Sydney Hobart images from Helicopter

by Rob Kothe on 27 Aug 2006 Helicopter shot images by Australian Yachting photographer Ian Mainsbridge taken from just above sea level in the middle of Bass Strait in the Rolex Sydney to Hobart race have graced the covers of Yachting magazines all around the world in the last four decades.

With Sail-World now delivering full screen images, we are taking this opportunity to showcase the work of one of Australia's top sailing photographers.

Mainsbridge, better know as 'Mains' begun working for the Sydney Daily Telegraph, which was then owned by Sir Frank Packer who brought the 12 metre Vim over from America and has built Gretel I and then built Gretel 2.

‘I started 43 years ago, working for Sir Frank Packer .. that was my first job as a junior and that was when he was building Gretel for the first Australian challenge for the America's Cup and I stayed involved, pretty much all the way through, until recent years.’

A star photographer at the age of 14, Mains says he was ‘the cheapest guy that could be sent down to the boat sheds at any time, day and night but I got hooked on yachting straight away.

'I started off originally in fixed wings and when helicopters came to the forefront, then I went across to rotor wing and I’ve now completed 40 Sydney-to-Hobart’s by air.

'When I first started doing it the budget we worked on then, did us for the entire race. Now it would not get us to the start line due to inflation and today's fuel costs.

'But its the only way to get those photos from the middle of Bass Strait, you can get out there either, by water if you’re stupid enough or if you are not so silly but quite insane, you can still go out there by air.

'We’ve been out there 120-125 nautical miles and that’s the sight that people don’t get to see. Yes we’ve had the skids moist on a few occasions but, no we try to keep a safe distance.

'The pilots I use are very experienced and we’re all keen to get home for a schooner that night so we all look after each other.

'But it’s a great way to view the race and the sport.

'I guess there’s a bit of technique involved over the years but you’ve got to have the people - there’s boat drivers and there’s boat drivers, there’s pilots and there’s pilots, same as there’s yachts, yachties and yachtsmen.

'The best picture (that I was recognised for) was one taken of Ichi Ban during the Bird Island race a couple of years ago, when I was fortunate enough to win the Scuttlebutt offshore racing picture of the year.

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'But Bass Strait certainly brings out the best in me. Good stiff breeze and a big swell and our days are full, we’re up and off before sunrise. Some of the best shots I've done are in the early morning. For example one of the better pictures I’ve got is Skandia air borne coming out of a wave. It was taken at approximately 5:50am, 85 miles nor-east of Flinders Island.

'You see you have got to be there to get it and taking the pictures is probably one of the easiest parts, but you’ve got to have the back up crew and the experienced pilots to position you.

'Doing it again this year? Yes, God willing. It’s always hard to give everybody a fair chance and fit in photographs of everyone because the maxi’s always make the better pictures.

'Sometimes some of the smaller boats certainly are good off Green Cape etc, as they enter in the Strait, but main media stories come on line honours.

'With the cost of helicopters at the moment we don’t like to back track because when it’s up to nearly $1,500 an hour, by back tracking you just burn too much money and with the price of fuel, you just have to keep heading south.

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'On occasions we wonder what we are out there for, but you certainly don’t have massive air traffic to worry about when you’re doing the shoot, and you’re not worried about people shooting 'the shot' over your shoulder.

'I’ve, worked with some of the better photographers around the world, like Daniel Foster and Carlo Borlenghi, and their eyes have opened wide when they’ve been in the helicopter with me going across Bass Strait.

'One of the fun places, when we are with guys like them, is the organ pipes at Cape Raoul.

'On occasions I’ve had our foreign photographer friends go a whiter shade of pale because we actually try and get inside the organ pipes and hover, and we’ll focus on the boats going past the organ pipes from inside them.

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'It normally blows about 65-70 knots over the top of them and it’s hard to hold the chopper steady through the tunnel in the wind.

'But it’s a lot of fun.

'Then when we come back on land, its the matter of delivering that image to the client; of course if it’s the newspapers you just want that front page and the yachting magazine covers and big spreads .. and these days its is not just paper, there are lots of yachting pictures on the internet. I have a website too, www.all2eay.com

'The colour prints are getting larger and larger. And we are always searching for a new approach.

'In recent times we’ve been using fabric. We have a wonderful new fabric printing process, the images are not screen printed but actually paint and that’s exploded into the fabric. We’ve mainly been using a twill type fabric and now I’ve just started high-quality canvas.

'Twill gives great results and we’ve been using it for a couple of years now and framed pictures make very impressive art on the wall for people to look at, and they will last a lifetime.

'Canvas is in its early stages, but we can guarantee that the twill will outlast you, even if you buy it at the age of one.

'The colour on the fabric won’t fade with UV, so sunlight won’t affect them.

'Its not inkjet, it’s a quite involved multi-stage process. We’re doing 29 and a half by 40 inches, and we can go further than that, we can probably go up to about six foot/eight foot wide if necessary, depends on how big a hole you’ve got on the wall you need to cover.

'Giant pictures, but they are easy to ship because if you buy them unframed, it’s just the piece of fabric we can roll up and if its crushed at the other end you can iron it, with a hot iron. You can’t destroy it; it’ll take the creases out.

'Really it’s All2easy.com' Mains laughed.

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