photos. When he adds, ‘I just love the blue water stuff,’ it’s unclear whether he’s talk- ing about the sailing or the images he col- lected – because the unique intersection between the two was already developing into a speciality.
Onnesignment ‘In 1987 I called up my mom one day and said, “I want to start a new career. I’m gonna be a photographer.” And she says, “My boy, if anybody can do it, you can.” ‘She’s played a huge part in my life, still
does. But what tipped it for me was Bill Schanen at Sailing magazine doing an eight-page story about me called Sailor with a Camera. So many people saw that.’ Another important milestone was taking
holiday. So I headed up into the Andes with the doctor, to smell the mountains and not the ocean and see all the local Aztec people – no tourists in those days. ‘We took a regular bus with goats and
cats and dogs on the roof. When we got back we were buzzing and ready to go.’
Leg 4: Mar del Plata to Portsmouth Flyer II had won line honours on all three legs so far, but to win overall they had to beat Charles Heidsieck III – a French boat Onne remembers as a very well-sailed Frers 65 – by a daunting 92 hours on corrected time. (Ceramco famously had broken their rig on the slog to Cape Town, so they weren’t a threat.) The final climb back up the Atlantic
‘was a fairly easy leg, with a ton of reach- ing’, Onne says, adding with a wink that the crew had smuggled a big jug of rum onboard. ‘The old man didn’t let us drink at all, but he would sleep at night. For days on end we just thundered along in shorts, sitting up on the high side, cooking along.’ They crossed the Equator well to the
west to successfully avoid the Doldrums and the final weather pattern played right into their hands. ‘As we got toward the Bay of Biscay
there was a big high with a low pressure starting to form. We were reaching through that low at 14-15kt, and the guys behind us were hard on the wind in 40kt. So we were able to keep hauling the mail and snuck through, then locked the door behind us.’ That gave them enough time for one last Solent drama… ‘We were coming in past the Needles; a
lot of tide. And there’s the Shingles bank. We hit that fucking thing and parked for a few hours, pissing away valuable time. It got stressful.’ They finally crossed the finish line at daybreak, ‘and then we sat in silence and watched the clock’. Portsmouth gave them a heroes’ wel-
come – and, for Onne, a more personal surprise. ‘I was down below, six in the morning, and I heard a very familiar whistle. Little did I know that my parents had secretly flown to the UK.’ He pauses
to wipe at his eyes. ‘Makes me choke up…’ Flyer II eventually took overall victory
by 19 hours, also setting a new elapsed race record of just over 119 days. ‘We had done the double, handicap and line hon- ours.’ At the prizegiving Onne was greeted enthusiastically by Prince Philip – who was handing out the trophies.
Heroes in Holland too After a caravan holiday with his parents Onne helped deliver Flyer II back to Rotterdam. Apparently the rum locker had been restocked; it was ‘a cruise with much merriment. I’m surprised we never hit anything in the English Channel’. Entering Rotterdam Harbour they were
welcomed by a flotilla that included tugs spraying water into the sky. A ticker tape parade followed, along with honorary memberships in one of the biggest yacht clubs in Holland. For a guy with a Dutch passport it was a special time. ‘In the meantime I was getting all my
pictures published in SAIL Magazine, with spread after spread.’ But one question now loomed large: where would his next big click of opportunity come from?
Blue water beckons After the celebrations finally ended Onne took a job at Huisman’s and also went to flying school, with the goal of getting a helicopter licence for rescue work. ‘But they soon figured out I was colour blind so that was the end of my flying.’ Instead he delivered Huisman’s latest
boats, always returning with long lists of potential improvements – most of which were ignored. ‘The workers were pig- headed Dutch potato farmers, and I was a young guy who wasn’t a boatbuilder. So I told Walter Huisman I was wasting his time – plus, there are no girls here. ‘It was a small little town, nothing
except Huisman. I couldn’t live there. And I really missed the States.’ An invite for the 1983 Transpac
returned Onne to ocean racing. Over the next few years ‘I probably racked up well over 100,000 miles’ as well as a gazillion
a sales job in Newport – which earned him a precious green card. Soon Onne was clicking away full time, capturing sailing images for both commercial and editorial use. Decades later… ‘I still enjoy doing it.’ In 2001 Onne and his wife Tenley
started a gallery on the Newport water- front to show off his pictures to a retail audience. Today when he’s not working he will probably be found with his head in a bilge; a complete restoration of a Pearson 36 was documented by the local television station and now he’s bringing a classic Grand Banks trawler back to life. It was just before the 2018 Volvo Ocean
Race sailed into Newport that he first heard himself referred to as the original OBR. ‘The media team reached out to do a story about me,’ he says, smiling. ‘They all knew who I was, and what I did. In the end they ran out of time, which was a shame; it would have been fun.’
Clicking back As the busy decades flew by Onne always kept in touch with Conny. ‘Every year at Christmas I sent him a calendar. I called him on his birthday. I told him, “Man, you just paved the way for me, for what I’m doing today. Thank you.” And he said, “Hey, you worked hard, and you helped me too. It worked both ways.” He was so gracious, an amazing man.’ When Conny died in 2013 Volvo Ocean
Race OBR Sam Greenfield called Onne. ‘He said, “I want you to tell me a little about that man.” Onne shakes his head. ‘I choked up. I had to stop. It’s amazing how one man can have such an influence on your life. You don’t realise that when you’re 24 or 25, that this path you’re embarking on is going to lay the founda- tion for the rest of your life.’ From engineer-bowman to world-
renowned marine photographer, Onne developed every opportunity towards a unique career – while also creating a new job we now consider an integral part of offshore racing. Seneca may never have clicked the shutter of an SLR but he could have been talking about this Sailor with a Camera when he uttered his famous state- ment: luck is indeed where preparation meets opportunity.
q SEAHORSE 53
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