Another Windcheck Cover by PhotoBoat.com

J105 North Americans

J105 North Americans ended yesterday with another day of great racing. The concern that a regatta on Long Island Sound in early November would be cursed by bad weather was wiped away as the 29-boat fleet sailed 11 races over four great days with winds that spanned around 8-30 knots and temps that were suprisingly bearable.

We saw the entire spectrum of conditions for photography. Check out the photos here.

Video Clip of the Summer

This is our favorite clip from the on-board-cams this summer.

October Windcheck Cover

We haven't tried counting how many times Chris Gill has used our photos on the cover of WindCheck Magazine, but it's always nice. On the cover here are our friends Chris and Michelle who didn't realize what they were signing up for when they decided to sail in the Denmark Friendship race this summer. Check out http://windcheckmagazine.com/.

Storm Trysail Intercollegiate Regatta

What a great event- you can tell these guys are having fun, and so did we. 40 college teams sailed aboard the same boats we're used to photographing all the time on LIS, but the college kids added some new flavor.

See all the photos here.

2009 Heineken HPDO

The weather couldn't have been better for photos at the Heineken HPDO this weekend. Saturday we saw winds reaching 30 knots as a front passed through and the sky changed from overcast to bright and sunny, with a lot of interesting clouds and light in between.

See the photos here.

Given the windy conditions, the competitors should really enjoy getting their complimentary photo CDs this year- thanks to Heineken for sponsoring us again this year to make it happen.

J30 North Americans

The October 3-4 weekend was a tough one for sailing weather, not that it was windy and rough like it usually is in October, but the opposite extreme. The J30s were on the calendar for Friday through Sunday, and Friday's light breeze that peaked around 10 knots was the best we got all weekend. Still, it was enough to make this 14-boat J30 fleet look good as they sailed on Westport waters. See the photos here. Cedar Point Yacht Club has hosted a number of important regattas this year. Next at CPYC: the impressive Laser frostbiting fleet kicks off their season.

Viper NAs

Stamford Yacht Club and Indian Harbor Yacht Club hosted 2009 Viper 640 North Americans and delivered two days of great wind for the sport boats- exactly what they need. 37 boats competed in the teaching regatta, which included after-racing chalk talks for the growing class that's rapidly recruiting new boat owners. As always, Vipers look great in big breeze, so take a look at the photos here and look for them in Sailing World in the spring.

Star NAs: an Easterly and a Westerly

We had two complementary great-weather days during the 4-day Star North American Championship held at Cedar Point Yacht Club in Westport this September. Tuesday was a quintessential Long Island Sound Easterly, with gloomy skies and big seas on the body of water that opens to the East. Friday's Westerly was a familiar weather pattern as well, with high pressure, bright sun, and strong winds. 50-something stars had 4 great days of racing- what a treat. Take a look at the photos here.

NY400 Flying Dutchman Regatta

Around 100 Flying Dutchman sailors from around the world convened in Manhattan this month as part of the NY400 celebration of the 400th anniversary of Captain Henry Hudson's arrival in New York and establishment of New Amsterdam. For a full history lesson and information about the Holland on the Hudson celebration, visit NY400.org.

The waters between Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty are an interesting place to sail and a wonderful place to take photos.

See all the photos here.

The Vineyard Race and The Denmark Race

Two of Long Island Sound's biggest annual races have come and gone again: the Vineyard Race and the Denmark Race, both hosted by Stamford Yacht Club. Labor Day Weekend's Vineyard Race was a drifter this year; the Denmark Race weather was much more interesting for photographs.

See the Vineyard Race photos here and the Denmark Race photos here.

America II and the 12YDF

This photo speaks for itself...

It was a perfect night for a sail on America II (US 42) last night, as we had yet another beautiful evening with clear skies and a little bit of breeze. It's been a great week and it looks like the Vineyard Race participants will get more of the same this weekend- as long as they have some breeze.

We hadn't been aboard a 12 meter since we ran US 42's sister ship, US 46, in 2006. It was good to be back, especially with such a great group of people.

We look forward to photographing the 12s at the 2009 12 Meter Worlds and the rest of the local fall circuit, but also hope to be aboard US 42 and the newly acquired Lionheart more often for the 12 Meter Yacht Development Foundation.

CT Leukemia Cup Regatta

We were thrilled to be involved with the 2009 Connecticut Leukemia Cup Regatta, hosted by Duck Island Yacht Club and North Cove Yacht Club in the Westbrook-Old Saybrook area. This is a very well-planned event for a good cause, and the regatta party was held in a big work shed at Brewer's Pilot's Point Marina. We were not quite as thrilled with the weather that we got, but that goes with the territory, and it certainly makes things interesting. The remnants of hurricane Danny didn't deliver any excessive wind, but did dump buckets of rain on us throughout the entire distance race. Everybody put their foul weather gear to the test during the 2-3 hour race and came in with a good attitude and eagerness to help raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. See the photos here. Click the logo for more info about the event and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

PhotoBoat Annual Cruise

We didn't get to cruise on our Gulfstar 37 this year (at least not yet), nor could we fit in 3 weeks, but at least we got an upgrade on the boat. We had a great time sailing with family aboard the X412 Expeditious- here's a Christmas card shot during a daysail off of Martha's Vineyard. We took care of the delivery home and despite threats from Hurricane Bill, the weather turned out the be quite calm. We just motored along, bobbing up and down with the big swells from the North Atlantic, like this one breaking on the Point Judith breakwater.

Introducing Harry Katz

Thanks to Harry Katz, a photographer and videographer who worked with us this summer. Harry is a Sophomore Photojournalism major at the University of Missouri School of Journalism- one of the top Journalism schools in the country. Harry's comfort with his camera was obvious to us right away, and no wonder, since his father is a well-known commercial photographer. Harry also worked as a photojournalist this summer for the Baltimore Sun. He's built quite a portfolio and is a true professional photographer already.

Harry helped us with video this summer, added to our photo inventory, and was instrumental in helping us with our event set-up.

At each event, we have four terminals networked for participants to view their photos from the regatta, including photos taken that day, searchable by boat name or sail number. With our pop-up tent, our viewing terminals, our projected slideshow going on in the background for those who just want to see a sampling of all the boats, we've got a lot of entertainment going on. Participants and organizers love it. Thanks, Harry, for helping us get to the next level.

Change of Seasons

It's back to school time and things have been busy. We've been covering a number of end-of-summer championships, particularly on the Jr. scene.

The Junior Sailing Association of Long Island Sound 2009 Summer Season ended with some great regattas. We covered Opti Champs at Pequot Yacht Club and Laser/420 Champs at Beach Point Yacht Club.

In spite of the fact that these are the best Laser and 420 sailors on Long Island Sound, when they got an Easterly thrown at them on Western LIS, things got a little messy- as usual. It's such a stark contrast to average LIS summer fair weather conditions. These kids will remember this day for sure, as I remember each one I experienced growing up sailing in Pequot's JSA program.

Be sure to check out the rest of the dramatic photos here.

Opti Champs was not as epic, but there was consistent wind and nice sun, and for that we are grateful. Pequot and Southport Harbor were absolutely overflowing with Optis, but everything was very well orchestrated- nice job, organizers.

I caught this Opti sailor waving to his parents at the jibe mark, which is a fun photo considering the fact that Opti racing can be very competitive.

See all the Opti Champs photos here.

Thistle Nationals 2009

What a week! More than 80 boatloads of Thistle sailors converged on Cedar Point Yacht Club for five days of sailing and a remarkable number of other activities. We've observed a lot of regatta parties, and we have to say, these Thistle sailors made an impression on us. They had costume nights, talent shows, bands, bocce competitions, blender wars, volleyball, and more. Cedar Point was the perfect venue for such laid-back family fun and we were thrilled to be working less than two miles from home.


This group was having a good time out on the water as well- and showing off for the camera- in spite of a week largely full of 5-knot days.

We got a lot of great shots throughout the week; check out our photos here.

2009 Governor's Cup Photos

The 2009 Governor's Cup start was very dynamic this year, with a lot of weather changes on the heals of a day of thunderstorms. The skies cleared just in time for the start and 15 knots filled in from the North on the heels of the front. It didn't hold for long, but a steady breeze held long enough for us to chase 100 boats 11 miles and get some nice shots. The light was constantly changing, and we were lucky enough to have a few moments like this one, where we caught Age of Reason looking good in some nice light. When the last bit of useable light was gone, we took the 11-mile trip back to Annapolis, packed up our boats, and headed to our dorm room at St. Mary's college...always fun. The next day's conditions were light but pretty, and as always, Southern Maryland knows how to party.

We always get a kick out of the photography competition that goes with this event- it's safe to say that there are more photographers at the Gov Cup than there are at Key West Race Week! Maybe we should enter the photo contest...

See the 2009 Gov Cup Photos here.

Across the Sound

KFAC IX took place last Saturday and between 200 and 300 kayakers made it across the Long Island Sound again this year. We always feel so lazy for powerboating across when all these guys are limited to self-propulsion, but they don't seem to look down on us. In fact, the KFAC group is one nice bunch of people. We always enjoy interacting with them both on the water and at the party. For more info about the event and all of the money raised for local charities, see the KFAC website. See all of our photos here.

Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge 2009

The overall winner of the Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge this year was Remedy; we're not sure where Still a Gorilla (last year's overall winner) was, but though they didn't sail this year it looks like they might have sent a representative...

The Screwpile is the kind of regatta where you can show up in a gorilla suit and start dancing. The Chesapeake sailors know how to have fun and the three-day regatta at the Holiday Inn Resort and Marina on Solomons Island is the perfect venue. The Screwpile is also the only regatta I know of that has a band named after it. The Screwpilers put on a good show again this year and so did the racers. The breeze was on the lighter side, but had it's moments- enough to get some great photos. See the photos here. Also see our photos and read about the event on the Screwpile event website and theBayNet.com.

2009 Red Grant Regatta

The Red Grant Regatta delivered good breeze, good racing, and a great party again this year. The wind was so good on Saturday that the fleet stayed out late and got a fourth race in-- a wise decision given the light-breeze forecast for Sunday. Saturday's conditions were picture-perfect, and we can't believe this is the third year running that we've had great conditions for photography.

