Camera Corps Rows With 'OxBridge' For Boat Race

Camera Corps heads north from its base at Shepperton Studios to the River Thames during the last week of March to prepare for broadcast coverage of the 2008 Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. On behalf of 021 Television & ITV Sport, Camera Corps will equip each of the competing crews with two miniature cameras coupled via wireless link to a controller in the follow-boat.
"This will be our fourth consecutive Thames Boat Race," commented Camera Corps Operations Director Matt Frost. "Pre-rigging starts Wednesday March 26, three days before the race. We will be installing a Hitachi KPD8 on a one metre high mast at the rear of each boat plus another KPD8 in the role of 'cox-cam'. An image stabiliser in each of the mast-mounted cameras will be used to offset the strong acceleration during each rowing cycle.
"A Camera Corps interface unit will provide power to the cameras, the transmitter and a GPS receiver. The interface will also power an electrically-activated air cannister which can be pulsed from the follow-boat to blow rain or spray off the camera lenses. Video from the follow-boat will then be transmitted to receivers at various locations along the riverside and passed down a fibre receive system to the main OB unit at Barn Elms."
The Boat Race is held each spring between the Oxford and Cambridge university boat clubs. It is rowed by a crew of eight plus cox along a 6.78 km course from Putney to Mortlake, heading upstream on the incoming flood tide. The coxes compete for the fastest current which is found at the deepest part of the river. An estimated 250 thousand people watch the race live from the banks of the river, around seven to nine million people on television in Britain, plus an overseas audience estimated at around 120 million. The race was first held in 1829.
Camera Corps has long experience in providing high-volume support services to major sports events including the Commonwealth Games, summer and winter Olympics, and World Cup football. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics alone, Camera Corps will be fielding and managing over 150 high definition camera systems, 18 motorised tracking systems, plus remote heads and large camera cranes, on behalf of the host broadcaster.
(DS)