Friday, August 13, 2004

Film sets sail with history

Hailey resident shoots documentary in Pacific island kingdom of Tonga


By Tony Evans

For the Mountain Express

Kevin Swigert, of Warbonnet Entertainment based in Hailey, once made a name for himself as a four-time champion of NBC?s Survival of the Fittest. Since that time the 50-year old Idaho native has performed and rigged stunts all over the world for film and television, working with stars like Sylvester Stallone and Kevin Costner. This month he is in the last island kingdom of the South Pacific shooting a documentary on Polynesian sailing. Between interviews of elders and members of the noble family in Tonga, Swigert says, ?This is the first time I have worked on a film that really matters.?

Swigert?s film documentary centers around the efforts of tall ship skipper and sailboat designer Mark Belvedere, who has come to Tonga in order to set a new world record for a vessel under sail. The racing ?proa,? or sailing canoe, which will be used in Belvedere?s speed trial employs sailing technology that was familiar to Tongan captains of the great Ka-lias, sailboats that apparently sailed circles around Captain Cook?s ship Endeavor when it first landed at Hi-hifo in Tonga in 1777.

The Honorable Albert Tu?ivanuavou Veae, secretary of His Majesty the King?s Department of Tonga Traditions Committee in Tonga, spoke in support of the speed trial.

?This project fulfills the goals of the Tonga traditions committee to bring the latest technology from around the world and to suit this technology to the traditions of Tonga.?

Swigert has been interviewing government officials and members of the noble family within the Kingdom of Tonga who are providing adminis-trative support and a 500-meter course for the speed record event, which promises to bring attention to Polynesian sailing both ancient and modern. Swigert intends to follow the speed trial while conducting interviews and collecting information culminating in the establishment of a proposed Polynesian Seafaring Center on a remote island in Tonga.

In addition to speed sailing, Bel-vedere has also been working closely with the Kalia Trust of Tonga, providing generous financial support for the restoration of the Millennium Kalia, a 106-foot long replica of the Tongan ships that navigated vast stretches of the Pacific until the early 1900s.

The dry-docked Millennium Kalia, which awaits a shipment of Kauri wood from Fiji, evokes the classical era of Tongan history. This includes the legendary Lomipeau, a formidable ship capable of transporting enormous monoliths 900 miles over open ocean for use in the construction of the Stonehenge-like Ha?amonga-a-Maui trilithons at Heketa in Tonga during the 13th century.

Belvedere and his sailing partner, fellow tall ship captain and solo transpacific racer Stephen Mann from San Diego, Calif., need upwards of 30 knots of wind during the first week of September to break the current 86 kilometers per hour speed record held by a specialized sailboard design, an air-foil powered craft known as Yellow Pages Endeavor. Both of these vessels are designed to attain high speed on a specific point of sail under highly controlled conditions. Belvedere?s more versatile proa incorporates a patented articulating hull design that extends the boat?s length from 26 to nearly 50 feet while under way.

Perhaps the spirits of Polynesian sailors will join the prayers of Belvedere and crew for strong wind in September.

Swigert will be editing the film through the winter in the Wood River Valley where, he lives with his wife Jennifer and works as the race director for the Boulder Mountain Tour.




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