Behind the Lens

We showcase a selection of prominent Australian yachting photographer Andrea Francolini's favourite images through his own lens.

Photography by Andrea Francolini

15 April 2020

Andrea Francolini’s sublime images of our favourite sailing moments from the Rolex Sydney Hobart or various northern Race Weeks nourish us through times such as this when we are badly missing the visceral, elemental parts of being ‘out there’. So, we’ve asked Andrea to share a mini-exhibition of some his favourite sailing pics and to explain how the shot came about. Andrea is making the most of the COVID-19 imposed land confinement, shooting spectacular architectural designs, along with portraits and sunrise shots along Sydney’s coastline.

1. Golden Hues Hamilton Island Race Week 2016. This was pure luck. It was the day that everybody arrived on the island. A storm had just passed through and the sunset was pouring in. I was going back to the hotel and I saw this strange light over Catseye Beach. This was taken from One Tree Hill. It looked dramatic and this little boat just popped into the frame. For me it was the picture of the week, even though it’s not a typical hard-core sailing shot. The colours and the drama make it.

2. Hands-on Experience. These hands belong to a female sailor from the UK who was competing in the JJ’s (JJ Giltinan 18-foot Skiff Championships). I started doing a series called All Hands on Deck. I said hello to her, shook her hand and I went ‘let me see your hands’. They were wet, so I don’t want to think what they were like when they dried out. I wanted to find a different side to sailing; the way sailors are shaped by what they do.

3. Bow Radiance. This is from a shoot last year for B&G. The boat is Atao, a beautiful classic 25 metre cutter-rig centreboard sloop. The light was just right to get that effect and I also the like the texture of the teak. I could see that as a cover shot – it evokes that feeling of the power of wind; a big sail, and a decent bow wave. The boat is like a mini Valsheda (J class). It’s really nice boat.

4. Cover-up on Point – Beau Geste. I was on-board Beau Geste for pre-Hobart training when I asked the skipper, I think it was Gavin Brady if we could get some action shots up the front. I put my foot up on the instrument cluster at the mast and Gavin yelled ‘Are you ready?’. I looked at back at him and I felt the boat just dig in and the bowman Matt copped a big shower. After he saw the pic Matt said to me ‘you owe a print’, so I said ‘fair enough’. Apparently it is hanging at home in New Zealand.

5. Chocolat Ripple. I was walking along the dock in Hobart, 2016 and I took that picture. I went back the next day to see if it could happen again but it was too windy. I’ve tried over the years to see if I could replicate it and I think it was this year or last and yeah it happened but the light wasn’t as good. If you see it; you have to shoot it because it’s not going to happen again.

6. Sydney Harbour Fishbowl. This was a very slow start (to the RSH). That’s when you have to put on your thinking cap because when a boat’s surfing at you nearly anybody can take a good picture. It’s when you have conditions that are postcard conditions, borderline boring, you have to come-up with something. I knew the weather was going to be like that so I had my fish-eye lens in my bag that I literally had to dust-off because I hadn’t used it in years. It’s a good pic as it sums the start spectacle.

7. Shadow Play. I love shadows and like this one of Sean Langman’s Naval Group finishing strongly in the Derwent in last year’s RSH. I was shooting for them and the branding is there but it’s not in your face. It’s cropped so you don’t see the full mast but you get that really interesting shadow.

8. Out on a Limb. It’s all about the spray in this shot of a 470 from the Sydney International Regatta in 2007. It was taken between the Heads with a reasonable swell running. I had a really good boat driver and I told him ‘I want to get wet.’ I didn’t realise I took this picture until I saw it on the back of the camera because the driver said ‘we have to go’. I like shooting small boats because they are closer to the water so there’s more chance of a good splash.

9. New Horizons. That was taken from West Head looking out across Broken Bay only two weeks ago when isolation had barely begun. I went and took some sunrise pictures as I’m doing now and that little boat came across. I find it a very peaceful picture, in a way comforting in these times. It’s one of those pictures you can hang in a boardroom, or in your home because you don’t have to be a sailor to appreciate it – though that helps.

10. Strung out. This was the SuperFoiler event in Busselton. Pavement just came smoking down and I was thinking ‘they are going a little fast’ and then all of a sudden you start to see the boat go up, up and lift-off and then nosedive. I could tell what was going happen so I just shot the whole sequence including the crew flying out the front when their trapeze lines snapped. The SuperFoilers was a great concept and circuit I really hope they can do it again. It was fun to shoot and bloody fast.

11. Box Seat. It’s become a signature shot of mine to shoot a picture during the Hobart with a helicopter in the middle of it. I really like that one because I was working for Wild Oats at the time. There’s the helicopter in front, there’s a RIB that’s nearly airborne behind the boat so it looks like a kind of James Bond picture. Wherever you look in that shot there’s something happening.

To see more of his outstanding images go to afrancolini.com

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