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!