover from her gaff rigged days) could be a real widow maker in an inadvertent jibe. Don insisted that whenever sailing broad off, the crew rig a main boom foreguy/preventer. This was often a difficult and dangerous job. After testing various methods, Don developed a foreguy/preventer that the crew could easily rig with no one going FORWARD of the mast. WATCH THE VIDEO then read Don's detailed instructions. ALWAYS rigged when sailing broad off or dead down wind, Don's foreguy/preventer kept crew and Iolaire safe throughout Don's ownership. IOLAIRE HISTORY "Iolaire" is a Gaelic term that translates in English as “white-tailed sea eagle”. She was designed, built and launched by Harris Bros, UK in 1905. Iolaire was the only 100 year old plus yacht that had been in continuous commission since she was launched; cruising and racing during both wars, as she was Irish owned and based. In her early years, Iolair was raced and cruised by several prominent skippers of the R.O.R.C (the UK's Royal Ocean Racing Club). For full specifications and history of Iolaire, visit the Classicsailboats.org Iolaire registry page.. IOLAIRE AND DON STREET Beginning in 1957, Don Street owned and sailed the 46 foot yawl for 52 years cruising, chartering, racing, and exploring the eastern Caribbean with family, friends and his Grenadian crew. Don skippered Iolaire across the Atlantic seven times between the United Kingdom and the Caribbean, and eight times up and down the Thames River - all without an engine. The knowledge he gain from these voyages resulted in hundreds of articles, three books, and his all inclusive Guides to the Eastern Caribbean and the Atlantic's Cape Verdes islands. Don also created the highly popular Imray Iolaire Charts to the Eastern Caribbean, which opened these waters to regular cruising sailors for the first time. Learn more about Don Street and Iolaire. Brought to you by TheSailingChannel.TV

On Friday Paramount dropped the trailer for the second most anticipated EON Production of 2020, The Rhythm Section! The Rhythm Section has been delayed several times (first when star Blake Lively suffered an on-set injury), but here's proof that it's finally really coming... and it looks great! While an adaptation of Mark Burnell's 1999 spy novel would be something for spy fans to be seriously excited about anyway, it's even more exciting because it hails from Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson's EON Productions, the producers behind the James Bond movies. While EON has been venturing outside the realm of 007 lately, this marks their first new foray into the genre that defined them—and that they defined, under the auspices of first-generation Bond producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman. And it's not only a new EON spy movie; it's potentially the start of a new, female-fronted EON spy series! (Burnell wrote four Stephanie Patrick thrillers.) Will Lively end up being the Sean Connery of a long lasting Stephanie Patrick film series?

The books are quite good, and remind me of a female Callan. Like Callan, Stephanie ends up working as an assassin for a particularly unpleasant boss in an ultra-secret branch of British Intelligence. And like Callan, she doesn't do this work by choice. Instead she's forced into it by that unpleasant boss. But she's also got very personal motivations (motivations he ruthlessly manipulates) for her initial mission: an opportunity to get revenge on the terrorists responsible for the death of her parents and siblings. Burnell's book is very dark and very serious, and judging from this trailer the movie will be true to that tone. In fact, the movie (directed by Reed Morano and scripted by Burnell himself) looks quite faithful to the book overall, though it's obvious that the ending has been changed, which was pretty much a given. (The villains' plot in the '99 book had eerie similarities to 9/11, which simply wouldn't play in today's world.) And it looks great!

The first of two major EON spy movies coming out next year, The Rhythm Section opens on January 31, 2020. It stars Blake Lively (The Age of Adaline), Jude Law (Spy), Raza Jaffrey (Spooks/MI-5), and Sterling K. Brown (Black Panther).

It looks like this time, Paramount's decades-held hopes of making a movie out of Tom Clancy's epic saga Without Remorse are really going to happen! Last month, Variety reported that Jamie Bell will join the previously announced Michael B. Jordan (playing frequent Clancy hero John Clark) in the movie from director Stefano Sollima (helmer of the very Clancy-esque Sicario: Day of the Soldado). Bell will play a familiar character from the Tom Clancy universe, CIA Deputy Director of Operations Robert Ritter. Henry Czerny memorably essayed the role in 1994's Clear and Present Danger, in which Willem Dafoe played Clark.

