Vendée Globe photo wins Yacht Racing Image contest

The winners of the Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image photography competition have been announced at a prize-giving ceremony in Paris. 

French photographer Loïc Venance won the main award for a jaw-dropping shot of French sailor Jeremie Beyou taken during the Vendée Globe. British photographer Patrick Condy picked up the public award, based on the number of public votes cast on the internet, with an image of Alex Thomson’s Hugo Boss rounding the Fastnet Rock. 

The annual Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image award is open to professional yacht racing photographers from all over the world. A total of 126 photographers from 24 countries took part in the 13th edition this year, with the overall winner selected by a jury.

The entries illustrate the sailing season’s highlights, including the Olympic Games and America’s Cup, as well as SailGP and other popular events such as the Fastnet race, Voiles de Saint-Tropez, Mini Transat and sailing regattas all over the world.

“I am very happy to have won this prize, which is clearly an international reference in sailing photography, and to have my photo chosen among so many high-quality images,” says Venance, who joined AFP in 2001 and has covered offshore races such as the Vendée Globe, Route du Rhum and Transat Jacques Vabre since 2016.

Italian photographer Martina Orsini is this year’s runner-up, ahead of Swiss photographer Daniel Forster, who took third place. 

“It is an amazing honour to have won the Public award in such a prestigious competition”, says Patrick Condy. “This award is something all marine photographers aspire to win and it is great to see it going strong in what has been a difficult year for us all.”

The Mirabaud Yacht Racing Image award 2021 registered approximately 15,000 votes on social media and more than 250,000 page views, according to organisers MaxComm.

Take a look at some of the shortlisted images below: