Paul Keal has been taking images for over 30 years, and sailing for far longer.

With a career as a sailmaker spanning 25 years,

 with North Sails UK+IRL and Mc William Sailmakers IRL.

At Norths. UK Paul was head sailmaker for the spinnaker dept. constructing "Americas cup" and "Whitbread"sails (now the "VOR") For Maxis and W60s.

He has also been involved with sail training yachts and local club racing  both inshore and offshore for many years.

His main interest in photography has naturally progressed towards marine and sailing photography. He has also a keen interest in portrait, landscape, sport and  travel photography. Paul has photographed and sailed on dinghies and yachts ranging in size from 12’ to 120’ and beyond in various locations around the world. He has over 30.000 miles of sailing experience including transatlantic and channel crossings.

Having spent years sailing in fleets of yachts Paul has gained a superb eye and experience of the best position and time to photograph fast moving images on an uneven and moving sea. Sailing and other water sports are the most participated extreme sports on earth. Paul not only catches the perfect image but emphasises on making the individuals concerned look great!

Paul’s travel photography encompasses 3 continents .countries include the USA,Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Northern Africa, Mainland Europe and recently northern and southern India.

Paul Keal is based in Crosshaven  southern Ireland. Crosshaven is located 8 miles from cork city.

It is also the location for the Royal Cork Yacht Club (RCYC).The oldest yacht club in the world founded in 1720.

The large majority of his photography comes from the RCYC and Events held by them eg . the world famous Cork Week, Clipper race, La Solitaire du Figaro and National and International events. Other sports events he covers include Rugby(Munster), Surfing, Kite surfing, distance running  amongst others.

Hundreds of Paul’s images have been used by the RCYC for their advertising ,displays, web site and the club gallery. Paul Keal is one of their primary photographers.

Paul uses mainly Canon equipment and this web site is a view of his work since turning to the digital format in 2005.

Mainsheetimages.com is his first web site to date. The name is based on where Paul spends most of his time on a Yacht, THE MAINSHEET.!