Gladwell's Line- Monsoon Cup coverage sets new standards

by Richard Gladwell on 5 Dec 2009
TV coverage of the 2009 Monsoon Cup has set standards at a time when sailing is at a crossroads, and desperately needs to find a viable New Media platform to reach around the major TV sports, and their huge and captive audiences.

The 2009 edition of the Monsoon Cup, the final and richest regatta in terms of prizemoney on the World Match Racing Tour is produced by Redhanded TV and distributed by Boulder Creek International. This UK led team has been together since the inception of the Monsoon Cup regatta, and are now a well-oiled machine. Their experience and familiarity shine through.

A production team of 27 with a further four on the distribution side ensure that the Monsoon Cup is one of the smoothest run from a Television and Distribution standpoint. All of the team have at least some sailing background, and the crossover of this experience results in a television sailing experience that works for the viewer – achieving that rare combination of action, entertainment and telling the story of the race.

They are greatly helped by the Monsoon Cup venue, in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia which is as close as you could get in the world to a purpose built sailing stadium.

The fleet of colourful Bakewell-White designed matchracing yachts were purpose built for the sailing event and the technology - fulfilling both roles admirably.

Red Hand TV's Producer, Sam Usher has been with the Monsoon Cup since its inception. 'Each year we’ve been given the remit to find new ways of looking at the television. 2005 was a fire fight; we tried to work through the process, we got good results, but it took it’s time. 2005, six, seven, eight we’ve been increasing our distribution year on year. To this year we think we’ve got almost correct.

'The thing we have to deal with is the changing technologies of the internet, the way people view footage, the way people want to view footage, the way people read information. The challenge in these events is to keep trying to reinvent not the wheel or the base part but maybe the breaks or some other components.'

The venue for the Monsoon Cup, is located at the mouth of a river, and the strong current means the crews have to juggle a four dimensional model of current, wind shifts, racing rules and match racing tactics.

Even those who are not normally match racing fans are enthralled by the action from Terengganu, as the television production literally gives the viewer the best seat in the stadium.

The use of Virtual Eye is now commonplace in top level sailing coverage, with the technology developed over an 18 year period now being extended into fleet racing. Red Handed were one of the first production companies to use Virtual Eye technology. Their experience with the product developed by Animation Research Ltd in New Zealand, shows in its very subtle and seamless use in their event coverage.

On board cameras are not particularly new either, having debuted in match racing in the mid nineties, and then extended onto fixed gyroscopic camera placement aboard America’s Cuppers and the like.

What sets the Monsoon Cup coverage into a league of its own is the diversity of the angles and devices employed to give the viewer the best possible seat in the house.

Again, the use of handheld or helmet cam, is not new, but in 2009 this technology is linked with an on board commentator – who interacts with the world’s foremost race commentator, Peter Montgomery – as well as providing visuals from onboard the competitors. Because the onboard commentator is standing in a fixed position, the camera angle is always changing - giving the viewer the perception of being on board the yacht and, in fact, sitting just behind the helmsman.

'Being able to really get into the cockpit is enhanced so much by the audio coming off the boat,' explains Montgomery. 'We are right in the action. In some ways the real challenge for commentators is to belt up and hear the audio of the sailors and then to translate that.'

Mast and bow cameras are being used for the first time in the Monsoon Cup. While these could be a little gimmicky, in reality they give that great perspective in close contact situations. Suddenly the viewer is whisked into the ideal position to see that vital bow transom contact which proved to be the turning point in the penultimate semi-final between Adam Minoprio and Peter Gilmour. Or in their next match it is a quick trip to the masthead to see just how close the two got in a crucial luffing incident.

Even more satisfying for the viewer is hearing the commentators and umpires and crew try to work out what did happen, while the viewer is very sure of what happened, because they saw it – and no-one else did. That’s the ultimate test of whether you have the best seat in the house!

Sam Usher explains his philosophy and ongoing strategy with the coverage of the Monsoon Cup and other match racing events: 'My remit is I think we can take Match Racing, which is an amazing sport, to a bigger, wider, greater audience by being more creative; by listening more to the people, by not having that ego or we’re the production team - you listen to us.

'It’s about reflecting what this event is about and what the people are doing and what the people say. That’s what I think is important whereas often sports productions are about the production team not about the people doing the sport in many ways.

