Onne van der Wal: From Ocean Racer to Celebrated Maritime Photographer

There are few people who reach the top of one career and then achieve prominence in a second. Onne van der Wal is one of those rare individuals. Warm and modest by nature, he is also a gifted overachiever who parlayed a world-class sailing career into an equally impressive career behind the lens.

Early life and the start of a lifelong passion

Born in the Netherlands and raised in Hout Bay, South Africa, van der Wal was introduced to sailing as a toddler on his grandfather’s boat. He grew up in youth sailing programs and quickly developed a deep love for ocean racing. That passion carried him into a professional racing career that would include some of the sport’s most demanding events.

Racing achievements and an unexpected calling

As bowman and engineer aboard the Dutch maxi Flyer II, van der Wal played a key role in the yacht’s dominant performance in the 1981–82 Whitbread Round the World Race (now the Volvo Ocean Race), when Flyer II won all four legs. During those circumnavigations he also photographed life at sea — from the bowsprit, the masthead and wherever the action led him. Editors at Sail magazine saw that his experience as a top-level sailor gave him a unique eye for maritime photography, and his second career began to take shape.

Photography career and recognition

Today, van der Wal is one of a select group of Canon “Explorers of Light,” a distinction that acknowledges influential photographers and cinematographers. His work appears regularly in Soundings and other nautical publications, and he is a familiar presence at the world’s most competitive regattas. He has published several photography books and maintains a gallery on Bannister’s Wharf in Newport, Rhode Island; his portfolio can also be seen at vanderwal.com.

Boats he’s owned and loved

Van der Wal’s personal fleet reflects both practical needs for his craft and a love of traditional sailing. He owns a 25-foot Apex inflatable used for shooting in New England, and a recently acquired Pearson 36 that is undergoing a refit with plans to cruise local coves and back bays with his wife, Tenley. Among his favorite vessels is the 88-foot Tripp-designed sloop Shaman, which he documented over a decade. Shaman — an all-carbon, water-ballasted centerboard sloop — combined the speed and feel of a high-performance racer with the comforts of a capable cruiser and took van der Wal to extraordinary places from the high Arctic to tropical waters.

Dreams, preferences and influences

His dream boat is a robust aluminum, centerboard adventure cruiser of about 45 feet — a vessel versatile enough to explore remote places from Newfoundland to the Exumas. Van der Wal favors extremes: the polar landscapes of Spitsbergen (Svalbard) rank among his most loved destinations, matched only by the turquoise islands of the Exumas in the Bahamas. His favorite nautical book is Ernest Shackleton’s South, the classic account of survival on the Antarctic sea ice.

Memorable voyages and the toughest moments

Some of van der Wal’s most powerful memories come from his time racing and delivering ocean-going yachts. He recalls the thrill of Flyer crossing the finish line of the 1981–82 Whitbread in Portsmouth, England, knowing the team had finished first on every leg and likely secured the handicap prize as well. He also describes a terrifying delivery from Punta del Este, Uruguay, to Cape Town on a 72-foot ketch. Midway across the Southern Ocean in late autumn, the crew faced a severe depression: the barometer plummeted, winds rose to 70 knots and 50-foot breaking seas forced them to heave-to amid brutal conditions.

Career rewards and community engagement

Since establishing himself as a professional maritime photographer in 1987, van der Wal cites the variety of his work — meeting interesting people, sailing aboard remarkable yachts and photographing voyages to the far corners of the globe — as deeply rewarding. Above all, he values the reactions of visitors to the Newport gallery where his images are displayed. He is also a supporter of local environmental stewardship, citing Save the Bay as an organization that helps keep Narragansett Bay clean and healthy for boaters, swimmers and fishermen.

Favorite sea quote

Van der Wal’s feelings about the ocean are captured in John Masefield’s poem “Sea-Fever,” which he keeps close:

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,

And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.

This article originally appeared in the March 2016 issue.