Raritan Yacht Club was absolutely overflowing with people long into the night on Saturday- it seems that the party just keeps getting better and better.



Check out 2009 Red Grant Regatta photos here.

We also covered Friday's junior regatta- see the photos here.

Thanks to Amy and Doug for 3 years running great Red Grant Regattas.

2009 Newport Regatta: SB3 Sailing

Coastal Living Newport Regatta Action

What a great day on the water! Saturday's conditions in Newport were optimal, with sunny skies and a 15-20 knot sea breeze. Narragansett Bay was hopping with activity as racers and cruisers alike enjoyed another sunny Saturday.

The Coastal Living Newport Regatta- which concludes after one more day of racing today- has 250 entries. All four courses plus the around the island race enjoyed great conditions on Saturday and we were able to cover all of them. With so many boats looking so great, Allen may have set a personal record for number of photos taken in one day- yesterday's count came in at 3600. As usual, they're all great photos and will all go online.

Special thanks to Laser Performance for having me ride with them on their support RIB. I added 1000 photos to the count- all from the SB3/Viper/RSK6/F18/A-Cat/505 course- and had a nice chance to concentrate on the SB3s. We also got some good onboard-cam video footage from one of the LP-staffed SB3s...edited video coming soon...

Our Saturday highlights are up, and we'll have all the photos from the weekend sorted and online on Monday morning.

from LLP to Mr. and Mrs.

Unfortunately, we had to miss the Marblehead to Halifax start on Sunday, July 5th, but no regrets. We had something more important going on...and we were grateful to have what is normally perfect marine photography weather for our wedding weekend.

In fact, we actually got to sail on Friday night-- somewhat unusual these days, as we are always too busy photographing-- in a casual pre-wedding laser regatta that we hosted with JK at Longshore Sailing School. It was blowing 15-20 and we were out racing against all of our old co-instructor buddies- couldn't have been better.

We have this shot in an elegant silver frame on our dresser and it continues to make me laugh. Not quite the usual wedding photo.

The Law Trophy kicks off summer on LIS

The JSA of LIS 2009 season kicked off with the 2009 Law Trophy at Indian Harbor Yacht Club. These are Long Island Sound's best sailors and they know how to make their boats go in under 5 knots. Hence, we have many photos of roll tacks from the two-day Laser, Radial, and 420 event.
Of course, there was some play time, as with most JSA events. That's what sailing in the summer is all about. See the Law Trophy photos here and the results here.

Youth Champs ends with a bang

It only takes about an hour and a half of good breeze, a dinghy with a 20 hp engine, and a very active trigger finger to get the shots we had been waiting for all week at Youth Champs. After four days of very light wind, in the final hours of 2009 US Youth Sailing Championship, we got an unforecasted gift. The 15-20 knots from the east for an hour and a half were just enough to capture everybody looking good. See the photos at PhotoBoat.com and the results at ussailing.org.

2009 Youth Champs gets underway...aboard Rambler

The most important youth sailing event in the country kicked off on Thursday; high school and college kids from around the country arrived by car and plane for this week-long event hosted by US Sailing. But in addition to the usual registration and setting up event boats, the Indian Harbor Yacht Club event organizers arranged a special treat for the kids: sailing aboard the 90-foot Rambler.

The US Youth Sailing Championships is packed with racing and other seminars and activities for these top sailors in the United States. See the photos, updated daily, here. At the end of the week they'll be sorted by sail number.

Block Island Race Week 2009

Monday at Block Island Race Week 2009 was a day to remember. Even leaving the harbor was an adventure, as can be seen from this shot of Loki 3 popping over a wave. After Monday's 30 knot winds for the around the island race, the excitement slowly declined throughout the rest of the week. Imagine being out in an 11' dinghy in these conditions. Needless to say, it was a tiring day, but the shots were well worth it! Be sure to check out these great photos here. See you at Block Island Race Week 2011 (and 2010).

Graves Marine Art and PhotoBoat

We're proud to announce our partnership with marine artist Tom Graves. Tom is a member of the American Society of Marine Artists and has been capturing the essence of the sea for over 40 years. Even better, he is an avid sailboat racer himself, currently calling Long Island Sound his home turf.

Tom created this beautiful piece from one of our photos, and he can do the same with our photo of your boat, whether it's a Farr 40 or an Optimist, a 12meter or a Laser. A commissioned paiting is now an item on our product list for each photo on PhotoBoat.com. Tom offers two different sizes of framed paitings: 24x36 or 18x24.

For more information and to see examples, visit Tom's website.

"What goes up must come down": see our shots on Sailing Anarchy

This photo demonstrates the statement too, but check out the sequence on Sailing Anarchy today.

Block Island Day 1 was one to remember. Check out our photos here.

We'll be taking photos all week at Block Island Race Week 2009.

BIRW here we come!

What's better than photographing Block Island Race Week? Sailing there.

We're in the anchorage and ready to hit the ground running tomorrow. Forecast is for big wind, and that means great photos. Be sure to check our 2009 Block Island Race Week photos page throughout the week.

SailFast: capturing the spirit

Conditions couldn't have been better for our SailFast apparel photo shoot this week. It's been such a rainy June, we couldn't believe it when the clouds cleared out and 15 knots of breeze filled in from the East. I don't know who was more upset that they weren't out sailing- the models, the company president, or us. We all kept sneaking jealous glances at the boats pushing through the chop of a strong Easterly on Long Island Sound.

That's the thing about SailFast- it's more than just an apparel company, and we felt the spirit as we set up these shots. SailFast is about on-the-water fun, families, summer, sailing, boating, surfing, kiteboarding, or whatever aquatic fun you can dream up. Right up our alley. For me, it's about that moment when you're going so fast in a Laser, you're basically drinking salt water, or it's even about bouncing around in the dinghy, waterskiing, cliff jumping, or snorkeling in the Caribbean. For all of us waterbugs out there, it's anything that involves water, sun, and a little bit of extra adrenaline.

It's also about giving back- SailFast has a 10% For a Cure policy and has been recognized for the resulting contributions to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. We wear SailFast wristbands to support the cause- if you don't have one, get one! They're made of spinnaker material and all proceeds go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society.

Check out the gear - and our shots - at isailfast.com .

Marion to Bermuda Race start photos

And they're off...another Bermuda Race got underway this afternoon in foggy conditions on Buzzards Bay. See the photos here.

About 45 boats crossed the start line four miles off of Marion, Massachusetts today on the heels of quite a weather system. Rain and fog lingered; it was by no means a pleasant morning, as it had been in Westport, CT when we left at 7 am. On the way out of the harbor, two powerboats took a look at Allen in the dinghy and told him he'd best turn around. That would have been a waste of a 3-hour drive. Presumably, it was the chop in 15-20 knots and opposing current that they were warning against, but that's exactly what we were hoping for.

The photos are exciting. Check them out at the PhotoBoat Regatta Gallery

New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta photos

Rambler sheds her water ballast as she sails around Conanicut Island in Friday's Around the Island Race. Along with the other faster boats, including winner Titan XV, Rambler made a quick trip around the Island and was headed back to the dock by 2:30 pm. Most people had a much longer day and didn't finish until 5 pm, or didn't finish at all. Two reasons: wind and fog. The wind died throughout the day, and many classes started late due to fog. Race committee kept having to reset the line because they couldn't see the pin.

Our take on the weekend: not windy enough. But we can make something out of nothing, and we still got some nice shots. See them here.


It was great to be in Newport again and we're looking forward to photographing many of these same boats at Block Island Race Week 2009!

Virtual Dinghy Ride

CPYC One Design Regatta: Video fun

With a lack of strong breeze at the one design regatta this year we had some time to play with some video equipment. Thanks to Harry Katz for putting the video together. Click Here to see the photos.

CPYC One Design Regatta 2009

The CPYC One Design Regatta has gone through some changes from year to year since we began photographing and providing awards prints in 2006. This year there was no level 72 class or Mumm 30 fleet, but a strong showing of J30s, J105s and Melges 24s (in their inaugural year at the One Design) made the competition better than ever. The on-shore activities, race committee, and awards were first class as always.

See the photos here.

Unfortunately this weekend's weather was consistent with the first weekend of June from recent years: very light wind. Going into the weekend, the forecast looked worse than ever: Saturday: NW around 5 knots becoming SW in the afternoon; Sunday: N around 5 knots. That's about as bad as it gets for sailboat racers, or people whose income varies directly proportionately with wind speed, at least to an extent.

But we were very pleasantly surprised on Saturday; the fleet got 4-5 races in and wind speeds reached 12 knots or so- a good thing, because Sunday's weather was unfortunately true to the forecast. After hours of waiting in the hot sun, only one race was attempted...and abandoned.

Saturday was a beautiful day for photos: see the shots here.

Southern Bay Race Week 2009

Southern Bay Race Week, a.k.a. the Black Seal Cup, finished yesterday with an unexpectedly beautiful sailing day. After a weekend of very unpredictable conditions, which primarily resulted in light breeze, the wind filled in nicely on Sunday and the skies cleared at the perfect time.

See the photos here.

The roughly 70 boats spread across two race courses in the Southern Chesapeake had three days of racing and four nights of shoreside parties. As usual, the Chesapeake sailors proved that they know how to have fun.

We had a great time and were thrilled with the hospitality at the Hampton Yacht Club. We stayed aboard a 37' Pearson that acted as our waterfront condo for the weekend. It was great to be staying on a boat again.

See the 2009 Southern Bay Race Week photos here and the results at www.blacksealcup.com

Block Island Race 2009: a wide angle kind of day

Our day started out at Indian Harbor YC, taking photos for the club for some US Sailing Youth Champs promotional materials. We took some more traditional shots as well, but liked this one that we took with a fisheye lens.

With blue skies and a little bit of haze, it was a good day for shots with a wide-angle lens, and we took that mentality out on the water for the 2009 Storm Trysail Club Block Island Race shots. And despite light wind, the shots came out very nicely. See the photos here.

What a great night to sail around Block Island, and a great start to the summer season on Long Island Sound. 2009's going to be a busy summer on the Sound, with many big events to photograph, including US Sailing Youth Championships, Block Island Race Week (not quite LIS, but close enough) and many classes' North Americans and Nationals.