Today, several more actors joined the cast, making this Without Remorse more and more of a reality! (Forgive my incredulity. It's just hard to believe this movie is finally happening after literally decades of development!) Deadline reports that Luke Mitchell (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Jacob Scipio (Bad Boys For Life), Cam Gigandet (Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden), Jack Kesy (12 Strong), and Todd Lasance (Spartacus) are all signing on as members of Clark's SEAL team. Nearly all of them have played special forces operators before. Additionally, Jodie Turner-Smith (The Last Ship, The Neon Demon) has been cast as a potential love interest for Jordan.

According to the trade, "Without Remorse is the origin story of John Clark, played by Jordan, a Navy SEAL-turned-CIA ops officer, who seeks revenge after his girlfriend is killed by a Baltimore drug lord." That sounds more or less like the novel, so if this capsule summary comes from the studio (and not just a Deadline writer Wikipedia-ing the book), then perhaps we can expect a fairly faithful adaptation. What I'm guessing we won't get is a period piece. I doubt Clark will serve in Vietnam in this version; I suspect they'll make it contemporary. (This was the plan back when Tom Hardy was supposed to play Clark in a series intended to cross over with Chris Pine's intended Jack Ryan franchise.) Paramount are very eager to launch a new film franchise with this movie, already eyeing Clancy's Rainbow Six as a follow-up. Also unclear is whether there will be any crossover with Amazon's Jack Ryan TV series, which hails from the same producers. The Clark character has been kept out of that series so far because of the percolating film franchise, but that doesn't necessarily preclude a cameo from John Krasinski in Without Remorse....

Without Remorse is slated to open September 18, 2020.

I've never quite understood the concept of "James Bond Day" (or "Global James Bond Day?"). But maybe that's because since I was 11, I don't think there's been any day I haven't thought about James Bond! Maybe there are people out there who need reminding? Anyway, to mark this year's James Bond Day, MGM and EON have released the first poster for Daniel Craig's final outing as Bond, No Time To Die. No Time To Die, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and starring Craig, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux, Lashana Lynch, Ana de Armas, Jeffrey Wright, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw, Billy Magnussen, David Dencik, and Rory Kinnear, opens in the U.S. on April 8, 2020.

In a great profile in Saturday's New York Times promoting his new novel Agent Running in the Field, author John le Carré  reveals that his sons' production company, The Ink Factory, are plotting an epic new TV series about his most famous character, spymaster George Smiley. "According to le Carré," asserts the article's author, Tobias Grey, "The Ink Factory now plans to do new television adaptations of all the novels featuring Cold War spy George Smiley - this time in chronological order. 'That means that if you actually go back to the first big conspiracies in The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, you've got to consider how Smiley ages and how young he was at that time,' le Carré says. That would mean finding an actor who can play younger than the Smiley incarnated by Gary Oldman in the film version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Le Carré says that his sons are interested in casting the British actor Jared Harris, whose performance they all admired in the recent TV mini-series Chernobyl." Harris (The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Allied), interestingly, was originally cast in Tomas Alfredson's 2011 le Carré  adaptation Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as Circus (MI6) chief Percy Alleline, but had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts with Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, in which he played Professor Moriarty. Toby Jones took on the Alleline role, and embodied the character perfectly. Besides Oldman, Smiley has been played in the past by Denholm Elliott, James Mason, Rupert Davies, and, most memorably, Alec Guinness in two famous BBC miniseries.

A new miniseries version of The Spy Who Came In From the Cold was first announced back in 2016 as a follow-up to the hugely successful le Carré miniseries The Night Manager. Le Carré worked with the producers and writer to crack their take on the material, and that work led him to write a whole new sequel to the book, A Legacy of Spies, but did not yield a series. Instead, The Little Drummer Girl (2018) proved to be the next le Carré miniseries, but work continued on The Spy Who Came In From the Cold. Now, apparently, that project has grown in scope and morphed into this one. I've long craved a long-form TV series about le Carré's Circus, devoting a season to each book and dropping in the short stories from The Secret Pilgrim at the appropriate historical moments and, most crucially, finally giving us a television version of the (to date unfilmed) middle book in the Karla trilogy, The Honourable Schoolboy. This sounds like it could turn out to be exactly that! (Though hopefully they'll begin at the real beginning with Call For the Dead, and not The Spy Who Came In From the Cold.) It's a most tantalizing prospect!

