Blog

This is where we show some photos that might not make it into a gallery, let off steam, or just ramble on about nothing in particular (or perhaps something particular, as the case may be...)

AN AUTUMN FLURRY IN THE YACHTING PRESS

1 photo

October 18, 2019

It has been a busy summer for Sailing Scenes. In among our regatta coverage we have been supplying the yachting press with pictures, words or both. We took the shot on the cover of September’s… ›

AN AUTUMN FLURRY IN THE YACHTING PRESS

J/24 AUTUMN CUP

3 photos

October 18, 2019

The J/24s had a breezy day's racing in Poole Harbour for their Autumn Cup. I popped out briefly to grab a few photos, more of which can be found in the J/24 Autumn Cup galleryBack to the Sailing… ›

J/24 AUTUMN CUP

BOURNEMOUTH DIGITAL POOLE WEEK 2019 – DAY 2

8 photos

August 20, 2019

WHO SAID MONDAY WOULD BE LESS WINDY?Sailors in particular have good reason to be sceptical when it comes to weather forecasts. And anyone who had doubts about what the met-men were predicting for the… ›

BOURNEMOUTH DIGITAL POOLE WEEK 2019 – DAY 2

BOURNEMOUTH DIGITAL POOLE WEEK 2019 – DAY 1

5 photos

August 19, 2019

BREEZE ON!The first day of Poole Week 2019, sponsored by Bournemouth Digital and supported by Zhik and Hall & Woodhouse, was definitely one for sailors who like a breeze.Gusts of 30 knots were… ›

BOURNEMOUTH DIGITAL POOLE WEEK 2019 – DAY 1

THE (SHORT NOTICE) ITALIAN JOB

2 photos

May 26, 2019

The phone rings on a Thursday afternoon. ‘What are you doing early next week?’ is the question from the editor at the other end. ‘Any chance you can go to Italy to sail and review an 85 for us?’It… ›

THE (SHORT NOTICE) ITALIAN JOB

SAILING IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

5 photos

May 26, 2019

Hong Kong might not sound like an obvious place to go sailing, but that's where a job took us in April – to test a boat designed by a Kiwi and built in China (and now in Turkey too) by a Brit with an… ›

SAILING IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

A DAY OF DUTCH SUNSHINE

5 photos

April 14, 2019

If you want warm sunshine on a gloomy day in March, head over to Holland.While England was sitting under heavy cloud a few weeks ago, we hopped across the North Sea to the Ijsselmeer to be greeted by… ›

A DAY OF DUTCH SUNSHINE

READ ALL ABOUT IT!

2 photos

March 11, 2019

The April issues of Yachting Monthly and Practical Boat Owner explain why things have been a bit busy at Sailing Scenes during the early part of the year.In fact the PBO story started last October,… ›

READ ALL ABOUT IT!

OIL SWELL THAT ENDS WELL?

6 photos

March 02, 2019

Here’s one for conspiracy theorists. The weather recently has been scorching (for an English February) and with very little wind. You would have expected Poole Bay to be like a millpond. But the… ›

OIL SWELL THAT ENDS WELL?

HUSTLE AND BUSTLE IN THE DORF OF DUSSEL

1 photo

February 05, 2019

OK, ‘Düssel’ (as in Düsseldorf) doesn’t rhyme with ‘bustle’ – though it does the way many Brits pronounce it, which is pretty painful to the ears. Whatever the niceties (or even the fundamentals) of… ›

HUSTLE AND BUSTLE IN THE DORF OF DUSSEL

ENGINE – WHAT ENGINE?

2 photos

November 03, 2018

Boat-testing is an unpredictable business. During one recent outing we lost the use of the engine and had to make our way home and back into our berth without it. We had plenty of experience on board… ›

ENGINE – WHAT ENGINE?

