Bedlam on the Bay
SEPTEMBER BLOG: Bedlam on the Bay
September is a time of transformation. New season, new schools, new clothes … it’s a time for big changes – and a time for Big Boats.
That’s the Rolex Big Boat Series regatta in particular, which St. Francis Yacht Club has hosted for more than 50 years in San Francisco Bay. Since the early 1980s, when I first started the Ultimate Sailing Calendar, it’s been one of my favorite events and venues. I can’t tell you how many calendar shots RBBS has generated over the years! From the days of colorful spinnakers and bloopers, to modern day boats with asymmetrical kites - it’s always been a thrill to shoot. And challenging too!
When RBBS originally debuted in the 1960s, it was designed as a showcase for big boats, with stately beauties such as Kialoa II, Athene, Baruna, Orient and Kamalii plying San Francisco Bay, and later, duels between powerful yachts like Blackfin and Windward Passage.
Over the years the boats have ‘shrunk’ a little bit in size: but not number – nearly 100 or so – nor the excitement. When the sea breeze fills in and collides with the ebbing tides, it is bedlam on the Bay! Several years ago, we shot wildly as 14 Farr 30s, battling it out for their world championship title, rounded down like dominos. That blustery weekend ended with tattered sails and bent poles, but fortunately everyone survived the carnage. When I asked one sailor if he was put off by the demolition derby conditions, he quickly answered, “#%&@, no! This is what we come to San Francisco for!”
This month’s image of the C&C 30 Extreme, punching through the chop in 25 knots of breeze, illustrates that. The crew is geared up and ready for whatever Mother Nature throws at them.
And don’t think the photographers are exempt from the madness! Bashing around the Bay from course to course, in a photo boat, can be just as brutal. Tearing from the start to the top mark to capture the rounding, from the city front course to Berkeley Circle; more often than not we’re airborne – clutching a handhold and trying not to lose any teeth! Then we return to the hotel, battered and drenched from head to toe; eager to download and process the exciting images from the day.
But I’m not always lucky enough to escape unscathed. While in pursuit of a race boat one year, we got caught up in the excitement of ‘getting the shot’ – and nearly capsized the Boston Whaler we were in! We were so focused on our subject, our bow got caught in the wake of another boat fast-reaching by. We took a massive nosedive and nearly flipped! I had a few cameras and lenses, along with some film I’d already shot, in my cooler; which slid off the back of the boat! Luckily I had it locked and it floated; so we scrambled to retrieve it. Sadly the cameras around my neck didn’t fare so well: they were drenched (as was everyone on board!)
One bit of good luck: my friend and colleague Phil Uhl was working in San Diego and overnighted me some replacement equipment. Of course, we were back at it the next day … maybe with a little better look-out and distance from racing boats.
Despite the crazy, rugged conditions at RBBS, the hospitality is warm and refined. Charming greeters welcome you to St. Francis Yacht Club at a red carpeted entryway every morning; icy beers are delivered to the docks each afternoon. The race organization is excellent, and the setting breathtaking, on a course that stretches along the spectacular San Francisco city front, meanders around Alcatraz, and pokes beneath the fog-capped Golden Gate Bridge: with an eye-popping finish right in front of the StFYC Grill Room bar.
Enjoy this month’s feature photos – and look for more from the Rolex Big Boat Series in years to come!
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Don’t you just love the new Olympic Class iQFOiL windsurfer? This super-sonic fleet featured in the February pages of the 2024 Ultimate Sailing Calendar will makes its Olympic debut at the 2024 Games: bringing a whole new level of excitement as they fly around the racecourse!
+About Ultimate Sailing
Sailing is a magnificent, colorful and dramatic sport. This unique sport has many variables with the constantly changing elements, sea conditions, boats, events, competitors and locations. The challenge is to capture on film electrifying moments that take your breath away. Those moments and opportunities are very few, but when they happen... it is ultimate sailing." ~ Sharon Green
Sharon Green has been capturing electrifying images of performance sailing for more than 40 years. Her annual Ultimate Sailing Calendar, featuring the highlights of competitive sailing, is eagerly anticipated by yachting and photography enthusiasts worldwide. Sharon has been published in major boating publications, both locally and internationally, since she first took up a camera while still in high school.
The pursuit of 'Ultimate Sailing' images never seems to grow old. Four decades and I still love the challenge of creating memorable images for my clients and the calendar."
Sharon is happiest when she is on the water or hanging from a helicopter in search of the elusive image that can be called 'Ultimate Sailing'. "My greatest satisfaction is when it all comes together: the anticipation, planning, organizing, traveling and epic conditions that combine to create a thrilling photograph.
The passage of time eludes our grasp: we can only look back in awe and look forward in anticipation. Never did I expect, 40 years ago, that my vision of creating the Ultimate Sailing Calendar would endure and provide such an extraordinary life experience. boundless advancements in sailing, and concurrently radical developments in camera and photographic technology, have kept me on my toes and the years have swept by! I find myself at this landmark anniversary: humbled by your patronage and inspired by your support. To my many friends, colleagues, clients, and subjects who have sustained and fueled this endless passion for capturing the ultimate Sailing image, I extend my deepest love and gratitude.
View the images by clicking the 40th button
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Sharon Green
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