Behind the Scenes, December 2022

Sharon Green

The walls of Scuttlebutt HQ include the Ultimate Sailing calendar, and in this report Sharon Green shares the behind-the-scenes story regarding the December 2022 images.

It’s the most colorful time of the year, and Ultimate Sailing joins in: lights and kites, jingle bells and bloopers … our December 2022 calendar images are as lively and ebullient as a kid on Christmas morning!

Who can deny the joy of such colorful sails? The juxtaposition of hues, designs, shadows and shapes. The 1980s were an eye-popping era in yacht racing, it’s no wonder I was spurred to launch my career as a yachting photographer!

Flashback to the Big Boat Series in San Francisco Bay, when I had just begun working as an independent. My passion was to illustrate the excitement, drama and aesthetic of all aspects of yacht racing – but boating publications were only interested in results and winners.

You know the rest: I decided to launch the Ultimate Sailing Calendar and publish my own images. The photo at bottom of the December 2022 pages showing several IOR two-tonners, loaded up and heeling hard, was published in 1983 in my first ever edition of the calendar, and the featured image at top, in 1984.

December 2022

The Rolex Big Boat Series remains one of the best performing regattas for me: and I don’t mean just the race results. Since I began photographing this premier event it has guaranteed me scores of exhilarating, action-packed images.

The venue, conditions and race organization are superb, and the event continues to be a leader in other areas too. In 2022, for the third year, the Big Boat Series was designated a Platinum-level Clean Regatta with Sailors for the Sea.

Sailors for the Sea is a non-profit launched to focus on the ways regatta organizers and racers can lessen sailing’s impact on the environment. It is one of the world’s leading conservation organizations designed to engage, educate and activate the sailing community to protect and restore our oceans.

It was founded in 2004 – shortly after we at Ultimate Sailing moved our printing production to North America, where we could use environment-friendly soy-based inks and Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) responsible sourced paper.

At Ultimate Sailing, we’ve been proud to support and partner with Sailors for the Sea for several years, as part of the Ultimate Green campaign, which also promotes conservation and protection of the environment. I love that yacht racing harnesses the power of the wind and mind into a highly competitive yet eco-friendly sport.