Mablethorpe Oct
Beach Racing
Pictures and report by Lonely Furrow Photography
A British seaside resort in autumn is a strange place full of contradictions. People drinking coffee while eating ice cream, wearing puffer jackets and shorts, some in hiking boots, others in sandals. Everyone either trying to ignore that autumn had arrived with a bang or openly embracing the cold season.
This weekend was also a massive contradiction, weather wise. Saturday was a complete wash out, grey clouds from horizon to horizon and rain of almost biblical proportions. Sunday, on the other hand was glorious, and although it was cold we had brilliant sunshine.
So it turned out to be the perfect day for my first experience of beach racing at the Lincolnshire sea side town of Mablethorpe.
Knowing that sand, rain and sea spray were not a good mix for modern DSLR cameras and lenses I decided to “wrap up” my camera gear in a cheap, home made cover made out of a piece of black plastic sheet and some electrical insulation tape.
It wouldn’t win any awards for style but it did the job, it’s easily replaceable and most importantly, cheap. Although I couldn’t get close enough to the action to get sprayed by any sand or sea I was still glad my Sigma 150-600mm C had that extra protection as the wind blowing off the North Sea across Mablethorpe beach still whipped up the sand on occasion.
And so on to the racing. Riders start at a gate very similar to the gates used at Speedway meetings only nowhere near as technical. In Speedway the gate is raised using some sort of electrical device by the meeting referee, in beach racing 2 guy’s in hi-vis jackets drop a bit of old rope to the floor.
The riders, sometimes as few as 2, sometimes as many as 10, blast off along a straight before turning left and then complete 4 laps of the oval circuit. First one over the line wins and that’s about it.
There is no programme, no time table and no podium. In fact, from a casual observer’s point of view, there seems to be very little that gets in the way of a bunch of people have a great time thrashing motor bikes around a beach on a Sunday morning.
I arrived just after 10am, racing had already begun and I started to look for a suitable vantage point. There is a long concrete structure that presumably is underwater when the tide’s in that I decided to walk along. This was not a good idea for 2 reasons. Firstly the position and angle of sun meant I was shooting directly into it and secondly… you’re not allowed to stand there.
I then walked through the pit area and along the promenade, parallel with the start/finish straight, and noticed two other photographers standing on the entrance to turn 1. After about 10 minutes I noticed that they hadn’t been moved so I walked over and joined them. From this position you can get the riders as they approach you and turn in. You also can get some of the watching crowd in the background.
Standing anywhere along the promenade you’re parallel with the start/finish straight and that’s a great position for that speed and panning shot. If you have long enough lenses you can capture the riders on the far side of the track as they ride back through the sea.
Finally standing on turns 3&4 you get the riders throwing the back wheel out and creating a spray of sand. You can also use the off shore wind turbines as a slightly more interesting back ground.
So, if you’re at a loose end one Sunday morning and want to do some photography, head out to the Mablethorpe beach racing. It’s completely free (apart from a couple of quid in the car park) and runs every other weekend until the end of March. The next event is the 10 November 2019.
Lonely Furrow Photography is based in Lincolnshire. You can see more of his work on Flickr and his website.
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