I enjoy photographing sailing craft. Windsurfers, yachts, even racing jetskis. They are all difficult to shoot from the shore; particularly here, where the sun is shining into your lens from midday onwards. And if I want to capture windsurfing or yacht races then I really need to get out on the water to follow the racers around the course.
I tried to cover a big windsurf racing event in Jomtien a year or so ago. There was a “press boat” and I signed on as press. There was also a “VIP boat” which took off with a fat man on board a few minutes before the first race was about to start. But the press boat never moved. As start time drew near I enquired why were not leaving; apparently we were waiting for someone. The someone turned out to be another self-important twat VIP who was eventually installed in the boat along with three women, two kids, and three of us who were actually there to take photographs.
We had missed the start so we wen to the finish line. “Are we going to follow the fleet so we can take photographs” I enquired. No, we weren’t. We were going to sit next to the finish and wait for the first sailor to cross the line, then the kids were going to start crying and the VIP was going to get bored, then we would go back to the beach. “Is the boat going out again to catch the next race” I enquired naively? No it wasn’t. So much for press coverage. A loss for the organisers and the sponsors because I am happy to share my photos with whoever wants to use them and a reasonable selection of action photos can be useful publicity. After a couple of hours of mainly hanging around, I had five unexciting shots of one guy crossing the finishing line. I deleted them and vowed that I would never again attend a windsurfing race in Thailand in an attempt to capture the action.
Then there is the Top of the Gulf Regatta. A big yacht racing event with many sponsors, a large budget, and fucking awful press facilities. I went in 2008 and managed to get some good shots, some of which were picked up and used by Asia Pacific Boating for their coverage of the event. But, as I mention in the blog post, the press support was abysmal.
Last year it was worse. Almost impossible to find out when the press boat was leaving, and then when I turned up at the appointed time, it had already left, loaded with local “journalists” who would want to return to the shore as soon as they had eaten all the free food and thrown it up. At that point I vowed that I would never again attend the Top of the Gulf Regatta in an attempt to capture the action.
So here are my shots from the 2010 Top of the Gulf Regatta:
Wankers.
Comments 🔗
2010-05-04| Craig saysFancy driving 12 hours each way with a guy who cant navigate to shoot a guy who cant surf trying to surf for 2 days - then drive back again? - no press boats!
Check out the waves though - expecting big swell this weekend.
Welcome to leave the lenses and shit your pants in the line up with me…
2010-05-04| Spike saysWhen are you going?