Behind the Scenes, September 2024

Sharon Green

The walls of Scuttlebutt HQ include the Ultimate Sailing calendar by Sharon Green, with Betsy Senescu sharing this behind-the-scenes story regarding the September 2024 images.

Although Matias Capizzano is an Industrial Designer by profession, his passion for sailing and photography have repeatedly brought him to the pages of the Ultimate Sailing Calendar: this time in our September 2024 spread.

These dynamic images from Optimist regattas on opposite sides of the globe show just how far he will go to capture the sport – from any angle, in any place!

“Matias is an incredibly versatile photographer,” Sharon Green asserts. “He operates underwater with his housing, flies a drone, drives his own RIB, and captures phenomenal stills and video!”

Matias has a long history with Opti sailing – as a sailor himself, then coach, and ultimately professional photographer, beginning in 1998 when he shot the prestigious Semana Internacional del Yachting at his home yacht club in Mar del Plata, Argentina. Since then he has covered more than 60 International Optimist Dinghy Association (IODA) regattas but also photographs Lasers, Snipes, Stars, plus big boat and Olympic events.

“I have been so lucky to be able to visit incredible places and meet great people all around the world,” Matias says. “The racecourse is a great office: sometimes difficult, uncomfortable and wet – but always beautiful.” He shoots from a tiny RIB often smaller than the Opti itself (which is 7-ft. 9-in.) in order to get his unique perspective. “I go alone so I can be very close, but the small RIB can be a very wet, rough ride.

“Sometimes I feel I am part of the fleet racing, jaja!” he admits laughingly. “Photographing boats are great, but the sailors are my real target. My challenge is to show off their skills and their soul – easier to capture in the smaller dinghies. They exhibit amazing skills you cannot even imagine in such a small boat, but also face fears in challenging situations, particularly the beginners and being so young!”

Matias admits the ‘coach’ side of him sometimes kicks in and as he’s shooting, he will encourage the stragglers as they struggle to round the windward mark or lag behind the fleet, bailing. He finds it gratifying, he says, “that parents can see through my photos what their children are doing out there in the ocean, all alone, in that little soap box.”

Septembrer 2024

And even more gratifying to see that after two dozen years of photographing Opti sailors around the world, to see several of his subjects at the America’s Cup or lifting a medal at the Olympic Games.

“I have always pushed to have the best possible quality. When I started photographing regattas I used a Minolta film camera, then moved to digital photography with the Canon 10D and all the way to the Canon 1DX. Now I shoot with the Canon R5 and most of the time use the Canon 100-500mm lens which is very versatile, and also a fixed 300mm lens.

“I like to shoot on the water (positioning himself near the buoys to capture the mark roundings while staying out of the way) using an Aquatech water housing camera, which is a lot of fun.” He has also started to film video footage, saying modern camera equipment has facilitated that transition. “It’s incredible – you use one finger to simply switch between stills and video. Although being a photographer it’s tempting to like every frame of a clip when you are editing the video …”

He continues to advance his art, adding that he also started shooting both stills and footage from a drone, as depicted on September’s featured photo in the Ultimate Sailing Calendar. “Now I am using the Mavic Pro 3 (a state-of-art triple-lens camera), which is amazing! This thing it’s there, waiting for you, pushing, saying, ‘Come on! What do you want me to do now?!’”

A professional photographer since 25, Matias jokes, “I am 51 and not sure how long I will be able to continue this!” In the same breath, however, he continues, “But my job is fun and refreshing, and makes me feel young being around these young sailors.”

Sharon adds, “We hope he continues shooting for a long, long time. His work always inspires me, capturing the true essence of the sport.”

In return, Matias replies, “I am honored to be part of the Ultimate Sailing Calendar for many years and appreciates being recognized for my work. Thank you so much Sharon.”