We were happy to go to Boston to photograph the winners in the Artemis Singlehanded Transatlantic race from Plymouth, England. Loick Peyron won the IMOCA 60 class, his third win, 20 years after we first saw him sail into Newport on Lada Poch II in 1988. He is the leader of Team Gitana, whose 110-foot catamaran we had the chance to photograph in New York and in San Francisco after they broke that record by more than two weeks.

Giovanni Soldini won Class 40 on Telecom Italia, making Billy very happy by finishing just after dawn. It was great to see him sail into Marblehead.

Billy has done lots of sailing with Hap Fauth, who built a new 69-foot Reichel/Pugh race boat at New England Boatworks. Billy has been taking photos of Bella Mente as they get her ready for the Newport-Bermuda race on June 20. Hap was first to finish the 2006 Newport-Bermuda race so we'll be sure to get some great shots of her at the start.

This summer we'll be shooting several great projects in Maine:

Ellis Boat Company in Southwest Harbor, Maine, has just finished a really styling sport fishing boat for singer Billy Joel. We'll be photographing it zooming by our boat since its top speed will be over 30 knots.

Matt Sledge owner of Samoset Boat Works has put all his considerable experience and heart into a beautiful cold-molded 30-foot powerboat designed by Doug Zurn. We hope to shoot it in early June. We saw the nearly finished boat at the Maine Boatbuilders show in Portland and look forward to showing you the finished boat.

The craftsmen at French & Webb have spent nearly three years immaculately restoring three Buzzards Bay 30s from the early 1900s. They are working on the boats side by side and will launch them together, fully rigged on June 22 in Belfast, Maine. It's going to be a festival for the whole town. Last year we had the opportunity to photograph two of their sailboats, Wings of Grace and Spitfire. We have some of the beautiful photos of Wings of Grace on our gallery page.

Our friends at Lyman-Morse have lots of projects underway but the first out the door was a 54-foot offshore cruising sailboat named New Morning. The Chuck Paine design features an open interior that we look forward to photographing. We had lots of fun last summer on the Lyman-Morse yacht Electra and have shots of her in a gallery and the PDF of a story Billy and Joyce were able to do together for Boat International.

Back in Newport we are excited to be photographing the new 100-foot maxi racer Speedboat. She was designed by Juan Kouyoumdjian, built by Cookson in New Zealand, and has a giant deck-stepped Southern Spars mast.

We are also working with Jock West on his new/old Trumpy, Showtime. He is refitting her at the very capable J&J Marine and is turning the boat into a marine showcase. Look for her at all the major boat shows.

Bill Koffler, owner of Aquidneck Custom Composites, builds a beautiful 57-foot cruising catamaran designed by Chris White. He's launching one at the end of May that we'll have the chance to photograph. Last summer we shot Abigail, a 52-foot yawl that the owner had designed as his final project for The Landing School. We have a gallery of those photos on our New Work page.

This year's Newport-Bermuda race should be really exciting. Billy sailed in the race two years ago but will be shooting the start this year, probably from the air.

We are happy to be involved with Sail America's industry conference June 11th and 12th as well as the American Superyacht Forum hosted by the Yacht Report from June 24-27.

In July, Billy will be racing in the Chicago-Mackinac Island race, shooting video for Gary Jobson.

Billy is following two exciting projects at Derecktor Shipyards in Bridgeport, Connecticut:

The first is Hemisphere, a 145-foot cruising catamaran. When she is launched she'll be the largest sailing catamaran in the world. Billy has photographed the building process from the beginning and is eager to see it all come together in what promises to be a spectacular yacht.

The other project we are very happy to be involved with is Dancer, the largest yacht built in the United States in over 75 years. How the engineers and craftsmen at Derecktor have solved the logistical challenges of assembling the sections of this 280-foot yacht have been fascinating to watch. The owner, who has owned two large yachts built in Europe, is enthusiastic about supporting American craftsmanship.

Recent shoots:

Billy had lots of fun photographing Gunboats at Antigua Race Week for Peter Johnstone. We have a gallery of Gunboats in New Work and a little video clip on the Videos page.

We shot the 100-foot maxi racing boat ICAP Leopard in New York on a hospitality tour that required more foul weather gear than sunscreen.

Billy just returned from a fun trip to Brooklin Boat Yard. We shot several of their beautiful power and sailboats and made a special tour of the design office.

Thanks to everyone who sent their best wishes for Billy's recovery from prostate cancer. Hearing from all of you helped the time pass quickly and cheered Billy up more than we can tell you. He's back on the job with even more enthusiasm and a fresh perspective. He looks forward to catching up with all of you in person soon.