I recently came back from Georgia after being kidnapped (or hired...) by National One Design Sailing Academy to take photos of a sailing regatta they were hosting on Lake Lanier just north of Atlanta, Georgia
We drove the straight 16 hours with only a few hiccups and basically went from -20 directly to +20 - if you're Canadian you can probably relate to how awesome that is. So, the trip was already off to a good start.
We spent most of the trip on the lake/boats so I really only got to take a few shots of the surroundings the first few days...
The first day was all prep and getting the boats ready to race. The boats racing were all 10FT 'Flying Tigers' with an LOA of 32.68′ and a displacement of 4376... Kidding, I don't know what that means. To me the boats were just very big and completely covered with ropes and gadgets - trust me, they're cool.
If you ever hear that someone needs to climb the mast for some reason or other make sure you volunteer. Great view and it seems just sketchy enough to be exciting.
The next few days were completely spent on the lake. Lake Lanier is a man made lake thats purpose is to provide water to Atlanta during droughts and also control potential flooding to the city. The scenery actually reminded me a lot of the river back home!
The trip to the the docks always made for a nice way to start the day...
Going into this I was actually pretty ignorant to how intense sail boat racing can be. The races were two laps around an orange pylon and the committee boat that is basically making all the calls for the races. Here's the small boat that anchors the pylons:
And then the racing...
Notice the angle that the boats sometimes sit at. Being my first time sailing it came as quite a surprise - a lot of the racers time is actually spent weighing the opposite side down by hanging themselves over the opposite edge.
and dodging the boom...
and pulling ropes...
It's always interesting photographing a subject that you have little knowledge of. This was particularly exciting to photograph with the swaying of the boats, the constant dodging of things while not falling off, and the general intensity in the air. Although challenging I found the experience extremely rewarding and equally enjoyable. This trip will definitely not be my last time sailing.
I'll end the post with two familiar sights at the end of each day...
Thanks, Dylan
P.s. If you're interested in sailing you should seriously check out One Design. They provide lessons and are really great teachers. Check 'em out: http://1dsailing.com