Live From the 37th America's Cup: Director of Production Leon Sefton on the Responsibility for Innovation Sailing is a complex sport for a lot of people, and we try to make it easy for viewers to follow' By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, October 18, 2024 - 10:20 am
Print This Story | Subscribe
Story Highlights
Serving as director of production for TV coverage of an America's Cup is no small feat: you need to not only coordinate production crew and operations at a land-based production-control facility but also keep on top of video and audio signals sent from yachts and chase boats more than 3 km away. Director of production for this year's race, Leon Sefton has served that function for the 36th edition in New Zealand and for the Volvo Ocean Race, Olympic sailing at the 2016 Rio Games, and other races. SVG caught up with Sefton as the racing action was about to begin last weekend in Barcelona.
Director, Production, Leon Sefton (right) and Technical Director Chris Carpenter at the America's Cup in Barcelona
What has been your impression of the technical leaps in the production this year?
This America's Cup, we've tried to take things forward as it's our responsibility as host broadcaster to challenge ourselves as to how to make sailing, as a TV spectacle, more engaging and more understandable. Sailing is a really complex sport for a lot of people, and we have to do our best to try to make it as easy as possible for viewers to follow. That's the challenge which, over the last few Cup cycles, the respective production teams have really taken on.
For example, the America's Cup in San Francisco, delivered a graphics breakthrough bringing augmented-reality graphics to viewers and, for the first time, could create a digital field of play. Suddenly, viewers could see the racecourse and who's ahead. That was a massive leap forward, not just for sailing but also for TV graphics because, up to that point, people playing with the AR graphics were doing it in stadium sports.
Big leaps forward don't come every cycle, but at this America's Cup the big thing has been WindSight IQ, which is making the invisible visible. The genesis of that project was in New Zealand with Brent Russell, our technical director. Brent demonstrated that the technology could work with LiDAR, and, in New Zealand, we did a test and showed that, in theory, we could point a LiDAR out at the course and make a graphical interface that could show the wind. Then we brought in Capgemini for the heavy lifting: they set up three LiDAR stations here that overlap and built the mathematical models to take that data to enable us to create a graphics interface.
We did a test event here in Barcelona and had an interesting moment when we had the concept and brought in the team, all the equipment, and turned on the system. When it came to life and worked, it was a real eureka moment. A lot of us are lifelong sailors so to suddenly see the wind, where the high-pressure areas are, the low-pressure areas are was a massive breakthrough. Bringing that to air was taking our technologies and stacking them on each other.
How so?
It starts with a helicopter and the Shotover camera system, which is a high-quality stabilized broadcast camera shooting the action from the sky. On top of that video, there is optical tracking from Bolt6, whose system has learned the shape of the racecourse, the shape of the race markers, the yachts, our TV-camera boats, the skyline and Barcelona. Bolt6 looks at that and can create an AR field of play. On top of that, we add WindSightIQ and a sailing simulator that can look into the future and lay out what the yachts might do based on the known parameters and performance of the yachts and what the wind is doing. In a way, [fans] sitting at home know even a little bit more than what the sailors know as far as how things will play out. But that was the goal: give people information and engage them. The more information people have the more entertaining it is.
How do you think the use of LiDAR could expand?
Right now, playing with LiDAR, we're working in the two-dimensional. The ultimate goal would be to have multiple LiDARs taking additional slices of the windfield; with a mathematical model, you could turn that into a three-dimensional view of the wind with even more detail - not just speed and direction but also sheer. But, at the moment, we're working in a two-dimensional plane, which has been remarkable because, in the past, the way of collecting wind data was to have physical wind buoys out on the racecourse. To accomplish what we've done with LiDAR, you'd have to have tens of thousands of buoys out there. This is a really elegant technical solution to a very, very complex problem.
Another big advance is the use of a hydrogen-powered camera chase boat. How has that improved the production?
The drive to bring hydrogen foiling chase boats into the event is a nice next step to honestly say we're using clean energy. That's a big deal, but also the speed that the racing now plays out at is so fast in order to keep up with the action, we have to foil as well. So it's not just hydrogen [to be clean], but it's the ability to stand up and foil that has been a massive game-changer for us. Previously, we used displacement catamaran hulls, but, here in Barcelona, because of the proximity to the shoreline, you can get quite aggressive waves. While the AC75 race yachts can cope with that and can stand up and fly above it, it's a big problem to chase them in a camera boat. First, it's very hard on the people and the equipment, but it's also quite dangerous. And having the hydrogen foiling chase boat allows us to keep up with the yachts as they are sometimes doing over a hundred kilometers per hour.
The other th
Most recent headlines
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
30/08/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has adopted its FY 2025 Regulatory Fees Order that establishes the regulatory fee rates for the broadcast stati...
29/08/2025
Australian Red Cross and SBS launch training to help workplaces in the fight aga...
29/08/2025
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
29/08/2025
L3Harris Technologies has concentrated decades of expertise across the entire enterprise to develop affordable and reliable best-of-breed solutions to rapidly c...
29/08/2025
BURBANK, Calif. The CW Network and the Pac-12 Conference have announced a new media rights deal that will extend their broadcast partnership beginning with the ...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK Gracenote has released a new analysis of its global video dataset showing that the number of FAST channels grew nearly 14% from Q1 2025 and 76% since 2...
29/08/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced a series of improvements to its live sports streaming solution that the company said will improve fan engagement, protec...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES Fox Corp. and YouTube TV last night announced a renewal of the full portfolio of Fox networks, including Fox News Channel, Fox Business...
29/08/2025
Budapest, Hungary, August 2025 - The integration of Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) with Lightware's Taurus universal matrix switchers delivers a new level of f...