ICH BIN EIN MERLINER

6 photos

October 01, 2018

…would, we’ve always thought, make a suitable opening for a speech by a Merlin Rocket sailor. It has no doubt been used on many occasions, but whether it was on Saturday night during the bash at… ›

ICH BIN EIN MERLINER

WEYMOUTH REGATTA 2018

7 photos

September 10, 2018

Our photographic commission this past weekend was to cover the first day of Weymouth Regatta.It was great for this popular and well-organised event to have a title sponsor this year in the form of… ›

WEYMOUTH REGATTA 2018

ZHIK POOLE WEEK 2018: DAY 6

12 photos

September 01, 2018

SAVING THE BEST TILL LAST Poole Week started on Sunday with rain, gales and no sailing. It ended on Friday with wall-to-wall sunshine, a perfect breeze and the Red Arrows looping the loop in the… ›

ZHIK POOLE WEEK 2018: DAY 6

ZHIK POOLE WEEK 2018: DAY 5

10 photos

August 31, 2018

GENTLY DOES IT Some days you know you’re going to be lucky to get any wind. On the south coast, for example, when the pressure chart indicates a light northerly gradient and the temperature over the… ›

ZHIK POOLE WEEK 2018: DAY 5

ZHIK POOLE WEEK 2018: DAY 4

8 photos

August 30, 2018

BRING ON THE BREEZE! It was all action in Poole Harbour as over 200 sailors took to the water for the third day of racing in Zhik Poole Week. The promised north-westerly breeze was right on cue,… ›

ZHIK POOLE WEEK 2018: DAY 4

ZHIK POOLE WEEK 2018: DAY 3

3 photos

August 29, 2018

CHANGING WIND, CHANGING FORTUNES Sailors have long known that they can take little for granted on the water, but one certainty in Poole Harbour is that each day is going to be different from the one… ›

ZHIK POOLE WEEK 2018: DAY 3

ZHIK POOLE WEEK 2018: DAY 2

3 photos

August 28, 2018

Zhik Poole Week 2018 – Day 2 A CLASSIC AFTERNOON’S SAILING After Sunday’s rain and gales put paid to any racing, Monday brought what many competitors described as perfect conditions in Poole… ›

ZHIK POOLE WEEK 2018: DAY 2

ZHIK POOLE WEEK 2018: DAY 1

4 photos

August 27, 2018

WET AND WINDY WEATHER FAILS TO SUPPRESS SAILORS’ SPIRITS For much of this season the met men have struggled to predict what’s going to happen barely 12 hours in advance: those of us on the central… ›

ZHIK POOLE WEEK 2018: DAY 1

TRANQUIL CREEKS AND LOW-FLYING RIBS

5 photos

August 03, 2018

Last weekend was busy for Sailing Scenes. We were invited to a rally of catamarans in Falmouth designed by a legendary pioneer in the multihull world: the man who disproved Thor Heyerdahl’s theory… ›

TRANQUIL CREEKS AND LOW-FLYING RIBS

ME AND MY HAT: TILLEY DEATH US DO PART (or the relationship becomes unendurable)

1 photo

July 25, 2018

Friends and acquaintances of Sailing Scenes will know that we’re wedded to our hat. Ever since we tested one of this particular brand for Practical Boat Owner many years ago, we have seldom been… ›

ME AND MY HAT: TILLEY DEATH US DO PART (or the relationship becomes unendurable)

WHEN TWO WORLDS JUST ABOUT MANAGE NOT TO COLLIDE

3 photos

July 02, 2018

What’s the connection between a new motor yacht just arrived on a ship from the Med, and a fleet of 100 racing dinghies? We all move between a number of different worlds and, most of the time, that… ›

WHEN TWO WORLDS JUST ABOUT MANAGE NOT TO COLLIDE

WILL THIS DUFOUR YOU, SIR?

1 photo

June 17, 2018

The second of our two recent articles for Yachting World is in the current (July 2018) issue – a test of Dufour’s new 56 Exclusive. We sailed it on the Solent a few weeks ago on a day when we… ›

WILL THIS DUFOUR YOU, SIR?

A DIFFERENT WORLD OF YACHTING

1 photo

June 06, 2018

For the past 20+ years at Sailing Scenes we have been testing boats for Practical Boat Owner magazine, though we have spent much of our time racing and photographing some very non-PBO-style boats as… ›

A DIFFERENT WORLD OF YACHTING

YACHTING MAGAZINES: WE’VE GOT THEM COVERED

1 photo

April 06, 2018

It’s good to walk into a newsagent and see your photo on the cover of a magazine. In fact Sailing Scenes has been responsible for the April covers of both Practical Boat Owner and Yachting Monthly. … ›

YACHTING MAGAZINES: WE’VE GOT THEM COVERED

MEMORIES OF SUMMER: THE DRASCOMBES’ GOLDEN JUBILEE RALLY

1 photo

December 27, 2017

At Sailing Scenes we have been maintaining a lower-than-usual profile over the past few months, for reasons some people people will know about. With our world now returning to something approaching… ›

MEMORIES OF SUMMER: THE DRASCOMBES’ GOLDEN JUBILEE RALLY

ALL CHANGE AT THE GOOD SHIP PBO

3 photos

December 17, 2017

Regular readers of Practical Boat Owner might have heard about, or possibly even noticed, some changes over the past few months. The office in Poole, with its 50-years’-worth of magazines and… ›

ALL CHANGE AT THE GOOD SHIP PBO

ONLY 10 KNOTS? AND WHY’S THE GERMAN NAVY IN THE WAY?

