On your mark ... get set ... 2023!
Happy New Year friends! I am wishing a year full of joy and good health to you and yours: and may 2023 bring you the ‘Ultimate’ in sailing and all of life’s adventures.
With this, my 41st edition of the Ultimate Sailing Calendar, we return to my usual format featuring the latest and greatest racing yachts, destinations, and events. It was a thrill to flashback on the past four decades in the 2022 edition, but I’m thrilled to bring you this year a selection of the latest, most breathtaking yacht racing from around the world. Included in the mix are photos from my talented colleagues Giulio Testa, Sander van der Borch, Pedro Martinez, and Jesús Renedo; plus, Gilles Martin-Raget – whose stunning photos kick off the year for us.
The legendary J-class yacht Velsheda plunges into a surly Mediterranean with might and determination at the top of our January 2023 pages. Much like our entrance to the New Year, this treasured classic battles ahead with hope and determination. It’s what we do!
This spectacular image was captured by Gilles from a helicopter on a blustery fall day at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. “It was the day when the fleet of big maxis and J-Classes were racing the longest course of Les Voiles, which sent them to a mark located near Cavalaire-sur-Mer,” he recalled; the roughly 30nm course circling France’ Saint-Tropez peninsula, around the rugged capes. “That is where the mistral, the famous local northwest wind, blows the strongest, creating short and abrupt waves that make the way upwind quite uncomfortable for the crew and the boats,” he continued, “but the reward is a fast and furious downwind leg on the way back to Saint-Tropez.”
‘Le vent mistral’ can swiftly build to 30 or 40 knots! Just look at the crew, face down on the foredeck, trying to escape the sea spray as 124-tons of brawn and beauty romp to weather!
“As I was working for the Les Voiles organization, it was vital to capture this moment,” Gilles reflected, despite the realization that several other thrilling races were taking place at the same time, with a number of classics racing on other courses. The event, which was founded four decades ago, brings a multitude of modern, classic and maxi yachts to the Côte d'Azur for high octane racing by day, and swanky soirees at night.
“At the time, you knew you were missing some other spectacular action too,” Gilles said. “But getting to follow the J-Class yachts in such a big breeze was both an incredible show, and a privilege, that anybody with a love of sailing would not want to miss. You could watch them for hours and hours, just destroying the waves … although I bet the J’s foredeck would prefer drier conditions.”
Gilles lives in the south of France in Arles and began sailing and racing in his 20s, and soon segued into photographing the sport he loves. Read more about him in our spotlight from May 2020 at https://www.ultimatesailing.com/blogs/news/spotlight-gilles-martin-raget
If you love the in-your-face style of this photo, you’ll go weak in the knees over my ‘Full Throttle’ image transformed 1000-piece puzzle, on sale now at www.ultimatesailing.com. This gorgeous 19” x 27” puzzle is just the ticket for cold wintery nights, while you dream of getting back on the water. Choose from this image of the Volvo 70 Wizard blasting through the Gulf Stream during the Pineapple Cup Race; or try your hand at my colorful throwback ‘Spinnaker Parade.’ Plus we have brilliant notecards that help you ‘say it with sailing.’ Check it all out at www.ultimatesailing.com
And if you’re wondering what’s next on the agenda for Ultimate Sailing … Key West is calling my name and I may hop down for the Southernmost Regatta. Then there’s the Bacardi Cup in March, the incredible Caribbean racing circuit, and of course Transpac starting in late June. Do you have a regatta or championship event you’d like Ultimate Sailing to cover? Let’s talk! It’s a real thrill to visit new and exciting destinations and increase exposure to our great sport and venues. Let’s make 2023 a truly New Year – full of new friends, new experiences and new wonders!
Also in News
Royal Blue
Oh, that water! That sparkling, rich royal blue that caresses the yachts as they hurtle toward Honolulu on the Transpacific Yacht Race, as depicted in the April 2025 pages of the Ultimate Sailing Calendar.
Maxed Out
We have excitedly shared Gilles’ exquisite work before in the Ultimate Sailing Calendar, and this month focus on the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo. Here an impressive fleet of more than 40 behemoth, majestic maxi yachts battled their rivals and the seas, off the blustery coast of Sardinia.
Make mine a double
The January pages of the 2025 Ultimate Sailing Calendar: in Luca Butto’s featured image the crew hikes hard, defying the explosion of spray buffeting the maxi yacht Cannonball, as it plows to weather at the Tre Golfi Sailing Week in Naples. In the inset image, at the bottom, Stefano Gattini captures the Club Swan 36 Farstar in hot pursuit at the Swan Croatia Challenge.
+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.
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