The Sharpe Image

OK, I don’t just shoot Auto Racing, I also shoot Yacht Racing.  I LOVE Yacht Racing.  I love being out on the water, I love the pagentry of it, I love the look of the boats, I love the competition among guys who are not getting paid a dime for their efforts, I love all of the colors, the sights, the smell of the ocean, the sounds of the carbon fiber “groaning”, the sounds of the wenches, just whole thing is great.  Man was reacing boats LONG before automobiles were ever thought of.  To me, it is a real “pure form” of racing where the elements are your best friend, or your worst enemy.  Just a pure form of competition that I think is great.

These are some images that I have shot offshore  in Charleston, SC for the Charleston Offshore Racing Association’s annual Charleston Race Week that occurs in April of every year.  If you have never gone to this, do yourself a favor…….GO!  It is a party unlike anything else you have seen.  These guys do it for pride, and the rum……need I say more?

The above images was taking with some of the bigger yachts racing “down wind” on the Harbor course inside Charleston.  I thought that the combonation of the colors, light, and background made for a good shot.

If you have never seen the start of a Yacht Race, it can be something quit spectacular!  It is a timed start, so they all try and hit the line at the same time up to speed.  The Client had requested an image that showed the “closness” of Yacht Racing……this is what I came up with.

After the start of the J 105 Class, things started to get sorted out.  These were the 3 lead boats that broke away from the pack.  I thought that the image had a certain element to it that really showed “racing” upwind.

Here are the J 105′s again running Down Wind.  After rounding the “Weather Mark” the boats will head down wind on the course.  I really liked the way that the yachts formed a “train” while heading down wind.  Between this, the sails filling, and the Cranes in the background to somewhat break things up, I thought that this was a good image.

I really liked the way I captured the guys working together as a team in this shot.  I also thought that the Freighter Ship behind them in the background made for an interesting image.

I love the above shot!  It just is one of my favorite images that I have ever taken as far as yacht racing.  It just shows it all…..the essence of competition, the way the captain of the blue yacht is poised top Strike when the time is right, the other yacht heading upwind, the closeness of the yachts……..I have just always liked this image.

This shot weas made into a promo piece for the client.  I always thought that it was a beautiful image.

This shot was purchased by the sailmaker to show how well his Sails perform on a high end yacht.

Here again is an example of a Tacking Duel occurring upwind.  Anytime that you can get this in Yacht Racing Photography, do it……it can be very dramatic.

Here again is a tacking Duel…….but this time shot on the vertical.  I like doing this because it shows the masts and the sails in the image.

This is the one design class of the Melges 24′s.  These are really FAST 24′ Sport Boats with Bow Sprits to fly their Spinnikers Sails from.  The thing that I liked about this shot was the sails.  It shows how the colors of the sails, but was shot in a backlit condition, which really brings out the colors.  Sometimes a backlit condition throught the sails can create a nice effect.

This picture and the next really show how tight things can get in a Yacht Race.  These guys are all heading to the Weather Mark, and they are going to be real “tight” once there for the rounding.  Anytime you can get ahead of the Weather Mark and shoot, it can make for some nice images.

The next picture below I have always liked.  It shows Yachts tearing upwind with their Masts full in the frame.  If you can get back far enough away from them, I would suggest trying this.  It happened to work out for me.

The nxt image I shot from behind the starting line after the yachts had started.  The wind was not all that strong this day, but I still thought that it was a good shot……to me it showed the way things can develop on the line.

This last image is another favorite of mine.  It shows Melges 24′s heading Down Wind, but the real nice element in it are the American Flags, and Fort Sumter in the background.  Anytime you can incorporate a nice background into a Spots Shot without taking away from the action, do it.

Thanks for looking!

Sam