Santa Barbara Photographer Sharon Green Inducted Into Canadian Sailing Hall of Fame
Renowned Santa Barbara-based photographer Sharon Green will be inducted into the Canadian Sailing Hall of Fame in October. Many on the West Coast will know her through the incredible imagery she’s provided for legendary West Coast events like the Transpac and the Rolex Big Boat Series. Beyond our shores she’s one of the world’s preeminent competitive-sailing photographers, having captured dramatic photos, often hanging from a helicopter or drenched in spray from a powerboat, to put everyone in the midst of the action.
Latitude 38 has been fortunate to feature many of Sharon’s photos from the West’s best events, and also lucky to hang the Ultimate Sailing Calendar on our office wall every year. The calendar and all her photos generally feature the fast, furious and colorful moments of the most competitive boats, sailors and events in sailing. Sharon’s photos have been featured on the covers and inside dozens of the world’s premier sailing magazines since she began her yachting-photography career at age 17.
In 2024 we had a conversation with Sharon on our Good Jibes podcast, where we learned about her life growing up in Canada with her sailing father, Don Green, who is also in the Canadian Sailing Hall of Fame. Don started his sailing life by sailing around the world with Irving and Exy Johnson on the 96-ft brigantine Yankee, and continued with ongoing racing campaigns aboard Evergreen and Evergreen II. A piece of that legacy is active at the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, where the two brigantines Irving Johnson and Exy Johnson continue with the classic youth-sailing programs that became the sailing life of Don Green and his daughter Sharon.
Since starting her sailing career shooting aboard her dad’s boat Evergreen, Sharon launched herself into the upper echelons of sailing photography and entrepreneurial publishing success with the launch of the Ultimate Sailing Calendar in 1983. The calendar has adorned thousands of walls in the 40-plus years since it was first published.
Many of those jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring photos you’ve seen of grand prix racers on the edge of control or hitting warp speed have probably been captured by Sharon. Luckily, her work also includes some mellow shots like the Transpac finish above, which we were able to use for our Good Jibes artwork.
Her induction is a well-deserved honor that shines a light on her dramatic photography. But as we learned in our podcast, there is an incredible amount of work that goes into organizing, taking and finally sorting through the millions of photos Sharon has taken, to bring all of us the incredible and inspiring images from the world of grand prix sailing. Beyond the imagery, there’s hard-working professionalism that turns a common hobby into a successful career. Congratulations, Sharon!