Photo competition: Final! The wow pictures of the best yacht sports photographers

Twenty regatta photographers from thirteen countries have reached the final of the Pantaenius Yacht Racing Image Award photo competition. The 20 best photos selected by the international jury will be shown next week at the Metstrade (18 to 20 November) in Amsterdam. One of them will be the winning image.

Final of the professional photo competition: Felix Diemer in the running

Four British, three French and three Italian photographers in the final show where hearts beat particularly loudly for regatta sport. But with Felix Diemer, one of the best German photographers has once again reached the final of this photo competition. His motif has long been one of the most published this year because it perfectly summarises the spectator sailing racing sport SailGP at a glance. YACHT online has also shown it several times. Here is an example.

Felix Diemer's impressive snapshot was taken on 18 January this year at the Sail Grand Prix in Auckland, New Zealand. America's Cup dominator, 49er Olympic champion and SailGP helmsman Peter Burling and his Black Foils race towards the packed grandstand. 25,000 spectators had given the SailGP in Auckland a new fan dimension, the London-based photographer Felix Diemer from Bremen so grippingly.

The top 20 in the Panteanius Yacht Racing Image Award photo competition has been reached by a number of other well-known photographers with images of this year's regatta highlights. Whether James Tomlinson's motif of the Admiral's Cup winner "Jolt 6", Martina Orsini's spectacular moth action, Yann Riou's thunderstorm impression of Jérémie Beyou's "Charal", Olivier Blanchet's beautiful bow to Vendée Globe winner Charlie Dalin and his "Macif Santé Prévoyance" or the powerful image of the Germany SailGP Team, with which Swedish photographer Jonathan Nackstrand reached the final of the photo competition - 20 top images are now available to vote for.

The prize money in the photo competition

The Pantaenius Yacht Racing Image Award is decided by an international jury. The winner receives 1500 euros. Second place is endowed with 750 euros, third place with 250 euros. The audience prize is awarded according to the number of online votes and is worth 500 euros. Around 15,000 people cast their votes. Votes can still be cast by clicking here until the evening of 14 November.

Last year, Samo Vidic won the prize with a SailGP photo, which has been called the Pantaenius Yacht Racing Image Arward since this year. In 2024, the audience award went to James Tomlinson, who showed Cole Brouwer in the red beacon at the finish line of the Global Solo Challenge. The circumnavigator, who now works for Boris Herrmann's Team Malizia, came second and was the first American to finish a race around the world solo.

The Pantaenius Yacht Racing Image Award looks back on a 13-year history. Kurt Arrigo won the competition in its inaugural year in 2012. This was followed by Abner Kingman, Alfred Farre, Nikos Zagas, Jean-Marie Liot, the only previous German winner Sören Hese (2017), Ricardo Pinto, Loris von Siebenthal, Gilles Martin-Raget, Loïc Venance, Nico Martinez and -twice in a row - Samo Vidicwhen the photo competition was still called the Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image Award. German photographer Michael Kurtz won the Delegates Award in 2024.

Pantaenius Yacht Racing Image Award: two elections, two worlds

It is interesting to note that the changing international jury and the public have never been unanimous in their choice since 2012. The Audience Award has gone to a different photographer 13 times than the Pantaenius Yacht Racing Image Award itself, which has only been won by men so far. The different assessments of the jury and fans not only show how differently photographic art affects people, but presumably also which sailors, teams and events enjoy particularly strong fan groups in sailing.

The winners of the Pantaenius Yacht Racing Image Award will be announced and celebrated on 21 November at 12:30 pm as part of the Yacht Racing Forum on the Metstrade. The organisers are expecting well-known protagonists of international regatta sport to be present.