“I like danger! After swimming with the Southern Right Whales in Patagonia in my youth, I was afraid of nothing” says Armando. He became a passionate photographer of sharks and other sea life, but was always looking for the next adrenalin-filled challenge.
“A sailboat looks like a shark upside down from the water, because of the keel” he says. Armando thought it would look great to shoot yachts with his split camera. So for one of the first Rolex regattas in St Thomas, he gave it a try by jumping into the water from the committee boat and swimming to the marker buoy. “I popped-up and snapped the yachts as they sped past. Because I used a wide lens, I needed to be very close – about two or three feet away. I got bumped a few times” he says matter of factly.
“I listened to the sound of the yachts breaking the water and because of the danger involved, I fell in love with it” he says. “After I moved to BVI, each year I would shoot the BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival.
When Pyewacket competed for the first time, Armando wanted a shot of her, but as she approached, the sun was in the wrong place. “I knew this was my chance, so I swam very hard and saw the boat approaching, then in a split second there was something coming towards me like a shark…..…It was the counter keel, and I didn’t know. The crew were screaming “Armando you are going to get killed!” It is a story of survival, but one of my best shots” he says.
