Bob Link Collection

Inclusive Dates
1970s
Bulk Dates
1970s
Abstract
The Bob Link Collection consists primarily of 16mm work prints and camera originals of sailing footage from the 1970s, including sailing scenes near the shores and harbors of downtown Chicago and a sailing race aboard Ted Turner's American Eagle. The Bob Link Collection also includes 1 file folder titled "1977" filled with client correspondence, receipts, budget logs, audience testimonials and polaroid photographs.
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Collection Items

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To request more information about the items in this collection, please contact the archive at info@chicagofilmarchives.org.
Items with Viewable Media
Collection Identifier
C.2008-08
Extent of Collection
120 reels of 16mm film totaling 61,054 feet; 36 reels of 16mm Mag Track totaling 22,355 feet; 22 reels of 1/4 inch audio; 14 Audiocassette tapes; 1 VHS; 1 reel of 1" video; 1 file folder of paper materials and photographs.
Language Of Materials
English
Subject
Chicago (Ill.)
Travel
Boats and Boating
Sailing
Custodial History
These films were stored previously by Jack Behrend. Bob Link gave Jack Behrend the films for safe-keeping before his death.
Related Materials
A composite print of Sailing: Do It Right- Keep It Safe can be found in the Jack Behrend Collection at Chicago Film Archives.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open to on-site access. Appointments must be made with Chicago Film Archives. Due to the fragile nature of the films, only video copies will be provided for on-site viewing.
Use Restrictions
Chicago Film Archives holds the copyright for the films in this collection.
Creators
Link, Bob (was created by)
Bob Link was the sole owner of the Chicago production company YACHT Films International, which made 16mm color sound films about sailing for showings to professional groups, civic organizations and yacht clubs. Bob was a good friend of Jack Behrend who is the namesake of another CFA collection. Bob taught Jack sailing, while Jack taught Bob filmmaking. Together they made the Michelob sponsored film Sailing: Do It Right - Keep It Safe (1977), an instructional sailing film that currently resides in CFA's Jack Behrend Collection. The film was made in response to a perception that many boating accidents were alcohol related, and made the point to drink after you are in the harbor or at anchor.
Behrend, Jack (was created by)
Jack Behrend was born in Chicago in 1929. After getting a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Behrend joined the army in 1951. Upon leaving the army in 1953, Behrend became a partner in his father's business, selling and renting used motion picture theater equipment. Two years later, Behrend and his father decided to market their business towards television companies, where there was a greater degree of growth than in movie theaters. He worked as a professional industrial filmmaker from the 1950s until the 1990s. In the early 1970s, Behrend worked with the Director's Guild of America to set up a committee that acknowledged films being made in Chicago. For over ten years the committee held monthly film screenings first at the Sheraton Hotel, and then at a space above a wine store at 745 N. La Salle street.

Behrend passed away in 2026.