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.

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 .

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