Read my George Smiley Primer here.

USA's Bourne spin-off series Treadstone premieres tomorrow night. While I've been surprised by the paucity of advertising in the real world, the network has released many, many clips online over the past month--enough, seemingly, to create a fairly good assembly cut of the pilot episode! But they've saved the best for last. A clip with an extended fight scene and a chase across European rooftops shared today by the International Spy Museum really demonstrates that they appear to have captured the tone and feel of Doug Liman's 2002 movie The Bourne Identity. (The lead actor also seems to have been cast at least partly for bearing a slight resemblance to Matt Damon.) This has me very excited to sample the series tomorrow night! Watch the clip here.

Read my review of the novel that started it all, Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity, here.

Treadstone premieres on Tuesday, October 15, at 10/9c on USA.

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A whole decade after the release of his second OSS 117 spy spoof, Lost in Rio (review here), Jean Dujardin (who picked up an Oscar for Best Actor in the interim) has at long last stepped back into the role that brought him international fame. Cameras began rolling this week on a third OSS 117 comedy, as announced by director Nicolas Bedos via video of a clapperboard on Instagram. OSS 117: Alerte rouge en Afrique noire (literally translated as OSS 117: Red Alert in Black Africa, which very much has the ring of a Jean Bruce novel title, but the ultimate English title is unlikely to be a direct translation of the French one) is scheduled to film in Paris and Kenya, with Bedos (La belle époque) taking the reins from Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist), who helmed the first two. Hazanavicius and Bedos both contributed to the controversial 2012 sex comedy portmanteau The Players, which also starred Dujardin. Jean-François Halin, who co-wrote the first two OSS 117 comedies with Hazanavicius and went on to create the very funny, Sixties-set comedic spy series Au service de la France (known as A Very Secret Service in America, where it streams on Netflix) handles solo scripting duties on this one. Pierre Niney (Yves Saint Laurent), Fatou N'Diaye (Spiral), and Wladimir Yordanoff (currently appearing with Dujardin in An Officer and a Spy) are also among the cast.

Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath, code name OSS 117, began life long before Dujardin. The redoubtable secret agent was the brainchild of French author Jean Bruce, and starred in a series of 234 novels (of which only a handful have ever been translated into English) beginning in 1949 (and thus predating Ian Fleming's more famous superspy). The books are serious spy stories, and the character was initially treated seriously on screen, too, beginning in the 1950s, but most famously in a series of five exceptional Eurospy movies directed or produced by André Hunebelle (Fantomas) between 1963 and 1968. (Read my review of my favorite, OSS 117: Terror in Tokyo, which presaged many James Bond moments, here.) Once notoriously hard to track down in English-friendly versions, Kino Lorber has now, happily, released a set of those five films on DVD and Blu-ray. For a more in-depth history of the character and links to my reviews of all the films, see my post OSS 117: An Introduction.

In 2006, Michel Hazanavicius revived the character in the hilarious send-up OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (review here). That first spoof was set in the Fifties and brilliantly parodied the early Bond films (with Dujardin partly channeling young Sean Connery) and Alfred Hitchcock movies... along with the prevalent casual racism and sexism of that era. The 2009 sequel was set in the late Sixties, spoofing the Sixties Bond movies and Eurospy movies.

A third film has been mooted ever since, always intended to be set in Africa. At one point it was supposed to be set in the Seventies and parody blaxploitation movies, Jason King, and Jean-Paul Belmondo action flicks, as well as the Roger Moore Bond movies (and fashions) of that period. Now, presumably since so much time has passed, Premiere reports that OSS 117: Alerte roughe en Afrique noire will be set in the 1980s. While I'm sorry we won't see Dujardin sporting Peter Wyngarde-style fashions, the Eighties setting will still provide ample opportunity to spoof the Moore Bond films and Belmondo, whose own African spy epic The Professional was made in 1981.
Thanks to Jack for the red alert on this one!

The first actual movie footage of the next Daniel Craig James Bond movie, No Time To Die! Not the actual trailer yet (that's due on Wednesday), but the trailer for the trailer! And it looks amazing! Consider my appetite whetted. This premiered during football tonight in the U.S.