Click here to see the 2009 Block Island Race Photos.

Nordstar Photoshoot follow-up

Check out the write-up from our Nordstar Patrol 31 boat test photoshoot: click here to go to OceanLines. And stay tuned for the full review.

2009 Greenwich Cup Spring Photos

I was smart enough to bring a handheld GPS on this foggy Saturday morning on Long Island Sound (our dinghies don't exactly have console-mounted GPSs...or consoles), but I happened to grab the one without the local charts loaded, so finding the starting line for the Greenwich Cup was something I didn't take for granted. But just seeing my position relative to land was enough to get me there on time, and the fog lifted during the first race.

The Greenwich Cup is always a fun regatta for us to cover, and this was no exception. We even had some good breeze and competition was tight as usual.

We've got some great shots from the weekend, including this trademark Greenwich Cup shot, with Indian Harbor and Riverside - the two host yacht clubs in Greenwich - visible on the transoms.

See the 2009 Greenwich Cup shots here.

PhotoBoat On Fireboats

The Centennial New York Athletic Club - Yacht Club - Stratford Shoal Race kicked off this Saturday with a lot of pomp and circumstance, including a spray show from two fireboats. The distance race got off to a great start despite thick fog, but we take this opportunity to bring up the last time we saw a fireboat in action...on Tortola a few years ago. Allen took this photo while on staff at Yacht Shots BVI in 2006. A group of vacationers and their luggage were picked out of the water by a nearby sailboat after they had to abandon ship. The BVI salvage company did a nice job putting out the fire, and the shot made the cover of the BVI Beacon.

Anatomy of a Photoshoot

All the parts came together perfectly for Monday's photoshoot for OceanLines, a great passagemaking online magazine. I shot a Nordstar 31 Patrol on the Connecticut River outside of Essex. The weather was beautiful, the boat looked great, the background setting was interesting, and communication was seemless- all integral pieces of a photoshoot, some easier than others to control. I switched between wide-angle and zoom lenses, and even snuck in a slow shutter speed shot that came out nicely.

Keep an eye out for the boat test write-up on OceanLines.biz.

Volvo Ocean Race Boston Stopover

Boston was hopping with activity this weekend for the 2008-9 Volvo Ocean Race stopover. Saturday's In-Port Race was disappointing due light wind and grey skies, but mother nature made up for it on Sunday, with 25+ knots and bright sun. Sunday's racing was a pro-am, and the course was modified due to the high wind. Race committee had them doing a series of short match races with each boat rounding it's own marks- not as cool as seeing them jockey with each other, but it is understandable that they did not want to risk a collision during this promotional racing day, when their real mission is to set sail for Galway next week. Despite having to be reefed and not using a chute, the Open 70s looked great crashing through the chop and sending spray flying through the air all afternoon. Click Here to view our photos.

Reflections...

We have to point out this cool shot that Connor Fitzpatrick took during USODA team trials. Notice the opti reflection in the aviators of this focused sailor...

USODA Team Trials

It was a weekend for dry suits at the USODA Team Trials at Noroton Yacht Club. These Opti sailors proved their mettle with 4 long days of racing, sometimes in the rain, some days until after 5 pm. But we heard no complaints from competitors. Opti sailors rule. And they certainly came prepared.

See the 2009 USODA Team Trials photos, including daily highlights and folders sorted by sail number, here.

It's not summer yet...

Don't let the 80-degree day we had this week trick you...the water is still cold, and so is the air. These opti sailors came prepared for a chilly day one at the 2009 USODA Team Trials.

The regatta got off to a great start with over 200 boats competing in around 8 knots of breeze off of Noroton Yacht Club on Long Island Sound. We've got some great photos and we'll be showing them at the club all week.

See the 2009 USODA Team Trials photos here.

2009 Charleston Race Week Photos

Charleston Saturday: a good day for a tow

Towing the SB3s out to the course was the height of PhotoBoat.com excitement today. The wind picked up enough for racing, but conditions were the polar opposite of yesterday's wet and wild display. It is fair to say that everybody needed a rest.

Loving life in Charleston

Loving life is only part of the story; going 7 miles upwind in a dinghy in 5' seas definitely involves some "hating life," but the photos were worth it. Both on the inside and outside courses, the wind reached over 20 knots.

Obviously, the sailors were tired after yesterday's racing as well. They all had war stories to tell from a fair amount of carnage. 2009 Charleston Race Week is going to be a regatta to remember.

Today's 2000+ Charleston Race Week photos come from a frantic attempt to cover as many boats as possible in ultimate photo conditions. Check out the highlights. All the photos will be posted, sorted by boat, after the event.

A Beautiful Day, a Wide Angle, and a Polarizing Filter

The stars were aligned for some beautiful photography yesterday as many crews practiced in 15 knots of breeze in Charleston Harbor.

In this photo, Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina, the event host, is shown in the background on the right, and the infamous bridge stands to the left.

See more practice day photos here.

Today's forecast is looking good, with 15-20 knots expected. It should be a great "Day 1" for all 170+ boats at Charleston Race Week, probably the best-weather day they'll get.

Throughout the weekend, our daily highlights of Charleston Race Week photos will be posted at www.PhotoBoat.com.

Arrival in Charleston

It's nice to see this bridge again. So nice, we have a cell phone photo taken at approximately 65 mph to show

it off.

We'll show some better shots of this bridge- taken with our more professional cameras, and with boats racing in front of it- on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It provides a great background for Charleston Race Week photos on the inside course.

On the road again...destination: Charleston Race Week

He's almost there: this snapshot of our Spot tracking shows Allen's progress today in the PhotoBoat truck with a dinghy in tow. He's on track for a total of 14 hours elapsed between CT and Charleston. Here's a link to his live track, updated every hour or so, and generally more meant for use out on the water as a safety device: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0Aoq1CE7cpz3ZlcQIXmVX0qs8CCSV4lR1

Next on the agenda is Charleston Race Week, and we're ready to hit the ground running when racing begins on Friday. The event has had record entries this year, and the one design course in particular is going to be full of action. The Viper fleet is strong in numbers and some Laser Performance SB3s will be joining the event for the first time this year. The action should be good as usual in the Melges 24, J 24, and J 80 classes, as well as the offshore courses.

PhotoBoat is your source for Charleston Race Week photos, so check the site for daily highlights and galleries sorted by boat name, as always.

The PhotoBoat Lifestyle...

It's more office time than most people think, but we still love it. Except maybe for the "equipment fixing" part, which, by the way, refers more to boats than to cameras. Actually, it refers mostly to preventative maintenance on our boats and fixing trailer lights.

We made this silly little graph for two reasons: (1) Daniela wanted to prove to herself that she still remembered some of the material from her Georgetown econ major days, and (2) we did a presentation at Saugatuck Harbor Yacht Club's Pub Night last year. Yes, PhotoBoat does presentations. Not only are there a lot of aspiring photographers out there, but even for people who aren't, our business is - inarguably- interesting.

PhotoBoat shooter completes Antarctic Expedition

"The Antarctic wants you dead. It is that simple. In order to survive for even a single night in the extreme environment, you must dig your tent, and yourself into the ice. If you do not build sufficiently tall walls and dig yourself in deep enough, the catabatic winds that roll off of the glaciers and the ice may very well blow you and your tent away." -Connor Fitzpatrick (words and photos)

Connor, a Brunswick School senior who shoots for PhotoBoat, was selected to join Sir Robert Swan's 2041 project for a two-week Antarctic Expedition.

He saw humpback whales, penguins, and an Antarctic base station that will run on renewable energy, among many other amazing things, all of which he captured wonderfully. See more of his photos and read more about the mission at http://www.cbfphotos.com/ .

Look for Connor on the water representing PhotoBoat this summer.

Top 10 real myths about PhotoBoat.com discussed

1. We use small boats because we can’t afford bigger ones.

False. We use bigger boats sometimes- and we started with a bigger boat- but we chose the dinghies so we could get close without causing a wake or a wind-shadow.

2. We go out in separate boats because we argue too much to drive each other around.

True! We’re getting married in 2009, so it’s nothing personal, but we’re independent when it comes to putting ourselves in the right spot. It’s the right way to do it.

3. We use wide angle lenses because we can’t afford bigger ones.

False. Somebody actually made this claim on a certain popular sailing web forum, and they were so wrong. We have big lenses, but we rarely use them. Our throttle is our zoom, and as a result, our image quality is better!

4. PhotoBoat.com is one of those big internet companies, kind of like Amazon.com.

False. Sometimes we like to be funny and tell our customers they need to talk to our customer service department, but the truth is we’re a small company with a big name. We’re product development, fulfillment, packaging, shipping, marketing, bookkeeping, sales, and – most importantly – customer service, all in the hands of two- sometimes three- people.

5. We’re crazy.

False, of course. We prefer the term “adrenaline junkies.”

6. We’re photographers that decided to try getting involved in sailing because it looked cool.

False. Now that would be crazy. We attribute our success 75% to our skills and knowledge in sailing and boating. Without the eye, we’d be nowhere, but without the sailing skills, we’d be in the protest room.

7. We started this business expecting to photograph local Western Long Island Sound events.

True. We have to admit we didn’t realize we’d have to have a bigger reach to make it big, but it became apparent quickly. We love doing the local club events on LIS (except when there’s no wind), but it’s our willingness to travel that makes our business viable instead of just a reason to write off boat fuel.

8. Being a marine photographer means spending all of your time on the water.

False. It is nice being on the water, but we spend 5 hours on the computer for every hour spent on the water, and 1 hour working out boat logistics for every hour on the water. Many of the hours on the water are spent waiting for wind in an 11’ boat with no shade. But still, we know we have a cool job and we’re grateful.

9. We've never lost a camera overboard.

True. We know a few people who have, but we have managed to keep our investments safe so far.

10. Daniela’s tiller extension is a piece of a Laser upper mast.

True. Some observant people have noticed this and gotten a kick out of it. It's the top piece of an upper section, complete with the blue plastic piece stuck in the end. The truth is, both tillers would be made of mast pieces if we had two kicking around; Allen’s extension/throttle is made of PVC and it has broken before.

