It's possible to shoot HDR images handheld and in this case even from a catamaran. I waited for the boat to enter the scene then shot wide angle to minimize the movement from frame to frame. Also shooting wide angle gives a faster shutter speed. I shot 5 images at 1EV spacing with continuous shooting activated.
Once the image was processed in HDR the moving sailboat showed obvious ghosting. To correct the problem, I opened the HDR image AND one of the single shots (+1EV) then cut and pasted the single image sailboat and region around it onto the HDR image. With a slight levels change to match the tone of the water around the boat and a soft brush at low opacity the blend became undectable.
More on HDR tutorials at my blog:
www.beforethecoffee.com
