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Thought you Sydney people (and others) might like to see some shots from the finish of the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
All shot from the shore with 80-200 (except for the sunrise).

I took this sunrise (while waiting for the first yacht) with the 20mm 2.8 that I recently purchased.
I'm really starting to like this lens, thanks Walter.
There wasn't much wind at this stage.




A couple guys were calmly paddling around waiting for the yachts.




Here's Wild Oats XI (line honours) minus her mainsail that blew out as she entered the Derwent. There still wasn't much wind where I was shooting.




Then it started to blow. This is Wild Oats XI doing it tough with just a genoa up.
I had a lot of trouble holding the 80-200 still (having left the tripod at home again ).




An hour or so later, along came Alfa Romeo. They weren't risking their mainsail.




Later that afternoon, Skandia came in. The wind had dropped a fair bit by this stage.




Then the 4th place Konica Minolta.
By this stage, I'm shooting from my balcony at home, so the lack of reach with the 200mm is starting to tell.
I think I'm going to have to give some serious consideration to the Bigma in the new year.




Finally AAPT limped home. They snapped an $80,000 boom. And you thought photography was expensive.
You can see the wreckage of the boom and mainsail below the emergency storm sail.




They were all that arrived yesterday.
There's a whole lot more in now but I had a camera free day eating and drinking at the Taste of Tasmania.

I hope you enjoy these. A bit different to how it started in Sydney On Monday.

Cheers, John

Hi John,

Thank you for this series. Very nice photos, I liked the ones taken with the 20 mm especially.

Cheers
Alex

Some great shots there John. Thta wind sure looks fierce in the 4th shot.

Don't mind the view from your balcony. That must be hard to take

Hi John,

nice photos of the last moments of the race for the yatchs. Nice one of the sunrise. The 20mm would be a nice lens , better get my birthday wish list

I really like the one of the Wild Oats when the wind picks up and the surrounding armada.

I certainly see why your tripod has a set of binoculars permanently on it. I'd be happy with a balcony view like that !! Get a Benro tripod and TC for the 80-200 and forget the bigma

Very nice set of photos.

Cheers,

radar

I think that the first image is a pearler, but could still be improved IMHO by cropping from the bottom.

Great perspective from the other side of the race. I imagine constitution dock and the city pubs will be buzzing with thirsty sailors, just like when i was there last

The image of Wild Oats leaning over is superb. Storm Bay is so well named.

Great shots, I really like the one of Wild Oats reaching. The shot of Alfa Romeo is a goody too.

It's also amazing that Skandia broke its canting keel, tipped over and sank last year!!! (although it's been virtually rebuilt from the ground up).

John these are great shots and well i have friends in Tassie and my Ulysses is having there AGM there next year but i would love to visit but not go by boat. That sea is looking rather rough and well this big fella would rather fly, send car on boat.LOL Shots are all good and thanks for sharing with us.
I like #1 and more so #3, well done.

The third and fourth shots are really superb John - plus I like the others too

John, this is a great series of images, the comments reflect the images perfectly in my opinion.
The Alfa Romeo shot is my favourite, great shot!

Great series of shots and good to have the explanations too, like the fracca (how the heck do you spell that? Greg?) in shot #4... Hubba, hubba, what a view

Thanks for the comments everyone. I'll be on the water today on a cruise and there is a forecast wind change later today, so with a bit of luck I might be able to get some of the later arrivals with spinnakers up.

mudder wrote: the fracca (how the heck do you spell that? Greg?)

Probably want the french word - fracas: An uproar; a noisy quarrel; a disturbance; a brawl.

Cheers

André

John,

I really like the shots of Wild Oats and Alfa beating up the Derwent. You've captured a piece of history quite nicely.

The speed of these monsters is unbelievable. To think Wild Oats were a long way off record pace the previous afternoon and still managed to beat the record minus their main all the way up the Derwent is incredible.

Great photo's John, especially #4 with the following spectator fleet into the breeze. About $40million of sailing boats in there... photography's cheap by comparison.

The real race is back in the fleet, doing it tough without the big bucks to buy the best available. Just finishing is the most exhilerating feeling ever, don't worry about your placing (I did it in'97). I've met a guy recently who has started in 10 Hobarts and never got past Eden.

Thanks for the comments Andrew and Curly. I was on the water yesterday and got a few shots of some of the other yachts finishing. Finally saw some spinnakers. I'll put some more shots up when I get them off the card.

Cheers, John