`Tis the Season
It’s the most colorful time of the year, and Ultimate Sailing joins in: lights and kites, jingle bells and bloopers … our December 2022 calendar images are as lively and ebullient as a kid on Christmas morning!
Who can deny the joy of such colorful sails? The juxtaposition of hues, designs, shadows and shapes. The 1980s were an eye-popping era in yacht racing, it’s no wonder I was spurred to launch my career as a yachting photographer!
Flashback to the Big Boat Series in San Francisco Bay, when I had just begun working as an independent. My passion was to illustrate the excitement, drama and aesthetic of all aspects of yacht racing – but boating publications were only interested in results and winners.
You know the rest: I decided to launch the Ultimate Sailing Calendar and publish my own images. The photo at bottom of the December 2022 pages showing several IOR two-tonners, loaded up and heeling hard, was published in 1983 in my first ever edition of the calendar, and the featured image at top, in 1984.
The Rolex Big Boat Series remains one of the best performing regattas for me: and I don’t mean just the race results. Since I began photographing this premier event it has guaranteed me scores of exhilarating, action-packed images. The venue, conditions and race organization are superb, and the event continues to be a leader in other areas too. In 2022, for the third year, the Big Boat Series was designated a Platinum-level Clean Regatta with Sailors for the Sea.
Sailors for the Sea is a non-profit launched to focus on the ways regatta organizers and racers can lessen sailing’s impact on the environment. It is one of the world’s leading conservation organizations designed to engage, educate and activate the sailing community to protect and restore our oceans.
It was founded in 2004 – shortly after we at Ultimate Sailing moved our printing production to North America, where we could use environment-friendly soy-based inks and Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) responsible sourced paper.
At Ultimate Sailing, we’ve been proud to support and partner with Sailors for the Sea for several years, as part of the Ultimate Green campaign, which also promotes conservation and protection of the environment. I love that yacht racing harnesses the power of the wind and mind into a highly competitive yet eco-friendly sport.
With Mother Earth in mind: have you seen our reusable shopping tote? It’s sturdy, big and beamy (16” x 14” x 6”) and eliminates the need for throw-away paper or plastic bags. Made from recycled polypropylene, it features some of my favorite images too! Why use wasteful giftwrap when you can tuck your holiday presents (including the 2023 Ultimate Sailing Calendar) into one of these gorgeous totes, that will be used over and over again? Please check out the totes, calendar and other goodies at www.ultimatesailing.com And have a happy, safe and healthy Holiday season, as we reach for the New Year!
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UPLIFT, DOWN UNDER
Love (and the iQFOiL) is in the air
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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