Image of the Week: Fall Colors

In terms of explosive, molten-hot colors, the scenery for high-performance powerboat events usually takes a back seat to the boats themselves. Sure, the watercolors can be spectacular, as can the surrounding landscape, but generally speaking those colors are mostly variations of blue and green. Makes sense as such events usually happen in the summer.

But then comes fall.

Fall color and go-fast boat graphics compliment one another in a big way. Photo courtesy/copyright Tim Sharkey/Sharkey Images

Captured during the New Jersey Powerboat Association 2009 Fall Fun Run by photographer Tim Sharkey, the background in the image of a Skater catamaran owned by Steve Thiele shows what happens when the wild colors of fall meet the wild colors of a custom sportboat. It’s almost as if Sharkey set out to find a scenery that would match boat.

“The changing leaves of fall in full swing make for great photography when the sun is out,” said Sharkey.

Even out West where fall color in go-fast environs is little more than a passing notion, fall is perhaps the most underrated time of the year to hit the water. Sure, the big-party atmosphere of summer is gone—but so are the crowds. And fueled by strong, warm winds, that weather phenomenon called Indian Summer makes September and October two of the best boating months of the year.