Australian 18ft TV gets upgrade with new boat set up for livestreaming
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com 22 Nov 2021 21:39 PST
Plenty of action in the 2021/22 season in the Australian 18ft Skiffs League - Sydney Harbour © Frank Quealey
Australian 18ft Skiff fans may have noticed the live coverage has gone up several levels this season, and is becoming a must-see event each Sunday afternoon - if you want to catch the live racing, and later if you don't.
A big change is the commissioning of a new boat by James Bury, specially designed for live streaming media including video, running drones and live commentary from James Bury, Andrew Buckland and Peter Shipway.
The boat has its own power and everything from charging drone batteries to computers, fridge, screens is taken care of via the inbuilt power storage systems
The boat is in "Survey" so subject to fuel limitations it can go offshore.
On the cabin top there is roof mounted EXCamera from the UK, similar to a Shotover - but a little cheaper, which is now fully stabilised and controlled from a joystick and screen from inside
Although the camera boat has two drones, but only one is allowed in the air at a time because of the air restrictions above the harbour. The drone use is probably the biggest contributor to the uplift in the race coverage, in much the same way they gave fans new views of the VO65's in the Southern Ocean during the last Volvo Ocean Race.
Dylan Clarke is the drone pilot who performed a similar role for the American Magic AC team.
Below is the video coverage from November 14 - with 18's at their best in a big breeze - and only four finishers.