September 11th, Spirit Rider Regatta

Hey Everyone,


On September 11th, 2010 I was part of the crew of the Sailboat "Andromeda" for the "The Spirit Rider Regatta," which is an Ocean Sailing Race held in memory of Firefighter Patrick J. O'Keefe of the FDNY's Rescue Company One who died in the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.


<span>http://spiritrider.e-shopmall.com/


<span>http://spiritrider.e-shopmall.com/list.php?category=1009


We came in First Place in our division last year and this year.


Even though my primary responsibility was to Sail, there was certainly plenty of time to snap a few pictures, so I thought I would like to share a few of my favorites with you. The rest can be viewed on my Photostream on Flickr. The EXIF data can be viewed online, but suffice it say that I used a 7D, 10-22mm, 70-200mm, 300mm, 1.4X and 2X extenders, Circular Polarizing filter on all lenses.


<span>http://www.flickr.com/photos/53022431@N03/


Although, there was an Official Photographer on the Race Committee Boat, positioned at the start / finish line, he wasn't able to see the race from my point of view. Some Sailors had asked me how much I wanted for my photos, but there is no way that I could charge anyone, since many people had donated there time and money to participate. All of the Photos will be donated to the O'Keefe Foundation and will be made available for free download to any of the participants. I am waiting a few weeks so that I wouldn't interfere with the Official Photographer.


It's approximately a 2 hour race, we go around the course markers twice, some of the photo time stamps may be out of order because of that, but below is essentially how the race went.


The start of the race, boats are jockeying for position!



http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4088/...0b071489_b.jpg





The race begins and we're across the starting line first!


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They're all chasing us!


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Here they come!



http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/...37ccf79b_b.jpg





They're gaining on us!



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We're neck and neck!


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4132/...13991a58_b.jpg





We've pulled away by rounding the mark first, we are now heading in the opposite direction!



http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/...63418975_b.jpg





SiSu catches us 10yards from the finish line and beats us by 5 seconds, however we have a 3 minute handicap because we are only 26ft long and they were longer (longer boats are faster, so shorter boats are handicapped), so we win the Regatta!



http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4090/...12d3a8fc_b.jpg





As you can see, SiSu and Andromeda (Me) left the rest of the fleet in our wake!



http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4146/...271cb9c0_b.jpg





I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did!


C&amp;C Welcome!


Keep in mind that I was racing and I was on a rocking boat. [;)]


Some additional shots may be viewed here:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/53022431@N03/sets/72157624914463089/





Rich

Awesome!

Fantastic shots! Thanks for sharing and congrats on the win!


Rocking boat? Heck, I don

Hey Rich,


Amazing pics and a great race! The third pic is my favorite, I think, but they're all awesome!


--John

I like them all


Mark

Thanks everyone.., all of your kind words are greatly appreciated!


Rich

Great shots and refreshing attitude regarding the donations. Keep shooting and posting.[:)]


Tom

Awesome shots mate. Keep shooting and posting.


Wally [H]

Tom and Wally, Thank You so much for the feedback, it's greatly appreciated!


Rich

That looks like a beautiful day to be on the water. Great pictures. I like #3, 4 and 7 the best.


Brant

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kayaker72

That looks like a beautiful day to be on the water. Great pictures. I like #3, 4 and 7 the best.


Brant

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Thanks Brant, I think I like #7 the best, because it shows that it was a race. So, as I was going though some additional photos I found a couple more that showed the race a little better. The wind was mild, so the speed wasn't that fast.


This first one shows that we had rounded that yellow marker first and the rest of the pack was chasing us!





EOS-7D, EF-70-200mm f/2.8L IS II + 1.4X extender @ 222mm, f/4.5, 1/2000sec, ISO 250, Shutter Priority


This picture was moderately cropped, because they were so for back.[:P]I was focusing on the 3 boats in the middle of the photo, but I think I should have used a narrower aperture, like f/8, because the boats in the distance are a little fuzzy with this shallower DOF. I'm not sure why I would do this, but I think my mode dial kept accidentally getting switched from Aperture priority to Shutter priority as I was putting the camera in and out of the bag.



http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4111/...1ffc355a_b.jpg





7D, @ 180mm, f/6.3, 1/400sec, ISO 100 Aperture Priority



http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/...a6fd8572_b.jpg





@98mm, f/6.3, 1/400sec, ISO 100, AP



http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4111/...d3d1406d_b.jpg





Last One!


@280mm, f/6.3, 1/400sec, ISO 100, AP This one is my Favorite!



http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4111/...edaef25a_b.jpg


Thanks for looking!


Rich

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Richard Lane

Last One!


@280mm, f/6.3, 1/400sec, ISO 100, AP This one is my Favorite!

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</div>


My favorite tooooooo---Nice shot, Rich


Bob

Thanks Bob!


Rich