2009 Key West Race Week Animated Slideshow

This is a must see.

See our Thursday highlights and all the other photos here.

Key West at its best

We couldn't ask for anything more today, with sun and wind in our favor and another great day of racing action. Our focus was on Division 1- Farr 40s, IRC 1, IRC 2, Swan 42s, and F30 classes.

The photos are a must see.

There will be some interesting changes in positions after today's racing, but there are still two more days.
Considering that last
year's Key West Race Week only had three days of racing due to bad weather, we're appreciating the extra days this year.

See the photos from Key West Race Week 2009 here.

Key West action: Tuesday

Speed was the word of the day today, as proven by many a Melges with a big wake. The day started off with a 48-knot gust, measured from the docks in front of the Half Shell Raw Bar. Had that continued, racing would have been cancelled, but we were fortunate to see those gusts pass through early in the day. Out on the race course, a consistent 20 knots helped produce some great action and we had another day of interesting Key West Race Week photos. See them here.

Key West Race Week 2009 - Day 1

From a photographer's perspective, 2009 Acura Key West Race Week had a very interesting start. With a stormy morning complete with squalls and diffused light, and a signature Key West sunny afternoon, we saw almost every type of light on the spectrum. See the photos here.

The racing was competitive and the wind was good- it was a great start to a Key West Race Week.

Though the number of boats participating is down about 40% this year, the competition is up and there is still plenty of action to photograph.

We've got 2500 great shots from Monday and are looking forward to showing them- and all the others from the week- at Schooner Wharf Bar on Thursday.

Please visit the PhotoBoat Regatta Gallery to see Monday's highlights now, and check back later in the week to view all of the 2009 Key West Race Week photos sorted by boat name.

Key West Race Week 2008 Slide Show

Here is a sample of some of the photos from last year.

PhotoBoat on Facebook

We created a PhotoBoat.com group on Facebook a while ago; our friends have shown their support for us and we've met some new sailors along the way. For Facebook users, you can view it at the link below, or search PhotoBoat.com .

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=33330859421

Our latest posting is an invitation to hang out at Schooner Wharf Bar on Thursday, January 22nd starting at 8 pm and see our 2009 Key West Race Week photos. We're looking forward to our third Key West Race Week; it's certain to bring more good wind, green water, and on-shore fun.

The Best and Worst of 2008

The votes are in and the HR department has finally finished tallying them...it's time to announce the PhotoBoat.com best and worst list from 2008.

THE BEST

1. Best Regatta Party: Governor's Cup, St. Mary's College

The fact that we were staying in a college dorm helped lock in the number 1 position for this party.

2. Best Overall Weather: Opera House Cup, Nantucket

It doesn't get much better than this, and Windcheck Magazine thought so as well...this photo made the cover.

3. Best Wind: American YC Spring Series, Week 1

Not just wind, but current-on-wind in an Easterly on LIS.

4. Best Digs During a Regatta: The "The Mount Gay Room" at the Screwpile

5. Best New Product: limited edition fine art photos

THE WORST

1. Longest day without wind: V15 Nationals, take 1

Hanging out alone in an 11' dinghy for four hours is not as glamorous as it sounds.

2. Longest dinghy ride to event: Charleston Race Week

Newport to Bermuda was a close second with a max distance offshore of only 9 miles for Allen...

3. Most over-complicated logistical weekend: Annapolis - Rye, NY - Annapolis, May 2008

Our rig averages 10 mpg.

4. Biggest Carnage: American Spring Series, Week 1

5. Best storm sky: Screwpile, Solomons Island, MD

2008 was a great year on the water and we look forward to kicking off 2009's adventures with Key West Race Week later this month.

Stanwich Sailing 2008

The water temp is 56 degrees, the days when it isn't blowing over 20 or raining are becoming fewer and farther between, and the air temp is rarely reaching 60 these days, so short of putting on dry suits, it's time to call an end to the Stanwich School sailing season for the year.

This was the second year of existence for Stanwich Sailing, which is an impressive program considering that most schools don't offer sailing in gym class. Our group of fourteen 7th, 8th, and 9th graders did a great job this season in their club 420 fleet. They proved they could sail in the cold, the rain, and wind gusting to 25. There were only a handful of capsizes. We ran close to 100 races run throughout the season. All we need is somebody to race against...

Thanks for a fun season!

Annapolis November 2nd

It was a great day on the Chespeake on Sunday November 2nd, and a great season finisher for many.Pictured above is the Soling fleet sailing their Nationals near the Bay Bridge. Also on the water were a J105 fleet sailing the Chesapeake Bay Championship and the IRC East Coast Championship Regatta- both sailing down near Thomas Point Light. It was a great day to get our last photos of the season and it's always great to have a reason to go to Annapolis. Next stop: Florida. We're looking forward to taking photos at Key West Race Week 2009.

See the 2008 Soling Nationals photos here.

Click here for the 2008 IRC East Coast champs photos.

J105 Chesapeake Bay Champs photos: click here.

2008 Heineken High Performance Dinghy Open

The 2008 Heineken HPDO could have had more breeze overall, but we were still grateful for about two hours of ten knots between Saturday and Sunday. It's been a little bit frustrating for weekend sailors this fall, with heavy breeze coming more frequently during the week. But at least it's warm...

The HPDO has grown significantly since we first photographed it in 2006. With the growing RSK6 and Viper 640 fleets on Long Island Sound, the event has doubled. The Moths, of course, added some nice hype this year and a big A Cat fleet came from far and wide. But still, the classic High Performance boats are fun to watch: International Canoes, 505s, I 14s, Flying Dutchmen, Fireballs, Contenders and more. They'd be even more fun to sail, of course. If I had time to sail at these events instead of photographing them, I'd be in one of these boats, if not a laser.

Thanks to Heineken for being such a great sponsor, including covering our fees for the event CDs and awards photos.

See the photos here.

American Yacht Club Fall Series 2008

Despite a mediocre forecast for around 10 knots and rainy, the conditions in the middle of Long Island Sound created some dramatic photos afterall thanks to the fact that Long Island Sound opens to the East. After three days of strong Easterly breezes, the sound was still pretty bumpy on Saturday morning. Here, the J44s are looking good in tight competition. We played with the saturation a bit in photoshop. Normally we are minimalists when it comes to photo tweaking, relying on our ability to take good photos, not to make them, but when you take as many as 10,000 photos a month, sometimes you just need to do something a little different to stay interested.

Allen happened upon a classic yacht regatta out of Hempstead Harbor and got some great photos of classic yachts punching through the waves. The photos are mixed in with the AYC Fall Series photos, sorted by boat name. Check out the photos here.

2008 CT Opti Champs

These are the kids that don't just race in the summer to get a tan and go swimming; these kids were racing on a rainy fall Saturday, getting ready for the Atlantic Coast Champs (won by a Long Island Sound sailor last year) in a few weeks. Many of these kids go to regattas in Europe and other parts of the world, in addition to different parts of this country. See the photos here and look out for these kids in the future- they'll be the collegiate All Americans.

Connecticut Maritime Association 12 meter Regatta 2008

The Annual CMA 12 Meter Regatta in Greenwich almost didn't happen this year, with a forecast for 25-30 knots and 100% chance of rain on Friday September 26th. But they made a great call and nine 12 meters went out in moderate breeze and raced. In fact, the classic 12s were all asked to shake out their reefs by the end of the day. Pictured to the right are the two Grand Prix 12s, which were match racing each other during the CMA regatta. The significance here is that both yachts are named America II, both having been built for the same cup campaign in 1987. US 42, to windward with the unfortunate "Be Fabulous" on the jib, and US 46, to leeward, were built along with US 44 to become the NYYC syndicate. 46, deemed faster in the heavy air and big seas of Perth, Australia, went on to sail in the Louis Vuitton cup but did win the challenger position for the America's Cup; 42, it can be said became more notorious, however, as it "starred" in the '90s movie "Wind". In fact, it was repainted only last year after keeping the Geronimo name and design for years.

US 42 is owned and sailed by the 12 meter Yacht Development Foundation, which is dedicated to restoring and maintaining 12 meters. Read more about the Greenwich, CT- based non-profit organization's mission and become a member here.

US 44 is a charter boat in Hawaii.

See more CMA Regatta photos here.

2008 Viper ACC

The breeze was on the lighter side for the 2008 Viper 640 Atlantic Coast Championships, held Sept 20-21st out of Stamford Yacht Club, but the enthusiasm was strong. The Viper fleet has been growing rapidly on Long Island Sound, and across the East Coast. We're looking forward to photographing Vipers again during the Heineken HPDO in Rye, NY over Columbus Day Weekend. Let's keep our fingers crossed for some good breeze. Still, these boats look pretty good even in 5 knots.

See the Viper ACC photos here.

2008 Greenwich Cup photos

It's not an uncommon occurance for a group of 20 or so racing sailboats to be sitting around waiting for wind to fill in on Long Island Sound, but for some reason at the Greenwich Cup, people got very creative. The waiting became part of the action. It's a huge help for a photographer sitting alone in an 11' boat to have people doing tricks for him.



Here, SoulMate topped the USMMA's spreader jumping with a spreader dive. Kids, don't try this at home.



Still, the creativity points go to the USMMA for "floorboarding". Believe it or not, a Farr 40 can easily tow a USMMA male student standing on a floorboard.

The group still managed to get three races in over the light-wind weekend and PhotoBoat provided 8x10s in the club's engraved frames for the awards. They looked great!

See the Greenwich Cup racing and fun photos here.

The Vineyard Race and the Denmark Race

Ironically, the Vineyard Race is not quite to the Vineyard and back and the Denmark Race is most definitely not to Denmark and back. Both races are held by Stamford Yacht Club and are among the most important on the Long Island Sound annual racing calendar.

See the 2008 Vineyard Race Photos here

and the 2008 Denmark Race Photos here

Labor Day Weekend's Vineyard Race was a bit of a floater this year, but it's still a great race with a lot of history and importance on Long Island Sound. Conditions at the start were light, but the setting sun and some interesting clouds made the 60-or-so yachts nicely photogenic without even heeling over.


We got a kick out of seeing Donnybrook at this race just a few weeks after photographing them in a race from Annapolis to St. Mary's City, MD- the Governor's Cup.

