Sharp focus on race yachts

By ROBIN BAILEY

Two men who first worked together building and racing the ocean maxi Drum in the 1985 Whitbread round-the-world race are still at the leading edge of grand prix sailing. They are Rick Tomlinson and Chris Barker.

Tomlinson takes photographs of the world's fastest yachts. Invited by the car maker to cover the Volvo Ocean Race, he then became staff photographer for the GBR America's Cup challenge.

Barker makes boat appendages in exotic composites for race yachts at his Glenfield, Auckland company, Island Yacht Components.

The Brits are out of this campaign, but Tomlinson is staying on and will be on the water most race days keeping the action in focus.

Tomlinson joined the Drum campaign as a sailor/boatbuilder because he wanted to do the race. "I wasn't much of a boatbuilder, but I got good at sweeping the floor and making vacuum bags."

Barker had sailed in earlier Whitbreads with Skip Novak on both King's Legend and American Eagle before being asked to join Drum. "I also had experience building boats in composites, which was pretty new in the UK at that time," he says.

But "we were not prepared for the capsize of our mighty yacht when the keel fell off in the Fastnet race during trialling. We lost about £260,000 ($782,000) worth of gear and had just five weeks to repair the boat".

"Drum sailed and motored only about 120 miles before heading out on the 5500-mile first leg to Cape Town. It wasn't the ideal preparation."

Sailing on Drum in the Whitbread allowed Tomlinson to put his amateur photographer experience to good use. During the early round-the-world races everything was laid-back. But sponsorship was becoming a factor and good action pictures were needed to feed the media interest.

He first became interested in photography at home on the Isle of Man.

"I crewed for Nick Keig on his trimaran Three Legs of Man and also worked on the boat. Nick owns a string of photographic shops, so I was already involved."

In 1987 he began work as a freelance yachting photographer. During a break between sailing assignments, Tomlinson worked for a British agency learning about publishing calendars and brochures.

From the late 80s to today's America's Cup there have been huge advances in technology. "We are now using digital cameras and satellite transmission to get images from aboard the race boats during the Volvo and from the water when we are covering the Louis Vuitton in Auckland," he says.

"There have been similar leaps forward in every aspect of these campaigns. The designers, sailmakers, sailors and the shore-based technical experts all have to work to the max all the time. It's just the same for photographers and other media people.

"For the Volvo, the limited manpower aboard the boats does not give the crew a lot of time to fulfil the photographic roles the race organisers and the sponsors require.

"My job in covering the race for Volvo meant hours spent in helicopters shooting pictures, landing in remote spots to feed the images to race headquarters, then getting back in the air again. Those pictures were available to the world's media in a matter of minutes, straight off the website."

Covering the America's Cup challengers creates other problems, not the least of them trying to keep expensive camera gear safe.

Tomlinson says some days involve eight hours in a small RIB bouncing around the race track, shooting the pictures, getting back to base and editing them. Then being ready to do it all again the next day.

The pick of his pictures is where his long association with Barker surfaces. The Rick Tomlinson Portfolio Calendar showcases his best shots from the past year. They are prized by sailing people and those who appreciate great sports photography.

Barkers Island Yacht Components company has been distributing them throughout New Zealand by mail order for 10 years.

This year, because it's America's Cup time, the 2003 version is also available at the Line 7 store at the Maritime Museum.

Rick Tomlinson Photography


nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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