Shawn Davis Photography - Blog

It seemed like everyone in San Francisco turned out to welcome the Maltese Falcon to the SF. The bay was covered with sailboats. All of a sudden the three tall masts appeared out of the fog just of Baker Beach. She sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge, then past Alcatraz, and then on to Treasure Island. As she passed, all the other sailboats turned to follow. They were no match for the larger boat’s speed and were quickly left fighting against the current.

At low tide today (2pm) the 300ft mega yacht, Maltese Falcon, will sail under the Golden Gate Bridge. At any other time there might not be enough room for her giant masts to fit under. The sailboat is owned by Tom Perkins of Kleiner Perkins venture capital fame. Head down to Crissy Field to check it out or check back later to see my photos.

The Australian 18 skiff fleet made their annual trip to San Francisco this past week. Here’s a shot of them racing just after the start of the Bridge to Bridge race, a downwind competition with windsurfers and kitesurfers.

On Friday night, I went for a sunset sail aboard the tall ship Seaward. This past week, San Francisco has hosted several tall ships as part of the Festival of Sail. While some of the ships had traveled across the world for the event, the Seaward had just come across the bay from Sausalito. The Seaward is an 82′ steel-hulled staysail schooner. She is operated by callofthesea.org.

Today started off with fog pretty much everywhere in San Francisco. By mid morning it had started to clear up and by afternoon, it was a beautiful day. The wind also cooperated.

Windsurfing: A few photos of the Sunday windsurfing action.

Sailing: A couple guys were out doing some training in their Lasers. They were definitely getting a good workout with some hard upwind grinding, fast downwind runs, and chilly wipe outs.

Bryan MacDonald wrote an article about the similarities of design in modern sailing and windsurfing. One of my shots of last year’s Bridge to Bridge race made the cut.

The Golden Gate Yacht Club organized an interesting race today. It only had three marks and they could be rounded in and order and from any direction. Each mark was just off one of the Bay Area’s major bridges (Golden Gate Bridge, Bay Bridge, & Richmond-San Rafael Bridge). Only solo or doublehanded crews were allowed to participate. I got a few shots of some of the racers.

The Rolex Big Boat Series Regatta is starting tomorrow at the St. Francis Yacht Club and runs through Sunday. I’m planning to head down on Saturday and Sunday to get some photos. It looks like there are more than 100 boats expected. I’m looking forward to seeing how fast the Melges 32’s are in the SF Bay conditions. For now, check out photos of past events…

2006 Rolex Big Boat Series
2005 Rolex Big Boat Series
2004 Rolex Big Boat Series

It’s that time of year again. The Australian 18’s are in town for a regatta and to challenge the local windsurfers and kitesurfers in an all-out downwind race from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Bay Bridge. I headed down to get some shots of the start of the race. Here’s a shot of the start of the race.