EW shared the first teaser today for Bravo's upcoming reality competition series Spy Games. According to EW, the show "features 10 contestants living together in a large house and attempting to gather intel on their fellow players while competing in challenges designed by three former spies, alumni of the CIA, Secret Service, and FBI. Players will be eliminated until one remains to claim a $100,000 prize." Apparently the format is in some ways based on a real-life World War II-era scheme known as Station S, "in which civilians were recruited and relocated to a 'remote estate' to be trained as spies." Spy Games, which is hosted by model and martial artist Mia Kang, premieres on Monday, January 20, 2020, at 10/9c. I tried to embed the video, but Bravo's own awful, awful video platform (which is really quite terrible) automatically plays a Real Housewives promo instead. So check out the trailer here.
Thanks to Jeff for the intel alert!

Black Widow will be the first of Marvel's superspies to get her own movie (preceding Shang Chi by a year), and today Marvel released the first trailer. And it looks pretty cool! I'm honestly surprised about how many images come directly from the various Black Widow comics over the years. Clearly, the character's first standalone film will contain some flashbacks to Natasha Romanoff's early days as a child raised to be a KGB assassin in Moscow's infamous Red Room. Scarlett Johansson has played the role in seven Marvel movies (most recently the all-time box office champ Avengers: Endgame), but this will be her first solo feature.


If you want to play catch-up on the comics and see where some of those images in the trailer come from, there are some collections out there that make that possible. (And even more are due next year in the lead up to the movie!) Three beautifully prodcued Marvel Premiere hardcovers collect this secret agent's most essential adventures in matching volumes. Black Widow: The Sting of the Widow presents the character's first appearance (in a silly costume in an issue of Iron Man) and earliest solo adventures from the early Seventies, after she'd gotten an Emma Peel makeover, ending up in the black catsuit with which she's still most closely associated. These early Black Widow comics will surely be of interest to collectors and hardcore fans, but casual fans looking for a great introduction to the character are better off picking up the second volume in the series, Black Widow: Web of Intrigue first.

Black Widow: Web of Intrigue offers an excellent primer on the character containing some of her classic appearances from the early Eighties, including an excellent comic drawn by my second-favorite spy artist (after Steranko), Paul Gulacy.  (Look for a cameo appearance by Michael Caine!) Black Widow: Web of Intrigue contains this and several other seminal tales of the red-haired Russian superspy. A third volume, Black Widow: The Itsy Bitsy Spider collects a pair of Marvel Knights stories from the late Nineties (including one by Queen & Country scribe Greg Rucka).

My two favorite modern-day Widow storylines have yet to receive the hardcover treatment, sadly, but are available in a pair of out-of-print trade paperbacks. (They'll also, happily, be collected in a new single volume next year!) Richard K. Morgan's Black Widow: Homecoming and Black Widow: The Things They Say About Her put the focus on espionage above superheroics and are among the very best Marvel spy stories of this century. Other recent Widow stories include Black Widow: Deadly Origin, Black Widow and the Marvel Girls, Black Widow: The Name of the Rose and Black Widow: Kiss or Kill. Most of the character's adventures with Daredevil from the 1970s are included in Essential Daredevil: Volume 3. as well as the color Daredevil Epic Collection: A Woman Called Widow.

In anticipation of tomorrow's trailer debut, MGM have released six new character posters for No Time To Die. They include Ana de Armas as Paloma (above), her Knives Out costar Daniel Craig as James Bond (sort of channeling GoldenEye Pierce Brosnan in his combat gear), Lashanna Lynch as Nomi, Ben Whishaw returning as Q, SPECTRE's Lea Seydoux returning as Madeleine Swann, and Rami Malek as Safin. No Time To Die, the 25th official James Bond movie (and Craig's fifth) opens in April. The first trailer will debut tomorrow morning on Good Morning America.

