Michael Harris Photography

And while the law of competition may be sometimes hard for the individual,  it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department. Andrew Carnegie USA boat passing in front of the boat from Switzerland in the 2012 Rolex Cup

One of many starts at the 2011 Rolex Cup on Biscayne Bay, South Florida. The 2012 Rolex Cup is coming up January 22nd through 28th. A week of exceptional sailboat racing. This image was taken from a small boat near the start line with a 70-200mm zoom. I tell people this image took 3 years to make, as this was the 3rd year I attempted to make a unique decent image of this event.  This was the year though, I was in the wrong place as the gun went off for this last start. Fortunately there were several boats over early and they had to restart, that gave me time to get in the right place. This image was selected as photo of the week on The Mindful Eye site and a fabulous critique was done on it by Craig Tanner, you can see it here; The Start

Canon 5DmkII, 70-200mm at 200mm, iso200, 1/750sec at f/5.6, +CPL I love sailing, still doing it after 45 years. I'm much better at it than I am at photography. Put the two together in either order and I'm there. This group of images was taken today at the US Sailing's Rolex Miami held on Biscayne Bay in South Florida. Sailors from around the world come here to compete so the racing is some of the best. Granted sailboat racing is not a spectator sport, in fact if you've never raced its probable pretty boring. Knowing this I've tried to make these images as artistic and interesting as I could, without spending a great deal of processing time on anyone. This event will last all week and I will try and make it out at least one more day. The logistics of this type of shot has its own built in difficulties, dropping the boat in the water, trip out to the course, chasing the sailboats around the course being sure to keep a proper distance, protecting equipment from salt...