The Stamford Denmark Race, also known as the Cheese Race, is a one-day race outside of Stamford Harbor that always has great attendance, particularly among boats that don't necessarily race a lot. This year the weather was similar to 2006, with nice clear skies on the heals of a cold front. The breeze was a lighter northwesterly, but still brought a few good gusts in.

See both events' 2007 and 2008 photos at www.PhotoBoat.com

2008 Opera House Cup photos

The 2008 Opera House Cup was an amazing regatta: big breeze, sunny skies, and beautiful classic yachts. View the photos here.

It was a perfect culmination for Nantucket Race Week, with more boats, more wind and a lot of spectators. The fanfare began with the Rainbow parade in the harbor at 10 am, then within a couple of hours, all of the classes in the classic yacht race were started and off around Nantucket sound.

The only negative for the day was the high number of boats that had to retire due to equipment failure. It's so great to see these old boats mainained in racing form, but when parts break, the owners can't just order new ones from West Marine.

But spirits were still high at the party and awards ceremony at Jetties Beach Sunday night, and with that it was the end of another Nantucket Race Week and Opera House Cup.

The photos tell the story; see them here.

Nantucket Race Week 2008: business and pleasure

Nantucket is the place to be for classic yacht enthusiasts. The local boats alone amount to a large collection of historic vessels that are wonderful to look at. Add Nantucket Race Week and the Opera House Cup, and you've got one of the biggest collection of classic yachts that we've ever seen.

See the photos here.

We can see it all from our spot on anchor in the harbor and even got to see some too close as we woke up in the middle of the night "rafted" with a ketch. Not our fault...we were here first and thought they had set hook a little too close. No damage done, just some time on deck during a downpour at three am.

We beefed up our anchor system in Key West so we are pretty confident in our hold here in 7 ft of water, even though we just watched an unmanned C&C drag by us and alerted the harbormaster.

We've got some great shots of 12 meters, International One Designs, and other classic and some not-as-classic yachts during Nantucket Race Week on Thursday and Friday.

See our photos here.

Saturday we did something a little different and opted to sail instead of taking pictures. With a pretty light forecast and overcast sky in the morning, and many of the same boats racing as the day before....and a desire to do more of the thing we like most that got us into this business...we "played hooky" and raced instead of photographing. The W class yacht White Wings had us aboard trimming jib and it was a great change of pace.

With the event-culminating Opera House Cup next on the docket, we're looking forward to even more classic yacht action and Nantucket harbor excitement.

Underway: Norwalk to Nantucket

Sunrise between Block Island and Martha's Vineyard, August 13th, 2008.

We left Norwalk at around 2 pm Tuesday, August 12th, a good time to leave to hit the Race right at an average speed of 6 to 6.5 knots. With 10-15 from the Northwest, shifting to Southwest, in the forecast, the trip was looking good. Our boat (Gulfstar 37, aka condo that sails fast on a reach) doesn't like to sail upwind- or really, we don't like to sail upwind at 55+ degree tacking angles- so we usually do our best to avoid big upwind stretches in high seas. No issue here.

The overnight "sail" was pretty easy, with lighter breezes than forecasted oscillating between NW and SW. We motor-sailed the entire way, never having enough breeze to push us at more than 5 knots under sails alone and liking the idea of getting our fridge nice and cold since we'd be on battery power alone for the coming week.

We went through the Race at 11 pm, passed close to Block Island at 3 am, and arrived in Nantucket at 3 pm. If that's not enough info for you...you can track us at our SPOT page.

Next on the event list, Nantucket Race Week and the Opera House Cup photos.

Meet Connor Fitzpatrick

Connor Fitzpatrick has been helping us cover local events this summer on Long Island Sound. He can call Longshore Sailing School his turf, and he’s done a great job capturing the kids in action. See the photos here. Connor got the hang of PhotoBoat-style photography very quickly- understanding how important close-up shots are and maneuvering confidently and safely in the dinghy. His AP photography training and professional equipment made the technical aspect easy for him. Connor has also done a lot of underwater photography and studied under Armando Jenik, who we had the pleasure of working with while shooting for Yacht Shots BVI in 2006.

Connor is a rising senior at the Brunswick School in Greenwich and a former JSA of LIS sailor out of Noroton Yacht Club. He’s got all the skills necessary to do well in this business, including a great entrepreneurial drive.

See more of Connor's work here.

Introducing Nick Pro

Nick Pro is a marine photographer to keep an eye on. At the age of 15, he has already been hired for some photography jobs and has collected a nice portfolio of images. Nick helped us cover the Red Grant Jr. Regatta in July, enjoying a first chance to try photographing while harnessed into the dinghy. He did a great job and his photos can be seen on our site, here.

Nick is a laser radial sailor from the Philadelphia area; he sails regularly on the Delaware River and also travels to Annapolis and other mid-atlantic sailing venues. He has also competed in some star regattas, including this year’s Bacardi Cup in Miami.

More of Nick’s photos can be seen on his Flickr site,

Keep an eye out for Nick Pro's work on PhotoBoat...he'll certainly be taking some more shots with us in the future.

YRALIS Champs 2008

A little bit of breeze went a long way yesterday as it often does on Long Island Sound in the summer. The YRALIS Championship Regatta was rescued by about 12 knots from the Southwest at 1 pm Sunday.

See the photos here.



The YRALIS Champs, in its third year, is a great event that brings LIS clubs together. Larchmont YC hosted one-design racing for S Boats, Etchells, Shields and RSXs; Indian Harbor ran a very efficient Laser and Ideal 18 race course inside Captain Harbor, and Riverside managed the PHRF course mid-sound.

The three courses create a lot of distance for us to cover, but we had two dinghies out there to make it possible.

We got a chance to try out our new toy/lifesaving device, the latter feature being what justified buying it (though it is actually very affordable). SPOT gps tracker is pretty cool. See Allen's track from Sunday here.

For more info about YRA LIS Champs 2008, see the YRA website, www.YRALIS.org .

For photos, click here.

Governor's Cup 2008

Yes, we were back on the Chesapeake, and here's a shot of another screwpile lighthouse to prove it. This time it's the Thomas Point light, left to starboard by Governor's Cup racers on their way from Annapolis to St. Mary's College at the mouth of the Potomac.

See the 2008 Gov Cup photos here.


We did this exact trip in November '06 on our way to Key West from CT, but we did not have to anchor in the middle of the trip to avoid drifting backwards like many of these sailors did. That's the beauty of a working engine (not always to be taken for granted) and a need to get South before it gets even colder.



But enough about us. Around 150 boats of varying sizes started at sunset and finished throughout the next day on the 70-mile race down the Chesapeake.



Conditions were very light at the start, but the setting sun created some nice soft light, as expected.



This event includes a photography competition and also draws a lot of spectator boats from Annapolis, especially on such a calm evening. The result, lots of spirit for the race- a good thing- but also a lot of big boats buzzing around the start on a light wind night. Dude, get a dinghy.


This wake was the result of something big. I watched American Flyer and Dame Blanche get knocked to a standstill. It took them several minutes to get any boatspeed back while the rest of their division pushed ahead.

As the sun set, we dinghied back to Annapolis, put the boats on the trailer and drove to Historic St. Mary's City. St. Mary's is the original capital of Maryland, but is not in our GPS or in Mapquest. It's a beautiful place if a little hard to find.

The next morning, with a dozen or so boats already on the dock after a nocturnal finish, we captured many boats heading toward the finish in a variety of conditions, including pouring rain in the middle of a storm.

The nice light before the storm and the banks of the river made for some great shots, like the is one of the St. Mary's College team on Hendonism.


With only one or two hours of sleep behind them, hundreds of sailors enjoyed a 12-hour party on St. Mary's College campus, with three bands, many local vendors, ice cream, and a beer truck that opened at 10 am.

For photos of the 2008 Gov Cup, click here.

For more about this event full of tradition and fun, including this year's results, see the SMCM website: www.smcm.com/govcup

7,000 photos later: Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge 2008

135 boats raced in this year's Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge in Solomons, MD...and two dinghies were buzzing around them taking photos. Three days, 20 knots, 4-foot seas, one super thunderstorm, countless bottles of Mount Gay, 3 bands, and 7,000 photos later, everybody was exhausted, but happy.

We had a great time at this event, which is packed full of onshore fun (it's the only regatta with a band formed in its honor and therefore named after it). It's kind of a mini Key West Race Week, just a little more friendly and laid-back. Chesapeake-style.
Sunday's conditions were first rate, with a building breeze and growing seas; by 2 pm it was hitting 20 knots and it was getting bumpy. Even this double-jibber in the non-spinnaker division is flying downwind. Double-jibbing was quite popular on the West Course and we got a kick out of it.

For more info and results, go to www.screwpile.net.

For the 2008 Screwpile Lighthouse Challenge photos, go to http://www.thephotoboat.com/Screwpile_Lighthouse_Challenge_Photos_2008.html

Red Grant Regatta 2008: Fun, wind, and great photos

Raritan Yacht Club knows how to throw a party. Thanks to a great volunteer organizing committee, the forethought to hold a big annual event that includes many types of boats and sailors, a modern club, a good reggae band, and many other factors (including PhotoBoat slideshows, of course), the Red Grant Regatta is a good time.

The party was good, but the sailing was better! See the 2008 Red Grant Regatta photos here.

89 boats plus a bunch of Optis and other kids fleets, combined with good sea breezes and sunny skies, is enough to make you forget that the water isn't quite Key West green or BVI blue. Who cares? We had a lighthouse, the NJ and Staten Island coastlines, and a lot of commercial traffic to put in the background of our shots. When you take around 4,000 photos a week, little things like interesting backgrounds and this shot with the cormorant being startled by Project Mayhem on her way to the weather mark keep us interested.

The J80s called the Red Grant their ECCs and a 15-boat fleet added an exciting complement to the cruiser and PHRF divisions, which were also incredibly strong in numbers. Throw in some J105s and J109s and a couple of First 36.7s and you've got a diverse bunch of boats.

We thought the trophies were pretty cool, too.

Next stop, the Screwpile in Solomons Island, MD. We've never been, but it sounds like it will be another fun event.