It's here! The trailer we've been waiting so long for! And our first lengthy look Daniel Craig in action as James Bond since SPECTRE in 2015. (I'm a little surprised at how direct a sequel to that movie No Time To Die appears to be.) Check it out:

Eurospy fans, your collective prayers have been answered! The Sixties Bond knockoff (a term I use with great affection) title I've heard most often requested is finally coming to Blu-ray! In the UK, anyway. So American Eurospy aficionados who don't yet have all-region Blu-ray players (and you really ought to), add them to your Christmas lists! On February 17, 2020, Network will release the Bondified Jet Age Bulldog Drummond movie Some Girls Do (lesser sequel to the greatest Eurospy movie of all, Deadlier Than the Male) in Region B high-def. On the same date the title will also make its standalone DVD debut (Region 2). Both releases are quite notable, because they mark the first time ever that this title has been available in its native 1.66:1 widescreen aspect ratio. It was previously available only on a Region 2 double feature DVD from Network paired with Deadlier Than the Male (which the company has offered on its own on Blu-ray for some time now). While that title came in widescreen, the Some Girls Do on offer was a panned and scanned 4x3 version--and transferred from a rather iffy source. Hopefully (and presumably, given the new aspect ratio), Network have uncovered a better source print for the new 1080p HD transfer. So even if you don't have an all-region Blu-ray player, but do have an all-region DVD player, you'll still have a way to finally see this movie the way it was meant to be seen!

Some Girls Do (1969) stars Richard Johnson (Deadlier Than the Male, Danger Route), Daliah Lavi (Casino Royale, The High Commissioner), Beba Loncar (Fuller Report, Lucky the Inscrutable), James Villiers (For Your Eyes Only, Otley), and the great Robert Morley (Hot Enough For June,  Topkapi) in a scene-stealing role as cooking teacher "Miss Mary." Here's Network's description of the movie:

Richard Johnson returns as Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond in this action-packed take on the exploits of H.C. McNeile's famous fictional hero - this time with an added dose of late '60s whimsy when Drummond comes up against a gang of armed, gorgeous fembots! Some Girls Do is presented here as a new High Definition transfer from original film elements in its original aspect ratio.
Drummond is hot on the trail of his nemesis, the devious Carl Petersen, who is hell-bent on sabotaging the new British fighter airplane. Peterson must be stopped - whatever the cost - but this time he's protected by a bodyguard of murderous female androids!

Special features are limited to the theatrical trailer and an "extensive image gallery," but just having this title in its proper aspect ratio is reason enough to buy the disc! And to have that great, great poster art on the cover! (My own Some Girls Do UK quad with that key art hangs in a place of pride in my apartment protected by UV-coated museum glass.)

Pre-order the Blu-ray from Network here.
Pre-order the DVD from Network here.
Read my review of Deadlier Than the Male here.

Wow! We're so close to the release of a new Bond movie now that a new James Bond theme song has been released into the world! Listen for yourself to Billie Eilsish's title track to the twenty-fifth EON 007 movie, No Time to Die. Eilish recently won all the Grammies, pretty much, and performed at the Oscars. It seems pre-ordained that this track will shoot to the top of the charts. Eilish reportedly wrote the song with her brother, Finneas. Hans Zimmer composed the film's score.

The spy genre has lost a Great today. The Guardian reports that Honor Blackman has passed away at the age of 94, "of natural causes unrelated to coronavirus." It's crushing to lose two of the key Bond Girls in a matter of months, Blackman's death coming on the heels of Thunderball's Claudine Auger in December. And while she will probably be best remembered for her definitive portrayal of Pussy Galore opposite Sean Connery in Goldfinger, Blackman's mark on the spy genre is far greater. For me, she'll first and foremost always be Cathy Gale, John Steed's first regular female partner on the UK TV classic The Avengers.

Cathy Gale was ultimately overshadowed by Steed's more famous subsequent partner, Emma Peel (played to perfection by another future Bond Girl, Diana Rigg), but Gale's and Blackman's place in television history cannot be overstated. Cathy Gale was television's original badass, leather-clad female spy, paving the way not only for Mrs. Peel, but for Honey West (producer Aaron Spelling was inspired to create the show by Avengers episodes he saw in England, and reportedly first offered the role to Blackman, who turned it down), The Bionic Woman, Alias's Sydney Bristow, and every other leading lady of espionage to throw an attacker over her shoulder, as well as non-spy heroines like Xena and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Quite simply, there had never been an action-oriented female protagonist on television before Honor Blackman's groundbreaking performance. She changed the game. In part, this was due to Blackman inheriting scripts that had been originally written for another male partner for Steed (following his first season foil, Ian Hendry's Dr. David Keel), which were hastily rewritten for her, but kept the character involved in the action in a way women hadn't been previously on TV. But in a larger part, it was due to Blackman's undeniable and very physical presence: she played Cathy as a woman definitely not to be trifled with! And she learned judo for the role, impressively dispatching stuntmen twice her size on a regular basis on episodes that were at the time taped live. Her obvious talent even led to the publication of a book, Honor Blackman's Book of Self-Defense.

