The past two years I've been watching the ASP WCT (Association of Surfing Professionals/World Championship Tour "Dream Tour") contest online and wondering what if there was live webcasts for our OC-1 races and OC-6 races. Now the entire world and viewers can watch Kanaka Ikaika, PAA, etc. races online and watch their heroes battle it out and experience the action and drama first hand. Like the WCT webcast, they can have paddler or team profiles, interviews and commentating through the entire race. The only time spectators see the paddlers is when they paddle towards the finish line and not knowing who was battling with who, the fierce look in the paddlers faces while battling each other, and the size of ocean swells that are being surfed by our best. For OC-6 channel for example, we can actually watch Lanikai, Team NZ/HI, and the visiting tahitians batte it out.
Just watching surf contest online is exciting especially when you got Kelly and Andy in one heat with skatepark waves or the newly high profiled tour rookies like Dane Reynolds and Jordy Smith busting sick moves. I would sign on online to watch Karel out surf everybody or watch Kai's intensity as he paddles or the Lanikai young guns, Ryan and Jack, make their move on the vets.. And like surfers, each paddler has their flair and style especially in the surf.
Carlton
Submitted by Bamskii on Wed, 03/05/2008 - 9:33pm
Carlton, so would i love to take advantage of this technology, but the reality is the distance from land and the size of the potential viewing audience. Some one has to pay, and sponsonship backing has always been difficult to do in the past Molokai races as it is.
There was an attempt to broadcast live a surfski race recently from Sth Africa, but it failed i believe because they underestimated the coverage area.
The most successful attempt so far was in 2005 for the Molokai Hoe 6 man channel race, you could watch live GPS feeds of the race and still and video feeds as they became available.
If you go to this link http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip.aspx?tripID=10144&mode=TripSummary
you will see the results. On the right hand side is a map, click on it and a new page will open with an intereactive GPS track image. You will also see little camera icons, click on them and a side bar will open with videos of the race and still photos. These were available as the race was in progress.
Things may have improved, i hope so.
Cheers Rambo
#1 Wed, 03/05/2008 - 11:27pm
OK Rambo i got a new thing for you. Check out www.qik.com you can live stream from a phone and post it on a website. Just waiting to get a new phone this summer to try it out at some of our races. I think that it might just work.
Mindy
www.outriggercanoe.blogspot.com
www.outriggerchicks.blogspot.com
#2 Thu, 03/06/2008 - 2:54pm
i know livestreaming video is much cooler than just pics, but something quick and easy is to send your cameraphone pics to flickr.com and it gets automatically uploaded to your blog (those of you with blogs- rambo and mindy)...
here's the faq
http://flickr.com/help/photos/#33
at least it's a little something for the instant gratification of it...
#3 Thu, 03/06/2008 - 4:03pm