'If you put pressure on it you get results maybe. I think you have to step it up each year and try and find new ways of looking at the same things you’ve looked at a lot. I really want to find new ways of looking at things; I’m inspired by that or reading or whatever. I like to look at new things and I think the audience does so bow cam and mast cam and Andy Green cam were some of those ways of doing it.

'I wanted to know what it’s like to be on the back of a boat from a commentator’s perspective. An interesting new development we’ve done this year, is to put Andy Green on the competing boats. I think someone said they find it quite scary and intimidating but it’s brought another dimension to the television,' Usher reflects.

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One of the objectives in any television sports production is to get the viewer into the locker room, and feel what the players and sailors are experiencing - without being obtrusive.

The Monsoon Cup coverage achieves this brilliantly, particularly with the on-board sailing experience during the race, backed up with a post race interview with the helmsman and crew just seconds after they have crossed the finish line. There’s no fudged lines here – the viewer gets the honest view.

Peter Montgomery is recognised as the 'voice of yachting' the world over, covering the sport since 1970, and the America's Cup since 1986/87. His broadcasting CV cannot be summed up in a couple of lines, except to say that he is also an outstanding all-round sports commentator and also hosts the top rating SportsWorld broadcast nationally on Newstalk ZB - one of the biggest audience shows in New Zealand. He rates the Monsoon Cup very highly indeed.

'I would say that there is no regatta anywhere in the world at the level of what is happening here,' says Montgomery.

'Last year I was dismayed when I went to the World Yacht Racing Forum and Patrick Lim got up and started talking about what was happening in Asia and the Monsoon Gold Cup, and I could see faces of eyes glazing over. Just kind of indifferent – 'well, it’s happening in Asia and it’s not really relevant to us'. That attitude really saddened me because I think there was an inverted snobbery, that’s unnecessary about what’s happening here.

'I think people will find within the next two or three years that this is the benchmark for others and I’m told this weekend that there are deputations arriving from three or four other locations in Asia that are very serious about matching what they’re doing here at the Monsoon Cup and I assume that implies with the television,' the iconic sailing commentator icon adds.

A key point of difference with the Monsoon Cup from other sailing events is that the mainstream sailing media are heavily involved in the wider production, bringing with it their regular large and worldwide audiences.

The internet production is handled by Sail.tv which as well as using their own dedicated website, also provide a facility to enable the other major sailing websites to carry the Internet coverage of the Cup.

This means that viewers don’t have to leave their favourite website to see the Monsoon Cup, and can link into the coverage as part of their regular diet of sailing news from their preferred sailing website. In other words, viewers don’t have to change restaurants to see the Monsoon Cup.

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For Monsoon Cup organisers this means that they tap into a site’s regular audience from the outset of the regatta, without having to worry about attracting and building their own viewership.

Full replays are available of each match, meaning that coverage is no longer restricted by time zone, and the viewer can watch what they want, and when they want. While sounding incredibly simple and obvious, this is a major breakthrough in sailing.

The viewership figures are stunning.

In 2008, the Monsoon Cup regatta was broadcast live to over 105 countries, and reached 179 countries through news and highlights. Distributors, Boulder Creek believe they will break both of these numbers this year. In the 2009 edition of the Monsoon Cup there are over 30 websites and blogs showing the footage using embedded Sail.tv, with many others covering the event.

Boulder Creek International report that the cumulative 2008 viewing figures reached 1,216,835,000 - an increase of 234 million on 2007. With total broadcast time for highlights and live shows at 12,760 minutes or 369 minutes per broadcaster. This equates to a gross media value rated at $39.5million.

What the viewer does not see is the on-the-water obtrusion that normally goes with the TV production of a major sailing regatta – whether it be from helicopters overhead, or large launches complete with bow mounted gyroscopic cameras, that have a significant impact of the racing.

With the innovative use of technology and a good understanding of sailing, Red Handed TV have cut back on the on the water clutter while greatly improving the quality of the coverage.

Where to from here?

Red Handed has set a standard of internet live coverage and commentary that has never been seen before in sailing – and have raised the bar by a considerable margin. The challenge is now with major regatta organisers to embrace this package, and to resist the temptation to re-invent the wheel.

The real winners are the viewers - all 30 million of them.