Prior to playing Cathy Gale, Blackman was known for glamour more than ass-kicking. But she'd already racked up a pretty impressive roster of spy roles. Foremost among them was a regular role on the 1959-60 ITC wheel show The 4 Just Men (review here), in which she played Nicole, secretary to Paris-based Just Man Tim Collier (Dan Dailey). That was a series very much of its time in all respects, so Nicole was no Cathy Gale, but Blackman nonetheless imbued her with the quick wit and spark that would later define her more famous character alongside her martial arts skills. She also made pre-Avengers appearances on other ITC series like The Saint, Danger Man,  and The Invisible Man, as well as U.K. spy and detective series like Top Secret (sadly lost), Ghost Squad, and The Vise, while also turning up in spy movies like Conspirator (with Elizabeth Taylor), Diplomatic Passport, and the original 1953 TV movie version of Little Red Monkey (penned by wartime BSC spy Eric Maschwitz and adapted two years later into a feature film version). Other notable film roles during this period include Jason and the Argonauts (1963), the Eric Ambler-penned Titanic drama A Night to Remember (1958), the Dirk Bogarde suspense drama So Long at the Fair (1950), and the Hammer noir The Glass Tomb (1955). Following the international success of Goldfinger, Blackman surprisingly didn't make many more spy appearances. The notable exceptions were the superior 1968 Goeffrey Jenkins adaptation A Twist of Sand (a movie in dire need of a Blu-ray or at least DVD release!), opposite Deadlier Than the Male's Richard Johnson, and a 1983 TV adaptation of Agatha Christie's Tommy and Tuppence mystery The Secret Adversary. In the late Nineties, Mike Meyers dreamed of getting Blackman and Connery to play Austin Powers' parents, but that didn't happen and Michael Caine ended up playing his dad. While not playing spies, though, Blackman continued to have a robust post-Bond career, including a re-teaming with Connery in the 1968 Western Shalako, a pair of 1970s cult horror movies, Fright ('71), and Hammer's final genre flick of that incarnation, To the Devil a Daughter ('76), opposite Christopher Lee, and, more recently, a very memorable comedic turn in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001). She also continued to make her mark in television, too, with recurring or starring roles on Doctor Who, The Upper Hand, and Coronation Street, and guest appearances in Columbo, Dr. Terrible's House of Horrible, Midsomer Murders, and New Tricks.

Her early fame from The Avengers brought her an unlikely career milestone in 1990 when an infectious novelty single she had recorded with Patrick Macnee in the early Sixties, "Kinky Boots," became a dubious Top 10 radio hit at Christmastime. Some have described it as "embarrassing," but as far as I'm concerned both of those stars had enough infectious charisma to pull it off even if they're not really singers! (I'm also partial to the B-side, "Let's Keep It Friendly," about the characters' platonic relationship on the show.)

Blackman has also had a successful theater career, including productions of "The Sound of Music," "My Fair Lady" and "Cabaret," and a couple of touring one-woman shows. It was one of these performances that brought her into my out-of-the-way neck of the woods when I was in high school in the mid-Nineties. I took in the show, which was amazing, and then managed to meet her backstage. Blackman was the first Bond celebrity I'd ever met, and she did not let me down. She seemed genuinely happy to meet with fans, and gladly signed a Goldfinger trading card for this starstruck teen while regaling me with stories from her days on The Avengers. She even weighed in with a decidedly non-PC answer on a debate I'd been having at the time with a friend about whether Bond and Pussy's roll in the hay was truly consensual. "Darling," she told me, eyes sparkling, "it was Sean Connery. Any woman would have wanted it!"

