Sailing Photographer Louis Kruk Is Finalist in 2024 Yacht Racing Image Award

Across his 79 years, West Coast sailor Louis Kruk has spent a lot of time racing yachts all over the world. He was a regular crew member aboard the maxi yacht Kialoa,which campaigned from 1956 to 1989. Alongside his crew duties, Louis would spend his time taking photographs that ended up in various sailing publications, including Latitude 38. This evolved into regular photographic assignments covering major yacht racing events. Two years ago we featured Louis in ‘Lectronic Latitude when one of his images was a finalist in the Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image contest and exhibition. This year Louis has entered the15th edition of the Yacht Racing Image Award, and he is again a finalist.

The photo was captured as Velsheda “seriously buries the bow of the boat while the crew is on the bow actively preparing the spinnaker for deployment” during last month’s J Class World Championships in Barcelona.

“On the day I took my image, Wednesday, October 9, I was accompanied in the RIB photo boat, by just two other photographers, Sharon Green and Jason Ludlow,” Louis tells us. “This is where the waters get muddied a bit. The GBR photographer Jason Ludlow entered an image relatively similar to mine. He curiously cropped his in a 1-2 format, while mine is the customary 2-3. Jason used a shutter speed of 1/1000, mine, hoping to freeze/detail the motion of the splashing of the water…1/3200.”

Louis is one of only three US photographers to reach the Yacht Racing Image Award finals, the other two being Meredith Rogers and Phil Uhl.

Winners are awarded across three categories: Yacht Racing Image Award (main prize), selected by an international jury; Public Award, selected by the number of votes on the internet; and Yacht Racing Forum Award, based on the votes of delegates attending World Sailing’s annual conference and those of visitors to METSTRADE (a marine equipment trade show held in Europe each year).

We’re a little late to the party, but you can still vote for Louis’s photo until November 12. Vote here.