This Pathé archive has evocative footage of yachts, with English commentary, racing at an international regatta in Sweden 1930. Participants include Uffa Fox on ‘Vigilant’ who has taken 17 days to sail to Sweden from Cowes via the Kiel Canal. The archive opens with the title: “Sandhamn. European Sailing Regatta. Yachts from all Countries make striking pictures at Sweden’s ‘Cowes’.” Amongst the footage of sailing yachts, we see King Gustav V of Sweden arriving to watch the regatta and Prince Olav of Norway on his boat (later King Olav V).
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.