Beach Ultimate Frisbee championship game, Burla Beach Cup, Viareggio, Italy

Mike Hawkins lays out to catch a disc for a point in the end-zone during a game at Burla Beach Cup, near Viareggio on the coast of Tuscany, September 2015. All the pictures in this gallery were taken by Mike - except this one, 'cause he was kinda busy just then

At times it's quite useful being tall. And this chap is seriously tall...A scene from the Open Division championship game, Burla Beach Cup 2015. A team from Holland (in red shirts) played the host team from Florence (in white-and-purple) in the final. There were 16 teams in Open Division. These were the two best

When you've just thrown a disc past a skilled defender, and you're watching to see if the throw is on track to get to its intended receiver, your world consists entirely of that moment. There is no thought of tomorrow or yesterday. There is nothing else preoccupying your intensely focused mind other than that moment's grace

There's a great deal of leaping involved in playing beach Ulti, as players try to grab discs just barely within reach - before the defender gets there. The mountains provide a spectacular backdrop. Not by coincidence, pretty much all European beach Ulti tournaments are held in beautiful places

When two players are leaping toward the disc, collisions can occur. The faces of these men show they both expect one to occur in the next moment. Collisions often result in foul calls - to discourage players from risky moves, contact is in principle illegal. But it happens pretty frequently anyway. Ulti isn't an injury-free sport

At the beginning of each point, five members of each team line up on opposing end-zone lines. The team that won the last point initiates the next point by throwing the disc to the other team, whose members will then try to move it up the field toward the far end zone. Florence won the last point and is signaling readiness to play the next one

These two players are on a beautiful beach in Tuscany, playing in the championship game of one of the best-loved Beach Ulti tournaments in Europe, battling to grab victory from the sky. The consummately skilled team from the Netherlands (in red shirts) ended up winning, but as this picture shows, Florence put up an honorable fight - and did a superb job as the team hosting the tournament

After every game, the two teams gather in a circle, arms over shoulders, in alternating colors. A spokesperson for the losing team says a few words, followed by someone from the winning team - usually the player who caught the final point. It's a moment to cherish the points just played, salute the sun and the wind, and connect with what Ulti players call the Spirit of the Game