Red Grant Results: http://www.redgrant.org/

2008 Red Grant Regatta photos: http://www.thephotoboat.com/Red_Grant_Regatta_Photos_2008.html

Law Trophy 2008: photo coverage

The Law Trophy 2008 was an event for photographing roll tacks and other close up action, just like many other events will be during the July doldrums that plague Long Island Sound Jr. regattas. But light wind sailing is a skill and these Law Trophy participants proved their prowess.

Competition was tight in the Laser, Laser Radial and 420 fleets, with some big names on LIS competing. The results can be found on IHYC's website, http://www.indianharboryc.com/.

Photos are sorted by last name and sail number and we have several of each boat. See them here.

The law trophy marks the first big event of the JSA season and we look forward to a month packed with regattas. For details, see http://www.jsalis.org/.

There's nothing like a PhotoBoat slideshow to kill time during a protest hearing...

2008 Newport to Bermuda Race photos

What a spectacle! 198 yachts sailed across the starting line in Newport as hundreds of spectator boats lined the "sidelines", the Coast Guard protected the racing area, people lined the cliffs and the lawn at the Inn at Castle Hill, and 5 helicopters flew overhead. See the photos of the sailboats beating their way away from Newport here.

With sixteen starts, it took two and a half hours to get every boat across the line, many of them a little overzealous. I couldn't believe how many boats were called over early; in fact the PRO was making special announcements reminding people not to jump the gun. The ebbing tide didn't help.

From a dinghy-bound photographer's perspective, this was a challenge, and the helicopters were looking pretty cushy. We'll see what happens between now and 2010's Bermuda Race, but nothing beats the close up photos.

Allen got great action photos of most of the boats, including some great crew shots to commemorate the trip. We're wondering...will they stay on the rail the entire time?? We've delivered a sailboat to Bermuda, but haven't raced there yet.

It was time to call it a day for dinghy photographer man when he found himself 9 miles out, couldn't feel his legs anymore and almost hit a shark. No joke. Only a six-footer or so, but that is half the length of the dinghy. Other than that, he could have stayed out twice as long. Engine was working well, still about 3/4 tank of gas remaining, gps working, plenty of spare water, life jacket and kill switch on.

We were pleased to see a bunch of Long Island Sound boats cross the line. Cabady, Christopher Dragon, Avra, Gold Digger, Devocean, Gracie, Stampede, Charlie V, Challenge IV, Vamp, High Noon, Patriot, Maxine, Snow Lion, and many more. Go Long Island Sound.

Best of luck to all 133 boats for a fast, safe trip. Speedboat is probably already there...

To see the 2008 Newport to Bermuda Race photos, click here.

Block Island Race Week Photos 2008

Block Island Race Week is always a great place for photos (click here to see the 2008 photos), whether it's an even year or an odd year. The logistics are always tricky for everybody, including PhotoBoat, because dinghying* from Pt. Judith to Block for a daily commute is...actually where we draw the line. So we sailed here and anchored in the harbor for the second year in a row. If only we could afford the time to travel to every regatta by sailboat!


*Dinghying and any form of "to dinghy" is probably not actually a word, but it's definitely part of our vocabulary.

We took advantage of our extra photoboat by sending Allen up the mast to get some photos on Tuesday. Take that helicopters! Only .9 gallons per hour. Hence our photos will be posted and available at our normal prices.



Wednesday, regatta participants sailed their Around the Island Race, which is always great for photography. Block Island is such a beautiful place, with lighthouses, dunes, cliffs, and mansions; all of these are among the top backgrounds for sailing photos.


This year, it's a small fleet at Block Island Race Week, with a handful of Swan 42s, over a dozen J105s, and others, totaling just over 50 boats. It's nice being on Block Island when things are a little quieter than the rucous created by the 200 boats in 2007. The low participation is due to conflict with the Newport to Bermuda race, which starts Friday, June 20, 2008. We'll be headed there next. Keep an eye on PhotoBoat.com for the Bermuda Race photos.

See the Block Island Race Week photos by Allen Clark here.

NYYC Annual Regatta 2008 photos - Around the Island Race

The outlook was bleak this morning as we arrived in Jamestown, RI to take photos of the NYYC Annual Regatta's Around the Island Race. The forecast for 5 knots had held. But the start was postponed about 45 minutes and it was worth the wait; the glassy water turned to whitecaps as the seabreeze filled in. With bright sun, interesting background scenery and a decent amount of wind, what more can a photographer ask for? How about the fastest, newest boats to photograph...Puma, the new Moneypenny, Bella Mente, Rambler, and many more.



Today's course was clockwise around Conanicut Island (Jamestown), just like last year. This year visibility was a lot better and we are much more familiar with the area, but where's the challenge there?..





The Around the Island Race photos are a must see. Check them out here:



http://www.photoboat.com/




The New York Yacht Club regattas are always great ones to photograph and we are big fans of hanging out in Newport, but we had to head back to Connecticut this afternoon. Saturday we head to Larchmont to photograph 2008 Vanguard 15 Nationals for Sailing World Magazine. This regatta is the biggest V15 Nationals in history, with over 100 boats entered. We're keeping our fingers crossed for some breeze like today's.

Upcoming 2008 photos: New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta, Block Island Race Week, and Newport to Bermuda

The busy season is upon us! We're looking forward to an action-packed upcoming week with New York Yacht Club 154th Annual Regatta, Block Island Race Week 2008, and Newport to Bermuda 2008. Zipping around a great line-up of boats competing in the Bermuda Race this year will be a blast. Too bad we can only cover the start. We've sailed to Bermuda before, but a 60' Swan was a much better ride than a 12' dinghy would be. If only we could find a place to re-fuel...


We loved the NYYC Annual Regatta Around the Island Race last year, and the fog made for some great photos. 2008's entry list is looking strong as well.

Regatta participation seems to be better than ever right now. Keep it up!

See all of the 2007 and 2008 photos at http://www.photoboat.com/ or directly in the gallery: http://www.photoboatgallery.com/lightbox/index.php

CPYC One Design Regatta 2008

The 2008 Cedar Point Yacht Club One Design Regatta ended Sunday with a beautiful sailing day. After two days of focusing on close-ups of the crew due to light wind, we were thrilled capture the J105s, M 30s, Express 37s, J35s and J30s with a little bit of heal and some bow wave action...and a blue sky in the background.

See the photos here: http://thephotoboat.com/CPYC_One_Design_Regatta_2008.html

Competition was tight in all fleets, especially the M 30 fleet, which had a protest in hearing while the other fleets received their awards Sunday afternoon. The protest committee used video evidence and Kattack tracking in their decision.

We provided the photos for the awards again this year. They looked great!

Block Island Race 2008

The conditions at the start of the Storm Trysail Club's Block Island Race made for some tremendous photos. What a beautiful start to the 2008 summer season for Long Island Sound sailors. 101 boats sailed the 185 nautical mile race from Stamford around Block Island and back. Last year's winner, Rambler, was first to finish again, completing the course in 17 hours and 17 minutes. However, this year Rosebud and Blue Yankee corrected over her, taking first and second respectively in the IRC Super Zero division. For more information and results, go to Storm Trysail Club's site, http://www.stormtrysail.org/ .

See more great sunset sailing photos from the 2008 Block Island Race at the link below.

http://thephotoboat.com/2008_Block_Island_Race_Photos.html

J24 Nationals 2008

54 J24s battled for the 2008 J24 National Championship this past weekend on the waters between Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Sandy Hook, NJ. What a weekend of weather! Friday brought rain pretty much all day long and increasing wind that was knocking down J24s left and right by the second race. Saturday's sun would have given racers a chance to dry out their foul weather gear except that building conditions and big seas made for a wet ride by the end of the day. But who's complaining...we're always greatful for big breeze. Sunday started out slow and sunny, but a few hours later brought wind and pouring rain. Gotta love the spring in New England. No really, we do. Consistent rain is an enemy to our cameras but at least there was breeze and we still came away with a bunch of great shots and working cameras.

Twins and the Z sails crew (pictured, bow 10) defended their title with a solid performance again this year. For the complete results and other info about the event, held at Richmond County Yacht Club on Staten Island, go to http://www.j24nationals2008.com/ .

See the rest of the good, bad and ugly in the PhotoBoat.com J24 Nationals 2008 gallery. http://thephotoboat.com/J24_Nationals_2008_Photos.html

AYC Spring Series 2008 - Epic Conditions

Here's Rima2 on one of the downwind legs at American YC Spring Series on Saturday. The course was 2 miles each way and Rima2 did 3 laps in 78 minutes. Even better, they did each downwind leg in just 6 minutes at a speed of 18-19 knots with TWA of 155. It's no surprise that this photo is from behind...it was hard to catch this heavy weather speed machine built by Reichel-Pugh. Thanks to owner John Brim for the stats.

Mother nature whipped up a nasty combination on Saturday, with 30 knots of breeze, an Easterly on Western Long Island Sound, and, worse, opposing tidal current. For an Inland body of water, Long Island Sound can get surprisingly rough when the stars are aligned like this.

As a result, some crews were not as gleeful as the Rima2 team. We heard of at least two blown out spinnakers, a broken mast, two broken booms, and a collision. Ouch. Nobody likes a gearbuster at the beginning of the season.

This brings up a controversial question...is it okay for photographers to post photos of carnage?

We do post those photos - though we make sure not to post thirty photos of one incident - because 1. it can happen to anybody and 2. those photos help describe the day. After the initial emotions pass, it is important for boat owners and crew invovled to be able to look at the photos and remember what happened.

American Yacht Club Spring Series lived up to its reputation for us this weekend. Both Spring Series and Fall Series frequently have big winds and always have big boats and big fleets. What a great combination. The photos are portfolio quality and are must-see action shots.

See more photos at http://thephotoboat.com/American_Yacht_Club_Spring_Series_2008.html

See results at http://www.americanyc.com/

See more about Reichel-Pugh Yachts at http://www.reichel-pugh.com/

PhotoBoat in the APS Catalog

Thanks to APS for supporting sailing industry photographers! Good photos help sell gear! See our photos in the 2008 Annapolis Performance Sailing catalog and on the APS website, http://www.apsltd.com/ . Find out more about our commercial and editorial photography at www.PhotoBoat.com .