That sparkle remained ever-present as she remained a public figured right up to the end, always reliable for some media appearances whenever a new Bond movie came out. She never turned her back on the franchise, or publicly showed any resentment for the "Bond Girl" label that followed her throughout her career. She also continued to be a cheerleader for The Avengers, despite having left the series just before its transition to film and color... and the American broadcast that cemented its global fame.

In Blackman's final episode of The Avengers (after her Goldfinger casting was already public news), Steed bade farewell to Cathy Gale with a typical request of a favor, beginning, "And as you're going to be out there anyway, pussyfooting along those sun-soaked shores..."

"You thought I might do a little investigating," she finishes, knowing him all too well. She demurs, asserting her well-earned right to a vacation. "You see I'm not going to be pussy-footing along those sun-soaked shores," she corrects her partner, "I'm going to be lying on them." Pussyfooting or lounging, Honor Blackman has certainly earned her trip to those sun-soaked shores. While more terrestrially, the modern spy genre forever owes her an enormous debt. Blackman was a true trailblazer, who transformed the role of women in the spy genre from femme fatales who relied exclusively on their sexuality to equal participants in the action, undaunted by superior force and unmatched in combat skills.

Deadline reports that an English language version of the international hit French spy series The Bureau (Le Bureau des Légendes) is in the works. Per the trade, Paris-based Federation Entertainment, the production company behind the series, "said that negations are underway for remakes of The Bureau in both the U.S. and South Korea." The original French version airs in America on cable network Sundance, and has found great success in markets all over the world. It stars Mathieu Kassovitz (Haywire, Munich), and Bond villain Mathieu Amalric (Quantum of Solace) came aboard in the fourth season.

It's a real spies' reunion for the miniseries version of Ben MacIntyre's superb non-fiction book A Spy Among Friends! Nearly everyone involved has some serious spy experience on their resume--and many of them have worked together before. It's no wonder the book has attracted such an array of veteran talent; for my money it's a strong contender of the best spy biography ever. MacIntyre uses the close friendship between the notorious double agent Kim Philby and loyal MI6 officer Nicholas Elliott to frame the story of the notorious Cambridge spy ring that shook the foundations of British Intelligence--and the Cold War at large. 

This week MGM has ramped up the campaign for Daniel Craig's long awaited and highly anticipated fifth James Bond movie, No Time To Die. And as fans are painfully aware, this is actually the film's second campaign. No Time To Die had a whole advertising campaign back at the beginning of this year leading up to a hoped for April release, including many posters and even the much publicized, chart-topping release of the movie's excellent theme song by Billie Eilish. But, as we all know, the global pandemic came along and the April release was scrapped. Since then the film has been set for a November release, though even that has been uncertain given the unpredictable nature of the novel coronavirus. Now it certainly looks like EON, MGM, and distributors United Artists and Universal are doubling down on that November release! The date is proudly proclaimed across this brand new poster (frankly a little uninspired compared to the less typical previous campaign's 1-sheet) and in the brand new second trailer. And it's quite a trailer! As far as I can recall, this marks the first time a Craig Bond movie has had this kind of text tagline: The mission that changes everything begins! 

Deadline reports that Marv Films (Matthew Vaughn's UK-based production company) "is plotting 'something like seven more Kingsman films' as part of the company’s expansion plans." That's... ambitious! But other spy franchises have certainly sustained that many or more. At least one of those seven films is expected to be a spinoff centered on the American spies (including Channing Tatum and Jeff Bridges) introduced in the second movie, Statesman. If previous plans mooted by Vaughn are still in effect, another is likely to be a third and supposedly final movie about the characters from the first two films, Eggsy (Taron Edgerton) and Harry Hart (Colin Firth), said to close out that trilogy. 

The next Kingsman movie we see will definitely be the WWI-set prequel The King's Man, long in the can and delayed by the global pandemic. That's currently slated for February, but likely to change again. It stars Harris Dickinson, Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Tom Hollander, and Daniel Brühl. With a cast like that an an exciting new time period less well mined by other spy franchises (and even a more serious tone judging from the trailers), I'm hopeful some more of these upcoming Kingsman films are sequels to The King's Man. Perhaps Dickinson and Fiennes will get as many movies as Edgerton and Firth.

According to Marv Group CEO Zygi Kamasa (per the trade), the company also has a Kingsman TV series in the works.