29/08/2025
Frequency, the engine behind many of the world's best-known streaming television channels, today announced it will launch Studio Live, a next-generation uni...
29/08/2025
In an era when AI and cyber resilience are essential, Scality will mark the 10th anniversary of Scality Day on October 16, 2025 in Paris. This flagship global e...
29/08/2025
Disguise's In-House Creative and Technical Teams Pre-Visualised, Programmed and Delivered Content for the Experience, All Powered by EX 3+
Technology solu...
29/08/2025
Disguise will be demonstrating the latest workflows for TV, film and live events on a number of partner booths at the show
Disguise, the industry-leading tech...
29/08/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Accedo will showcase Accedo Compose, its AI agent-powered modular orchestration layer that assists streaming providers in transitioning client...
29/08/2025
LOS ANGELES Cineverse has announced that it is working with Xperi to bring four of its streaming channels to automobiles for the first time as part of the DTS A...
29/08/2025
DALLAS & ATLANTA Gray Media has announced an agreement with the sports streaming service Victory+ to simulcast 17 Dallas Stars NHL games in 15 television market...
29/08/2025
NEW YORK AND CULVER CITY Comcast NBCUniversal and Amazon have announced new and extended distribution agreements that will expand the content available on their...
29/08/2025
FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif. RED Digital Cinema will feature its Cine-Broadcast Module supporting live broadcast workflows during IBC2025, Sept. 12-15, at the RAI Ams...
29/08/2025
29 Aug 2025
Kyivstar Rings Opening Bell at Nasdaq Marking Landmark Listing and ...
29/08/2025
More than half of all NFL games live on Sky for the first timeFriday 29 August 2025
Sky Sports has announced a new three-year deal with the NFL, extending its ...
29/08/2025
Back to All News
RIV4LRIES: The Trailer of the New Series With Samuele Carrino ...
29/08/2025
Get ready for an inspiring and emotional insight into the world of competitive Irish dancing with My Story: Tomi Champion of the World airing on RT 2 this monda...
29/08/2025
RT has today announced that David McCullagh is to be the new presenter of RT Radio 1's flagship Today programme, which airs every weekday at 10am, replaci...
28/08/2025
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless, you've got ...
28/08/2025
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute-supported Amer...
28/08/2025
Corridos have been a cornerstone of M sica Mexicana for generations, telling stories rooted in everyday life. Now, a new chapter is taking shape: motivational c...
28/08/2025
Los corridos han sido un pilar de la M sica Mexicana durante generaciones, contando historias enraizadas en la vida cotidiana. Ahora, un nuevo cap tulo est tom...
28/08/2025
Earlier this month, we promised our Verano Forever party would bring the heat, a...
28/08/2025
L3Harris will provide the Polish F-16V fleet with the Viper Shield electronic warfare system as part of an upgrade program....
28/08/2025
Bilbao, August 26, 2025 - AgileTV, an international television and video technol...
28/08/2025
Ken Wilkinson is an Emmy Awards nominated New York audio engineer who specialises in production sound mixing for film, commercial, episodic and documentary work...
28/08/2025
NEW YORK FuboTV today announced that it will launch Fubo Sports, a skinny bundle that focuses on sports with a subscription price of $56 monthly....
28/08/2025
NEVADA City, Calif. At IBC2025, Sept. 12-15 at the RAI Amsterdam, Telestream will debut its new Global Ingest strategy, introducing a next-generation ingest arc...
28/08/2025
Dr. Rhoda Bernard Releases Groundbreaking Debut Book on Accessible Arts Educatio...
28/08/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP end-to-end workflow monitoring, deep probing, and real-time visualization, has named Oliver Gappa as Sales Di...
28/08/2025
AI-based voice enhancement will be among a series of innovations making their IBC 2025 debut on the DHD stand B46 in Hall 8 at the RAI Amsterdam Convention Cent...
28/08/2025
Telef nica Servicios Audiovisuales (TSA), the leading system integrator and service provider in the media sector in Spain, with the support of Appear, the globa...
28/08/2025
To fully immerse sailing fans in the world's biggest offshore yacht race, production company, Optical Media turned to LiveU's On-site Production solutio...
28/08/2025
Working with Calrec on its most recent overhaul, radio and television broadcaster, WNED has migrated to a fully IP infrastructure with multiple Type R consoles,...
28/08/2025
Cleeng, the Subscriber Retention Management (SRM ) inventor, has unveiled Cleeng Pro, the first-ever direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription management platform t...
28/08/2025
Zixi, the industry leader in live broadcast-quality video over IP, today announced that French media distribution platform OKAST has selected Zixi to enable rel...
28/08/2025
Solution offers a streamlined, speaker-free architecture to optimize integration with premium external loudspeakers and advanced loudness metering
Nixer Pro Au...
28/08/2025
Cinegy, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, has announced a strategic partnership with Vision One Touch Film Production Services L.L...
28/08/2025
Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will debut its new Global Ingest strategy at IBC2025, introducing a next-generation ingest architect...
28/08/2025
Tier 1 operator selects Broadpeak to power high-performance, unified CDN solution across Norway, Sweden and Finland
Broadpeak, a leader in streaming and moneti...
28/08/2025
Leading video software provider, Synamedia, today announced that 24 Frames Digital, one of India's leading live event streaming service providers, has chose...
28/08/2025
Meet VisualOn at IBC2025: See What's Next in AI-Powered Video Streaming Join VisualOn at IBC2025 and discover how our AI-driven Optimizer and advanced media...
Live From the 37th America's Cup: Director of Production Leon Sefton on the Responsibility for Innovation Sailing is a complex sport for a lot of people, and we try to make it easy for viewers to follow' By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