2008 Annapolis NOOD and American Spring Series

It was foul weather gear over sunblock this weekend on both the Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound, where two big beginning-of-season regattas were taking place.

See more photos from both AYC Spring Series and Annapolis NOOD at http://www.photoboat.com/

American Yacht Club kicked off 2008's Spring Series with a powerful Easterly and chilly temps.

Despite the cloudy day, the shots are dramatic and as always, a lot of great boats were out racing, including Rima, Devocean, High Noon, Swan 42s, and a bunch of JBoats looking good.

In Annapolis
...conditions were very light on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday's 15 knots helped create some drama on the Chesapeake. Around 270 boats are a lot to cover in one day, but Allen did his best to get as many as possible. The Melges 32s and Mumm 30s were looking particularly good, with 15 boats in each fleet. Other fleets, also looking good, of course, included J24s, Etchells, J22s, Cal 25s, Catalina 27s, Stars, Alberg 30s, S2s, Beneteau 36.7s, J105s, J30s, J80s, Melges 24s, and J35s. That's a lot of One Designs...nice job Sailing World and Annapolis sailors.

Getting There...And Back

Our plan was to hit Annapolis NOOD on our way North from Florida, just like we did for Charleston Race Week. But Friday's conditions on the Chesapeake were far from photogenic and Saturday's forecast called for more of the same.

We had wanted to take some shots at AYC Spring Series and saw that the forecast called for a strong Easterly. On Long Island Sound, that means big seas and good photos, so a day trip to Rye it was. Then back to Annapolis for Sunday's action.

We officially have a screw loose for making that trip, especially with gas prices where they are, but dramatic conditions generate our income, so we have to be a little crazy sometimes.

See more AYC Spring Series and Annapolis NOOD photos here: http://www.photoboatgallery.com/lightbox/index.php

Charleston Race Week 2008

Check out our photos of Charleston Race Week 2008.

With around 140 boats ranging from Melges 24s to J105s to racer-cruisers (just because you have a bimini doesn't mean you can't race), Charleston Race Week is quite an event. Charleston is one of our favorite cities and it's great to have a reason to come here every year. In 2007, we arrived by sailboat and spent the week at Charleston Maritime Center. It doesn't get much better than that, but this year we were still happy to be here.

Racing was tight on all three courses for 2008. The sea breeze kicked up in the afternoons, so mornings were spent waiting for it (and sometimes drifting backwards because of the ripping current in Charleston Harbor), but the wait was worth it- especially for the photos.

The city is beautiful and the buildings and the bridge provide great backgrounds for photos on the inside course.

We had a great time at Salty Mikes, where Sailing Anarchy threw another great party complete with a slideshow of our photos.

This regatta marks the beginning of our 2008 summer season (which includes Spring and Fall) and we're looking forward to another great season of sailing photos on Long Island Sound, the Chesapeake Bay, Newport area, and more.

Next on the agenda: 2008 Sailing World Annapolis NOOD photos.

Check out more Charleston Race Week 2008 photos here: http://www.thephotoboat.com/CharlestonRaceWeek08.html

A Wedding on the Schooner Liberty

Daniela is shown here, taking a photo of the wedding party during John and Niki's nuptuals on the Liberty in Key West. We covered this wedding from two boats- a little one and a big one. Daniela zipped around in a dinghy taking shots of the Liberty underway and the group lined up at the rail; I was on board documenting the day and capturing the bride and groom's interaction. The Liberty crew was great as usual, all the guests had a blast, and John and Niki got a photo with the coordinates at which they were married, courtesy of the Liberty Fleet.

Find out more about Liberty Fleet weddings in Key West and Boston here.

See more of our work at www.PhotoBoat.com .

Sail Fast 2008 Line Product Shoot

We just finished shooting SailFast's brand new 2008 line and the t-shirts look great! We had a good time with models Wells, Trip, Joe and Stacey, taking shots both at the St. Petersburg Sailing Center during Flying Scot midwinters and at the laid-back Pass-a-Grille beach. Both the Flying Scot fleet and Pass-a-Grille embody the SailFast mentality quite well. Flying Scot sailors love the sport and sail a lot, often with families and spouses. Fleets are located in sailing hotspots such as Long Island Sound and Tampa Bay, but also on smaller lakes in non-coastal states. Pass-a-grille beach and the accompanying small neighborhood is picturesque, but quiet. The beach is accessible to the public but never crowded or over-commercialized. It's a great place for watersports or beachcombing- both important parts of the SailFast lifestyle.

One of Allen's photos was used to create the artistic fleet image in the grey shirt pictured above.

See more SailFast products and learn about their dedication to raising funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at www.isailfast.com .

See our client list and learn more about hiring Daniela and Allen for commercial photography including catalog product photos such as these at www.PhotoBoat.com .

Flying Scot Midwinters 2008

The Flying Scots experienced conditions at both ends of the spectrum for their midwinters this week. The fleet has a heavy population of lake sailors and Monday and Tuesday's weather was a bit much for some, with 15-20 from the Northeast and a really lumpy Tampa Bay. Many competitors were happy with Wednesday's dying breeze and Thursday was a complete drifter. That's undesireable for us, but we were happy to get the two days of great action photos. The Flying Scots are a great family fleet, with many parent-child teams and even more wife-husband teams. In fact, they have an annual Wife-Husband Regatta. It was also great to sit in on some of their Top Gun training and debrief sessions. It's always great to see sailors that are so dedicated to helping each other improve.

See Flying Scot Midwinters results at St. Petersburg Yacht Club's website: http://www.spyc.org/.

Take a look at the event photos, sorted by sail number, at http://www.photoboat.com/ .

St. Petersburg Winter Lightning Championship 2008

The Lightning has been around for a long time but despite its more classic shape, it still goes fast and looks good doing it. 69 crews proved that at this weekend's Winter Lightning Championship at St. Petersburg YC, the last stop on the Lightning Southern Circuit. There's nothing like 69 boats on the line and 15 knots of breeze on a lumpy Tampa Bay. The result: Allen took 3,000 photos on Saturday. We had a great time showing a slideshow at the Banquet on Saturday night in St. Petersburg Yacht Club's ballroom, particularly because we got to learn a lot about the Lightning fleet's history and the members' dedication, friendship, and generosity. Maybe we'll end up in a Lightning when we finally find time for sailing again.

See the lightning photos at www.PhotoBoat.com and the results at www.spyc.org.

Miami Grand Prix '08

Conditions were beautiful off of Key Biscayne today for Acura Miami Grand Prix racing Saturday. With a stiff breeze but relatively flat seas, particularly compared to the bumps the day before, the Farr 40s, Melges 32s, and more were just flying. It was an easy day to capture boats looking good. See more photos at http://www.photoboat.com/ .

Laser Midwinters - wrap-up

Racing conditions were up and down for the rest of Laser Midwinters East. Friday was a great day for racing and for photos. Competition was really tight. See more Laser Midwinters East photos on PhotoBoat.com .

2008 Laser Midwinters East - Thursday

Laser Midwinters East started off with good breeze this morning, but conditions diminished throughout the day on the Laser S/Radial/4.7 course in the Gulf of Mexico. There was a lot more breeze funneling down the inland waterway than there was just off the coast of Clearwater Beach where the racing took place. Clearwater Yacht Club will host three more days of sailing for the series and we look forward to some more tight racing in all three fleets.

See our photos at www.PhotoBoat.com .

Miami Boat Show 2008

We were hired to do some sea trials and interior shots for Mad Mariner, a daily online boating magazine. Pictured here is a Nordic Tug doing 15 knots. That's something we didn't know was possible, so we took this slow shutter-speed shot to show high boat-speed. Not bad for a comfortable home. Still, the boats are intended to cruise around 8 or 9 knots, but can go 15 in a pinch. The other boats we covered included models from Luhrs, Grand Banks, Mainship, Parker, Catalina, Lagoon, and a new Electric-powered cat. A few more of our slow shutter-speed shots can be seen at http://www.photoboat.com/ under Melges 24 Northeast District Champs 2007.

Yngling Worlds 08 - Medal Race

Yngling World Championship team GBR 12 was celebrating during a high-speed tow back to the US Sailing Center after today's quick medal race. FRA 9 won the 10-boat medal race, held in about 6 knots of breeze on Biscayne Bay.

See more details, results and our photos at http://www.yngling.org/ .

See all of our photos at http://www.photoboat.com/ .

Yngling Worlds 08

Today's final day of Yngling Worlds was full of happiness for some and tears for others, as several teams locked in spots in the Olympic games in China and others had to bid that prospect farewell. In this photo, the GBR 12 team celebrates after the finish of today's second race. The women had the world championship locked in with one race still remaining. France and Russia also had teams that took bullets today.

The conditions on Biscayne Bay were very light at the beginnng of the day, but the wind slowly picked up to around 12 knots and the racing got a lot more exciting. The fleet got three races in.

We were both out there taking shots for the International Yngling Association, Allen in the dinghy and I on a RIB. Conditions were tricky for photography with the combination of light breeze, low booms, and sun and wind coming from opposing directions...it made it challenging for us to capture the girls' faces in bright light. But we like a challenge and still came away with some nice shots. We were also asked to get some shots that can be used to advertise match racing since that's how the Ynglings will compete in China.

See more details about Yngling Worlds and the path to the Olympics at the Yngling Association's website,
http://www.yngling.org/index1.html

For more photos, go to www.PhotoBoat.com .

505 and A Cats finish with a great day

With 20 knots from the North on the heels of a cold front today, conditions were perfect on the South end of Tampa Bay for everybody but A Cats. Only one A Cat lasted all morning and no races were held for the class. Most of the high-performance cat sailors made a decision not to go out before breaking any gear or having serious wipeouts.

The 505s, on the other hand, were loving life (and breaking a little bit of gear and having a few serious wipeouts).

It was a great day for photos, and we really like the silhouette photos taken into the bright sun. When you take as many as 5000 photos a week, something different is really nice...


Check out the sequence below, caused by a big wave from a container ship's wake.


Hopefully Mike doesn't mind us posting this. He was not the only one who hung out in the water today.