1 photo

May 20, 2017

We have been testing some quick boats recently. Last week it was two trimarans – one littler and one larger, and they both clocked the best part of 16 knots without breaking sweat. We don’t often… ›

ONLY 10 KNOTS? AND WHY’S THE GERMAN NAVY IN THE WAY?

MOTORSAILERS AND MULTIHULLS: ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

1 photo

May 14, 2017

If someone were to ask ‘what were you doing last Saturday?’, we would answer that we were on the easternmost fringes of Essex, short-tacking a heavy, long-keeled, ketch-rigged motor-sailer across an… ›

MOTORSAILERS AND MULTIHULLS: ALL IN A DAY’S WORK

GIN: A PHOTOGRAPHIC SUBJECT WITH A DIFFERENCE

6 photos

April 09, 2017

We get involved in some interesting assignments at Sailing Scenes. Most, but by no means all, involve boats in one form or another, as did one the other night. It combined a boat, Poole Harbour on a… ›

GIN: A PHOTOGRAPHIC SUBJECT WITH A DIFFERENCE

A LITTLE GLINT OF GOLD

4 photos

March 22, 2017

We don’t normally go in for wildlife photography at Sailing Scenes (the clue’s in the name, you know). We have never suffered the urge to get up at 3 o’clock in the morning, smear mud on our face,… ›

A LITTLE GLINT OF GOLD

A HOME FOR THE BUBBLY: WHY TILLERS ARE BEST

2 photos

March 17, 2017

There are good reasons why many of us prefer tillers to wheels when it comes to steering a boat: simplicity, economy, reliability, comfort, responsiveness, precision and practicality for a start. But… ›

A HOME FOR THE BUBBLY: WHY TILLERS ARE BEST

DUCKS IN A ROW – AT THE BOAT SHOW

10 photos

January 09, 2017

There’s a show on at the moment, in a big tin shed in London’s docklands. In it you can find garden furniture, wooden ducks wearing yellow wellies, and things to hang on the wall of your living room… ›

DUCKS IN A ROW – AT THE BOAT SHOW

THE UNPREDICTABLE WORLD OF BOAT-TESTING

1 photo

December 18, 2016

You never know what to expect on a boat test. Over the past 20-plus years we’ve done hundreds of them, on everything from inflatable tenders to performance multihulls and offshore racing yachts. We… ›

THE UNPREDICTABLE WORLD OF BOAT-TESTING

A LONG DRIVE FOR A SAIL, A SEAL AND A BIT OF HEEL

2 photos

November 20, 2016

Who in their right mind would drive 200 miles from Poole to the furthest fringes of Essex, hop aboard a boat for a two-hour sail, and then get straight back in the car to drive all the way home again… ›

A LONG DRIVE FOR A SAIL, A SEAL AND A BIT OF HEEL

BRIGHT KITES IN POOLE HARBOUR: THE MERLINS ARE HERE!

1 photo

November 01, 2016

October means Merlin Rockets at Parkstone, when the fleet graces Poole Harbour with its presence for the final event in the season’s hotly-contested Silver Tiller.Almost without exception, Merlin… ›

BRIGHT KITES IN POOLE HARBOUR: THE MERLINS ARE HERE!

SAILING SCENES GOES COUNTRY

8 photos

November 01, 2016

A few times a year, the Sailing Scenes cameras turn their back on the water, head inland and point at things other than boats. Subjects on this occasion included cats, dogs, horses (not just any old… ›

SAILING SCENES GOES COUNTRY

WHICH HAT ARE WE WEARING TODAY?

6 photos

October 03, 2016

October has got off to a busy start for Sailing Scenes. On Saturday 1st we were in Poole Bay, photographing the J/24s’ Autumn Cup. Now it must be enshrined in the constitution of some clubs and… ›

WHICH HAT ARE WE WEARING TODAY?

