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Sailing on the Frisian Lakes, 1959

View this evocative British Pathé newsreel of sailing contests on the Frisian Lakes in 1959. The commentary is in Dutch and shows competitors hoist their huge fore and mainsails . We see close and long shots of the Dutch barges racing and some of the spectators along the banks.

Created at the beginning of the 20th Century by the Pathé brothers, the newsreel was the world’s first televised news platform. Pioneering the technology and methods of cinema, British Pathé stayed at the forefront of filmed news for decades. Releasing three newsreels a week during that period, British Pathé was the way the people of Britain experienced world events until the advent of television.