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"Behind the Lens" Part 31 Key West Race Week

I do miss Key West race week. My first regatta there was 1988, which was only the second time it was held. I think it was the first time the IOR 50s raced there and it was pretty crazy at times. In the 80's & 90's Key West was regarded as a windy event but over the years it seemed to change to a light to medium. It was extremely popular with the

Published 07:19 on 7 May 2020
"Behind the Lens" Part 30 Mariquita

For me probably the most photogenic yacht in the world is the 125 foot classic Mariquita, originally built in 1911. During the 2012 Westward Cup in The Solent I set myself a challenge to capture the feeling of the pictures from the era when these classics were originally racing.Cameras of that era didn't have fast shutter speeds so I restricted this to between115th and 160th of a second rather then the usual 11000th required

Published 17:11 on 6 May 2020
"Behind the Lens" Part 29 IOR Maxis

The IOR Maxis were the state of the art boats in the 80's and 90's. These photographs are mostly from the Kenwood Cup Hawaii, the Newport Maxi Series and possible a maxi series during La Nioulargue in St Tropez . The 3 "aerial shots" of Boomerang, Condor and Kialoa were taken as they sailed under the Jamestown Bridge.

Published 17:07 on 6 May 2020
"Behind the Lens" Part 28 King's Cup 1992

"Behind the Lens" Part 28 King's Cup 1992 We have covered many of the Solent boats over the last few days so here is a selection from the Phuket Kings Cup in 1992. Bit of a heavy emphasis on Bill Gasson's Buzzard.

Published 17:02 on 6 May 2020
"Behind the Lens" Part 27 - Jamarella, Full Pelt etc

The 80's and 90's was a great time in IOR racing with new boats appearing every season with familiar names repeating. Names like Jamarella, Full Pelt and Oracle. Harold, Lawrie, Joe, etc. the names were know to us all. Allan Grey let me ride in the Jamarella tender for many of the events. Some great memories here, in particular the Jamarella Admiral's Cup Team photo, 1989? All so young!

Published 16:15 on 30 Apr 2020
"Behind the Lens" Part 26 - Dump Truck

Yesterdays post reminded me of a couple of other shots hiding in my archive. Dump Truck, the Dubois 54 footer was THE boat around 1990, with an "all star" crew I remember photographing her in The Solent, the Scottish Series, Spi Ouest and La Nioulargue. Lots of fun with a great crew. Around the same time Dump Truck's helmsman Bruce Savage and Shaun Carkeek (now the successful yacht

Published 16:12 on 30 Apr 2020
"Behind the Lens" Part 25 - Orion Express

This is Orion Express, the South African ILC40 and the Hong Kong yacht Hi Flyer photographed at the Corum Cup in Hong Kong in 1995. The weather for this event had been superb, windy and sunny, but on this "Round the Island Race" it was too rough for the press boat to follow the fleet so we cut the corner to one of the rounding Islands towards the east of Clearwater Bay. As

Published 13:24 on 28 Apr 2020
"Behind the Lens" Part 24 - International 14 Jumping

Paul Brotherton and Jerry Eplett sail an International 14 during a photoshoot for Proctor Masts in 2000 off Hayling Island. Pushing the 14 to the limit, they jumped clear of the water (no foils back then). Unfortunately it all went a bit pear shaped moments later when I pitch-poled my RIB running downwind on a particularly large wave, dumping me and the camera with this film still inside, into the water. Paul

Published 13:19 on 28 Apr 2020
"Behind the Lens" Part 23 The RNLI Shoots

In these days of Lockdown I thought I could show support for the people that put themselves in danger to save others. I don't have pictures that show the fantastic work the NHS does, but I do have pictures of the services like the RNLI, the Coastguard and other rescue services that put themselves, often voluntarily, in danger to save others. Back in the early 90's Rothmans Ireland wanted to give something back

Published 11:12 on 25 Apr 2020
"Behind the Lens" Part 22 - Pete Goss & Team Philips

29 March 2000. It was just after 7am when Andrew Preece and I were tucking into bacon and eggs in a roadside café just to the west of Plymouth. We were due to rendezvous with Team Philips at 10 off the Isle of Scilly so were killing a bit of time when Andrew's phone goes. "Hi Andrew its Pete, listen I know I said 10 but you better get here quick, the bows

Published 12:19 on 24 Apr 2020