Boat Race at the Bosphorus — Istanbul, Turkey · 29 August 2009

On 29 August 2009, six ocean-racing boats preparing for the Istanbul Europa Race sailed on the Bosphorus before the start of their long-distance competition. From Istanbul the fleet would head first toward Nice, continue to Barcelona, pass through the Strait of Gibraltar and finally race north toward Brest in France.

The Bosphorus gave this modern racing fleet an extraordinary setting. Large offshore boats designed for open water moved through a narrow strait normally shared by ferries, cargo ships and the daily traffic of Istanbul. The contrast between the racing yachts, the shoreline and the historic city made the demonstration as visually interesting as the competition itself.

My photographs concentrate on this brief meeting between ocean sailing and Istanbul. Before the boats disappeared toward the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, they were for a short time part of the familiar landscape of the Bosphorus.