PRESSING ISSUES AT THE BOAT SHOW

1 photo

September 28, 2016

After a few days at the Southampton Boat Show recently, we paused to have a look at our press pass.On it in bold letters were the words ‘PRESS ANY DAY’. We could only speculate as to whether this was… ›

PRESSING ISSUES AT THE BOAT SHOW

COMING UNSTUCK – OR JUST PLEASED TO SEE YOU?

3 photos

September 24, 2016

Did you have occasion to wonder why dinghies were sailing around Poole harbour this summer with ‘hi’ emblazoned on their topsides? Was the crew just being friendly? And what about boats that appeared… ›

COMING UNSTUCK – OR JUST PLEASED TO SEE YOU?

A DAY AT THE RACES AND A NIGHT AT THE OPERA WITH THE QUEEN

6 photos

August 28, 2016

At Sailing Scenes we really do live the high life. Well, that’s widely assumed of yachting journalists and photographers, so we might as well admit to it. For example, last week we were… ›

A DAY AT THE RACES AND A NIGHT AT THE OPERA WITH THE QUEEN

SAILING SCENES ON ADIDAS POOLE WEEK: DAY 6 (FINAL DAY)

8 photos

August 27, 2016

adidas Poole Week, Day 6: what a way to wind up a wonderful week On the Wednesday and Thursday of adidas Poole Week, concerns were raised about the direct line between Parkstone Yacht Club and the… ›

SAILING SCENES ON ADIDAS POOLE WEEK: DAY 6 (FINAL DAY)

SAILING SCENES ON ADIDAS POOLE WEEK: DAY 6

8 photos

August 26, 2016

adidas Poole Week, Day 5: rain, calms, sun – and some sailing too There aren’t many days in an English summer when you can go afloat wearing shorts and a T-shirt. It’s even rarer to go afloat in… ›

SAILING SCENES ON ADIDAS POOLE WEEK: DAY 6

SAILING SCENES ON ADIDAS POOLE WEEK: DAY 4

8 photos

August 25, 2016

adidas Poole Week, Day 4: whence and whether the wind Wednesday was going to be bay-day in adidas Poole Week; the day when the faster fleets headed out of the harbour to play on the open sea with… ›

SAILING SCENES ON ADIDAS POOLE WEEK: DAY 4

SAILING SCENES ON ADIDAS POOLE WEEK: DAY 3

8 photos

August 24, 2016

adidas Poole Week: all change on Day 3 Variety is one element that’s never missing in adidas Poole Week. The racing started on Sunday under overcast skies, with a south-westerly wind gusting to 25… ›

SAILING SCENES ON ADIDAS POOLE WEEK: DAY 3

SAILING SCENES ON ADIDAS POOLE WEEK: DAY 2

8 photos

August 23, 2016

Sun and sparkle on Day 2 of adidas Poole Week After a blustery start to adidas Poole Week on Sunday, the Weather Gods turned down the settings on the wind machine by a couple of notches for the… ›

SAILING SCENES ON ADIDAS POOLE WEEK: DAY 2

SAILING SCENES ON ADIDAS POOLE WEEK: DAY 1

8 photos

August 22, 2016

At Sailing Scenes we're doing the daily reports in words and pictures to send to the media, so they know what a fantastic event adidas Poole Week really is. Here's a round-up of Day 1... adidas… ›

SAILING SCENES ON ADIDAS POOLE WEEK: DAY 1

TOP OF THE CLASS IN COWES

1 photo

August 19, 2016

Although we spend most of our on-the-water time these days behind the lens or testing boats for the yachting press, we also try to do some racing. We did a lot in years gone by and, while time… ›

TOP OF THE CLASS IN COWES

DIVERSIFICATION? IT'S DEFINITELY OVER-RATED...

11 photos

August 19, 2016

We have probably all thought from time to time how much simpler life would be if we could focus on just one line of work. In our case, marine photography, for example, or perhaps yachting journalism.… ›

DIVERSIFICATION? IT'S DEFINITELY OVER-RATED...

An introductory rant (involving a £275 repair for a piece of plastic and a plug)

1 photo

June 12, 2016

Blogs on photographers’ web sites should probably be for the purpose of promoting our photographs. Now that I finally have a blog, however, it seems a shame not to use it as a soap-box as well –… ›

An introductory rant (involving a £275 repair for a piece of plastic and a plug)