The first phase of the America's Cup Media Trials concluded in Valencia on July 25th.
For four days, two high-performance monohulls and multihulls were loaded with a plethora of cameras and microphones and put through match racing maneuvers to help find new camera angles and test surround sound format as well as 3D video.
Racecourses were also modified by changing the percentages of upwind and downwind work to see if it helped keep the yachts engaged at close quarters.
“I’d have to rate the trials an unqualified success,” said BMW ORACLE Racing CEO Russell Coutts, at the conclusion of the fourth testing session. “We plan to do this again in the coming weeks and months, but I think we found some things that work that we’d like to explore again down the road.”
During the first week of August, positioning and performance data will be experimented with during the 1851 Cup in Cowes, England. The regatta features BMW ORACLE Racing and TeamOrigin of the U.K. in a series of match races aboard V5 America’s Cup Class sloops off the Isle of Wight.
“We have a long way to go still, but we’re very upbeat about this process,” said Coutts. “We really want to transform the next Cup to make it appealing and enthralling for television, and we feel we’re heading down that path.”
These Media Trials are geared to examine every aspect of America's Cup racing, including the type of boat (monohull or multihull) the format of the racecourse (upwind, downwind or reaching starts) and, importantly, the video output for on-air and online viewing.
This site has been created to collate all the videos being generated during the trials and to solicit feedback from viewers about what they think works well and what they could do without. Any ideas on how to improve coverage of sailing and make the America's Cup more compelling for viewers are being actively sought.
“We want sailing fans, sports fans or those just getting interested for the first time to join the debate,” said Russell Coutts, the CEO of BMW ORACLE Racing, the current America's Cup champions.
So take a few minutes to browse through the videos below and by all means, let us know what you think.
Two days of trials were scheduled on the X40 catamarans in Valencia. On the first day, an extreme sea state cut the session short. But in the 90 minutes on the water, it was clear the multihulls could generate some impressive footage.
The next day the wind was much lighter and the sea state had flattened out. One lesson learned quickly was how much more difficult it was for the on board cameramen to shoot on the catamaran. The trampoline makes for a very unstable platform. Part of this issue would likely be alleviated on a larger boat.
What do you think?
The Valencia Media Trials on the RC44 high-performance monohulls bookended the sessions on the catamarans. Among the revelations on the first day was the 'mast cam' positioned directly at the top of the mast, gazing down on the deck. While an 'off-the-shelf' camera was used for the Trials, it was a clear a custom product with a wider lens would produce great footage.
Day four of the trials was the second session on the RC44s and there was same great footage, largely the result of stronger winds, bigger waves, and intensely close racing between the crews led by James Spithill on one boat and Russell Coutts on the other.
What was your favorite shot?
