September 11th, Spirit Rider Regatta

[Richard Lane]

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!









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








They're all chasing us!








Here they come!









They're gaining on us!









We're neck and neck!








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









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!









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









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

[doggiedoc]

Awesome!

[ddt0725]

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


Rocking boat? Heck, I don

[neuroanatomist]

Hey Rich,


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


--John

[clemmb]

I like them all


Mark

[Richard Lane]

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


Rich

[Tom Wertman]

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


Tom

[bouwy]

Awesome shots mate. Keep shooting and posting.


Wally [H]