In the Aftermath of a Winning Shot

A couple of weeks ago we shared the news that West Coast sailor Louis Kruk had entered a photo in the annual Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image contest and exhibition. This is the first time Louis has entered. Now his photo is one of 80 images being considered for a prize. Last week Louis gave us a little background on his (fingers crossed) winning shot, and sent us another photo, which he described as the aftermath.

This is the description Louis created for his entry, which he captured on San Francisco Bay during the SailGP event: “There is some sailing drama in this image. A bit of mystery, excitement, suspense, intrigue, and uncertainty.”

Here is the rest of the story:

“The boat in my entry is up on its foils, ‘flying.’ These boats, as they pick up speed, lift the hulls out of the water by way of the foils, the curious curved appendages seen below the hulls. Lifting the hulls out of the water is what allows these boats to attain their amazing speeds. However, if the boat gets too high on its foils, it suddenly falls off the foils and comes crashing down for a very hard, nosedive landing.

“The boat in my MIRABAUD entry is way, way, way too high on its foils.”

This is what happened next:

We can only imagine how it must feel to be a part of such a well-known contest, and we congratulate Louis for having his photo chosen as one of the top 80 images. That in itself is an achievement. So what does one do to pass the time and not become a nervous wreck while awaiting the result?

“I’m sitting on my boat Cirque, in Bocas del Toro, waiting for a weather window to make a passage from Shelter Bay [Panama Canal Zone] to Montego Bay, Jamaica. Not on my boat, but the 63-ft Hatteras motor vessel Soul Mate. We’ll see. Right now, the central Caribbean is threatening… the tropical storm, Lisa, is in our path.” (Lisa hit Belize last Wednesday as a hurricane, causing widespread flooding and power outages.)

The contest winners will be announced at the Yacht Racing Forum in Malta, on November 21-22. In the meantime, the public can vote for their favorite photo until November 15.

Prize winners will be selected across three categories:

Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image (main prize) — awarded by a panel of international specialists from the yacht racing and photographic industries.

Public Prize — selected by the number of popular votes on the internet.

Yacht Racing Forum Award — decided by the delegates of the Yacht Racing Forum.

You can vote for Louis’s photo here: Louis Kruk.