I was honored, blessed and humbled to be invited aboard Bajavento for the 2012 Banderas Bay Regatta. Bajavento is owned by Mexican surf pioneer Nacho Felix Cota and his lovely wife Veronica. They are a fascinating couple, full of incredible life stories! I could have stayed for weeks to hear them all. I’m always happy when I get to combine sailing with making images, especially when the crew is a blast and we have good racing conditions!  It was a fantastic way to end the month in Mexico, Gracias Nacho and Veronica!

UPDATE ON IMAGE GALLERIES: ALL Boat Galleries are up!

WOW! Another exciting week of racing down here in La Cruz, Mexico for MEXORC 2012! I spent a lot of time swimming with the big boats, trying not to get run over, climbed a few masts and got to race aboard Peligroso & Blue Blazes. The best part of the week was seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Definitely looking forward to next MEXORC! Here is a preview of images from the week. For individual boat galleries click here *Note: Images are still being uploaded so please check back if you don’t see your gallery up today!

Here is a preview from Day 2&3 of racing. Click here to see full gallery *Note: images are still being uploaded to full gallery over the next few days so please check back for more updates. All should be uploaded by Monday, March 12.

WOW! We are off to a great start after a very long first day for the J24s in Copa Mexico 2012 Regatta. I spent a lot of time today as “shark bait” (as some of the sailors call me). I was more concerned with getting run over by the press boat than with what might be underneath me The wind seemed to be all over the place today and the current progressively got stronger, making it more difficult to stay in place to shoot. All in all it was a great first day and looking forward to round two!

To see full gallery from day one click here

Finally back in the water! I’ve spent the last two days photographing the Mexican Masters Regatta trying to be creative in making interesting images with little to no wind. It’s been frustrating for the sailors but I appreciate the challenge. I surprised some of the sailors by shooting from the mark which provided some entertainment on day one. I did warn them before the race to look out for the little red buoy…me!

All of the athletes in the regatta are down here for the week training with the International Sailing Academy so, hopefully we will see more wind over the next few days!

Click here to view more images from the regatta!

How is it that a 29 year old from landlocked Nebraska ends up in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on a whirlwind tour of the world of sailing, meaning Mexican Masters, MEXORC, Kite boarding, J-24 and Optimist one-design, Lasers/Radials, Windsurfing, and a Cruiser’s regatta with big cats? Well, you get an Invite from Mike Danielson to hang out and shoot Copa Mexico and the most action packed month of sailing on Banderas Bay.

I met Mike when I was in PV covering another story a couple years ago. He planted the idea of coming back saying, “Jen, you don’t want to miss this! This is all aspects of sailing crammed into 3 weeks with a lot of beer to wash it down. Just get on a Plane. You’ll stay with us and I’ll toss you in the middle of everything.” And that he did.

Obviously I was hooked because I decided to come back for more. Last time I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, but this time around I’m ready to push my work to a whole new level. Vamos a hacerlo!

I couldn’t have asked for a better way to kick off 2012 then by combining my three passions in life: Family, Photography and Sailing. My father and I have been dreaming and scheming about this trip for the past 8 years and we finally turned it into a reality. The time was spent sailing to and exploring new locations each day, scuba diving off the boat, snorkeling, kayaking, reading, playing cards and laughing a lot. I am thankful for my family and blessed to have shared such an amazing week with them.

Jen Edney Photography has teamed up with RDQLUS Creative for an Extreme Makeover! Here is a sneak peak! To learn more about the project and the creative mercenary behind the scenes click here! Complete redesign of site coming soon!