See the photos at http://thephotoboat.com/505ACatMidwinters.htm and see the results and more info about the active 505 class at www.usa505.org .

505 and A Cat Midwinters 08 - Saturday

This Hall Spars-owned A Cat has a rigid wing "sail" which had us oogling. It is the only one of its kind at the regatta, but is still class-legal because it meets the sail-area specs. Cool.

We're looking forward to getting some good shots of this A Cat and all the other A Cats and 505s in action tomorrow, with 15-25 knots and sunny skies in the forecast. Today's weather was tough...while the wind was supposed to increase in the afternoon, threatening squalls forced the sailors to hit the beach at noon and they weren't able to go back out. We're concentrating our photo efforts on tomorrow's action. But still, we had a good time at dinner with the competitors and they had a good time too...

505 and A Cat Midwinters 08 - Friday

There wasn't enough breeze for the 505ers to really get out on the wire today, so the PhotoBoat coverage was brief. The forecast calls for increasing breeze throughout this three-day regatta with around 45 boats. Still, the A Cats can look fast in any breeze.

Having been to more Yacht Clubs than we can remember in the last few years, Allen and I find the venue for this event in St. Petersburg refreshing. The sailors are launching from East Beach in Ft. DeSoto on the Southern tip of the peninsula that makes up Tampa Bay. Ft. DeSoto National Park is one of our favorite spots around here and in anticipation of light breeze, we brought our bikes with us today.

Schooner Wharf Wreckers Race Series 08

We had a great time photographing Sunday's Wreckers race hosted by Schooner Wharf Bar. Conditions were perfect, if a little windy for some of the boats, but there were several schooners racing.

Here are some excerpts from an article I wrote last year about the Wreckers races. I never did anything with it, so might as well post it here....

Key West, Florida is host to one of the biggest, most well-known regattas in the world. During the annual Acura Key West Race Week, over 200 boats and the accompanying racers, t-shirts, kegs, photographers, and sailing gear explode on the laid back capital of the United States.

But once the Race Week circus leaves, the locals put on their own spectacle with a very different kind of regatta. Schooner Wharf Bar’s Wreckers Race is a series of four races held on the last Sunday of every month in January through April. Vessels race from a starting line inside Key West Harbor to a buoy at Sand Key, a reef about eight miles away. The participating boats range from schooners to daysailors to liveaboard cruisers.

The race is named in honor of the men and women of history—well, let’s face it, the men—who would go out to salvage booty off of ships that wrecked on local reefs. Word has it they would save castaways when possible, but the lore tends to focus on their less altruistic actions.

The story, easily gleaned by any Key West tourist in the course of a few museum or monument visits, goes something like this: in the 1500s, Key West wreckers sacked Spanish ships that floundered on the way home from South America. Key West’s position close to the Gulf Stream was fortuitous for treasure-hungry inhabitants.

Political changes in the 19th Century put a fire under the wrecking business in Key West. Because of burgeoning commerce on the Mississippi River after the Louisiana Purchase, Key West’s location became even more strategic. Now the island lay in the path of not one, but two major shipping lanes. Even better (from the wreckers’ point of view), as America seized Florida from Spanish hands, Congress passed an act prohibiting the transportation of booty found in Florida’s waters to foreign ports. This move uprooted the wrecking industry from the Bahamas and it became so large and lucrative that for a brief period of time during the 1850s, Key West was supposedly the richest city per capita in the United States.

With a sense of pride in Key West tradition and a desire to get that first place prize, today’s Wreckers Race participants storm the route of history’s wreckers. With a rather barbaric attitude that comes from a lack of rules, no shortage of rum, and, well, just being Key West locals, they play the role very well. It’s too bad the Race Week crew can’t stick around to witness this, or even participate. Sailing is sailing and I know I could learn a few things about making a schooner go fast.

Day 5 - Key West racing at it's best

The sun and wind made a joint appearance today for the first time all week at Key West Race Week. A strong NE breeze upwards of 20 knots made for an intense last day of racing. Conditions were choppier than they were wavy, which makes Allen's life more difficult. He decided to stick with the Div 2 course after taking a few shots of the Mumm 30s, Farr 40s, and Melges 32s first thing in the morning.

On a day like today it can be hard to catch boats like Numbers (J/V 66) and Gwaihir (Class 40) in an 11' dinghy with a 20 hp, but that's part of the challenge that keeps Allen interested. We talked to some crew on Gwaihir who mentioned that they prefer distance racing. They are so fast downwind in breeze like today's that as soon as they got their chute set, it was just about time to take it down.

Radio chatter was busy today and included several boats retiring early due to equipment failure, several protests, and an MOB in the J105 fleet (was quickly recovered by another boat). There was nothing boring about today and the sailors returned to the docks charged up with stories about blown out chutes.

So the awards are now given and another Key West Race Week comes to an end. Before we know it, the logo-covered trailers will be gone from the parking lots in town, the carbon fiber forest in Key West Bight will transform back to one of wood and aluminum, and the dogs will once again own the place at Schooner Wharf Bar.


See more Acura Key West Race Week 08 photos at photoboat.com .

Key West Days 3 and 4

There was no racing on Wednesday due to lack of breeze. Sailors were on the dock by 2 pm and had a nice sunny day to enjoy Key West.

Conditions on Thursday started out just like Wednesday's and the race committee began the day with a 2.5-hour postponement and a notice that racing would go on into the late afternoon.

At 1:30 pm Rima's tender was pulling a wakeboarder across the glassy water roughly a mile offshore in the Div 2 race area. At 2:30 pm 10 knots from the NE made a big difference. All classes got two races in and sailed home as the sun was setting and a cold front was approaching, calling for good breeze on Friday.

Key West Race Week - Finally some action!

The wind was still blowing today and the racing was intense on the Div 3 and 4 courses. In my opinion, Melges 24s are some of the most photogenic boats out there- they plane easily, they're nicely shaped, and the crew are always super-intense, whether in their hiking form or their facial expressions. The competition is tight and the course is crowded. What more could you want?

Key West Race Week Monday

Today was disappointing for everybody except sailors who wanted to put some extra time in at the bar this week. After a 2.5-hour postponement due to heavy breeze, the fleet went out, sailed around for a while, and then came back in. No starts, no finishes, on the dock by 2 pm.

We were absolutely shocked this morning when we found out about the postponement. Take a look from our perspective...last year was our first time at Key West Race Week and the conditions were pretty tame. All of the visual media and--for lack of a better word--folklore surrounding Key West Race Week portrays epic conditions. Stories from '06 are still circulating in the tent where on Sunday a video of '06 racing was playing, not '07. We thought these were the conditions everybody lived for, but it was just a few too many knots above that level.

The weather report looks fair with a chance for another good day or two and if everybody had broken their gear today who would we have photographed for the rest of the week?

See our shots from today and yesterday here:
http://www.photoboatgallery.com/lightbox/index.php

Key West Race Week - the day before

With the coming of a cold front, the weather in the Keys changed from a sunny Florida dream to a blustery, rainy reality. The boats out practicing today were pushing their limits in gusts up to 29 knots just off of Key West. We caught some shots of a broaching Melges and had to pull an MOB out of the water...that is Allen's second MOB recovery in the last six months.

It's good to be back in this quirky city where we spent three months last year and we've enjoyed catching up with friends from J World, Schooner Bar, Monty's and The Kitehouse over the last few days, as well as meeting many new people.



Still, we're excited to see some local boats from the place we call home. Here's a shot of Indian Harbor Yacht Club's Christopher Dragon having a great time on Key West waters despite the chilly temps.


Mondays' weather is supposed to be as tremendous as today's and we look forward to another great week of beautiful water, fast boats, and great racing. We'll be showing our photos at Schooner Wharf Bar all week.

Ft. Lauderdale to Key West start

Conditions were optimal today a mile off the Ft. Lauderdale coast. With 20 knots from the East, the only imperfect part of the scenario was a variably cloudy sky. When the light did punch through it highligted the spray coming off the boats and it made the cloudy moments worthwhile.

Approximately 50 boats- from R/Ps to trimarans to Bavarias to Js- started the 160-mile race today just outside of the Port Everglades inlet. After he finished photographing, Allen found himself half-way to the Baker's Haulover Inlet in Miami Beach. It's a long trip home in a dinghy in 6 foot seas. I was not surprised to get the call with his coordinates and a request that I find a boat ramp close by, but no luck.

It will be a quick one for the group beam-reaching to the Keys and lets hope the wind stays up for Key West Race Week.

See more dramatic photos here:
http://www.photoboatgallery.com/lightbox/index.php?category=gallery/Ft%20Lauderdale%20to%20Key%20West&start=0

SPYC Multiclass 08 Day 2

Today the St. Petersburg Yacht Club race committee showed me why they have such a good reputation for race management. The course I covered had five different classes on it and they were all racing multi-lap courses, some W/L, some triangle. It made my job tougher because every time one fleet was rounding the windward mark, another fleet was finishing just to windward of it.

The above shot shows A Cat, 505, Contender on the layline.

The RC got in two long races (and 3 for A Cats because they are that fast) despite a long postponement in the AM.

With A Cats and Ultima 20s (and all of the five fleets) meeting in right-of-way situations and a big bang from a collision between an FD and a U20, I barely had time to complain about light breeze. There was a lot going on. I didn't get catch the collision on "film" but maybe it can be seen on Kattack's race tracking at http://www.kattack.com/ . Let's hope the sound was worse than the damage.

See the results at the SPYC website http://www.spyc.org/club/scripts/view/view_clubannouncement.asp?pg=PR&GRP=5564&AID=38838&NS=PR&APP=58

St. Pete YC Multiclass Regatta day 1

The breeze was gusty close to shore today but the Southwesterly dropped to between 5 and 8 knots by the time it reached the race course in Tampa Bay.

Still, the Contender and FD sailors put in an impressively long day with 4 multi-leg races. I survived the slow day in the dinghy by playing with our newest photo/sailing-geek toy- a GPS receiver for our cameras. Today's photos are our first ones tagged with coordinates. Is this a useless gimmick or will we rely on it one day?

See more photos and today's results here: http://www.thephotoboat.com/SPYC_MultiClassRegatta.htm