On The Up: New Zealand photographer Suellen Hurling wins public vote at Pantaenius Yacht Racing Image Awards

This frame of Mattias Coutts (front) and George Lee Rush in action during the Moth World Championships in Auckland won Suellen Hurling a global photography award. Photo / Suellen Hurling, Live Sail Die.

On November 22, 2005, Suellen Hurling committed to her craft.

Growing up sailing in Australia, she developed a love for the sport but admits she was never going to be among those athletes to go on to challenge for Olympic medals.

Instead, while working at the Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron as a sailing manager, Hurling combined her passions for sailing and photography and launched Live Sail Die. At the time, it was a hobby platform that allowed her to stay involved with the sport she loved and shine a light on the Australian and New Zealand scene.

Now, two decades to the day since taking that step, the Auckland-based photographer’s work has been globally recognised as she claimed the public voters’ honour at the Pantaenius Yacht Racing Image Awards.

“You couldn’t even script it,” Hurling told the Herald.

“It’s kind of surreal in a way because I’ve been taking photographs of sailing for 20 years now, it’s actually only the second time I’ve ever entered the competition. Part of me saw the photos that other photographers around the world were creating and I was like, ‘oh, it’s nowhere near as good as any of these guys’.

“But something about this photo, I don’t know, it just made me feel that it could have a chance of doing well. So I thought, you know, why not? Let’s submit it and see what happens.”

The 45-year-old claimed the award, which was based on online votes, for a photo taken from on top of the start-finish boat during the Moth World Championships in Auckland. It shows Mattias Coutts and George Lee Rush in perfect sync while making a gybe.

Coutts was leading the regatta at the time, and went on to claim the world championship title, so she needed to be sure there were shots of him.

Hurling, who has been based in New Zealand since 2011, said the image stood out the first time she saw what she had captured.

Suellen Hurling took her award-winning shot from on top of a boat. Photo / Jayden Murdie, Live Sail Die

“These moths are literally flying around the course at 30-odd-plus knots. You blink and they’re gone. They’re quiet as hell. You can’t hear anything and I was shooting a finish from one of the starts, so over my right shoulder, I’m shooting the finish, but in my left eye, I’m looking out to the rest of the course and I just happened to see the gold bib come down. I quickly scanned back, took about 10 frames, didn’t think about it and came back to get the other ones finishing,” she said.

“Then when I took a break and I looked through, I’m like, ‘oh, did I get it? Did I? Oh my gosh, what a shot. Oh my god, I got it.’

“I didn’t realise I got them in perfect sequence going through a gybe. I think it’s the fact that they’re both in the same position on the boat and coming straight at me. I was like, ‘yeah, that’s cool. I like that one.’ I actually had some other people who saw it and were blown away by the photo... so I think it was them that kind of pushed me to enter it.”

Italian photographer Martina Orsini won the overall award, becoming the first woman in the 16-year history of the awards to claim the top prize.

Hurling said she wasn’t sure what the prize for the award was and was just thrilled with the recognition.

“I think it’s a cash prize, but I don’t even care about that. I mean, that’s a massive bonus to get a cash prize, but I think it’s just the acknowledgement of all of the hard work. Being out on the water, getting thrown around like a freaking rag doll all the time, absolutely saturated, gear getting wrecked all the time; the prize is one thing, but I think it’s the recognition that I’m most proud of.”

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.