IWT Fiji 20 - 30 aug 2022 it's on!

Select to expand quote

IWT Fiji Pro Invitational 2022 it's on and can wait for the live streams.

sunday 28, monday 29 and tuesday 30 aug.

Can anyone shed a light on how of the invited riders are chosen?
To me it looks a strange bunch of riders for a contest.


"Today's heats for day 1 of the IWT FIJI PRO Competition.
The livestream will be made available on the IWT Youtube Page.

Stay tuned for the direct livestream link."

There is a recording.

I guess this is from iwt, anyone know which event from?
Looks unreal :)

Tried to watch the livestream on Youtube, but it's hard work with the shouty commentary - and with no results and no live scoring.

The drone footage also makes the waves look very small and it's a bit dull, with the riders getting just one hit if they are lucky. .

I think they had a bigger swell earlier this week and then today they had wind but small waves.

I'm guessing there are no young sailors there because it's expensive to get there and there's little prize money.

Select to expand quote

Basher said..
The drone footage also makes the waves look very small and it's a bit dull, with the riders getting just one hit if they are lucky.

That's why you need to go low and close.

Just saw the masters with Bernd Roediger and Fredrico Morisio commenting.
5 Minutes with those lads gave already more info and insights than all the other heats combined.
And much more positive vibes.
That was fun but would pay money if Ben Proffitt was commenting : )
Planing winds and good waves makes it a beautiful spot.
Drone shots not perfect but better then no live imagening and is a first with only drones that far @ sea!

LOVE DOWNTHELINE WAVESAILING
LOVE THOSE REEF BREAKS
LOVE FIJI



IWT AND ATHLETE COMMITMENT TO GO THERE vote 8
CONDITIONS and TIMING vote 9
ATHLETES SKILLS LEVEL AND BALLS vote 10

LIVE STREAMING vote 4
PICS FROM THE BOAT/WATER vote 9

I know it's a big effort and I don't like to complain but if we want the sport to grow and come company to invest we have to show at its best, and that one was not.

What's your opinion?

Aloha,
Matteo

Why was the drone so far from the action? (asked by someone who's never flown a drone)

Close up drone shots from a second drone flying over the reef would be nice.
They olso need better microphones and sound check.

Select to expand quote

PhilUK said..

So who will fund it initially? Maybe people complaining could send a few $1000 to next year's organisers.

That's fundamentally the problem with most niche sports events in remote locations. People always underestimate what it costs to put these events together. Let alone paying for professional content production.

You really need people that do it for the love of the sport rather than making money.

Get a bare bones crew of two content producers out there for 10 days and watch the dollars add up quickly.

You have to start somewhere. You have to applaud them for putting on an event that far from anywhere.

Would it have been that hard to build a judging tower on the reef. And print fake vac status Dutch Novak.

Lift your game.

Select to expand quote

PhilUK said..

boffe said..

I know it's a big effort and I don't like to complain but if we want the sport to grow and come company to invest we have to show at its best, and that one was not.

What's your opinion?

Aloha,
Matteo

So who will fund it initially? Maybe people complaining could send a few $1000 to next year's organisers.
Its the same as its always been, not enough money and not a certainty that there will be waves and wind.
Its not long ago we didnt have drones, and now people are complaining they dont fly low enough.

ps Heat 5 video, just 2072 views. Its not a lot is it.

I've sent a lot of money to this sport everytime I buy a board for 3.5k$!!!

Remote locations? Drones not close enough? I don't care about the reason, I'm just observing that the result is awful on the eyes of the viewer. I work with visuals every day, my clients don't care about my problems, I need to deliver at the state of the art, can't say no today I had headache or my internet was slow, who cares!

Earlier this year wsl made a comp in Mentawai, not a major comp, just a qualifing series, and they have had a live streaming perfectly working. So it's doable. Even in remote locations.

Excuses are for loosers.

I repeat: big congrats to bring wavesailing back there but the media coverage is years and years behind, and that's a fact!

Select to expand quote

boffe...
I've sent a lot of money to this sport everytime I buy a board for 3.5k$!!!

Remote locations? Drones not close enough? I don't care about the reason, I'm just observing that the result is awful on the eyes of the viewer. I work with visuals every day, my clients don't care about my problems, I need to deliver at the state of the art, can't say no today I had headache or my internet was slow, who cares!

Earlier this year wsl made a comp in Mentawai, not a major comp, just a qualifing series, and they have had a live streaming perfectly working. So it's doable. Even in remote locations.

Excuses are for loosers.

I repeat: big congrats to bring wavesailing back there but the media coverage is years and years behind, and that's a fact!

The IWT are doing a great job with an absolute skeleton budget. You've got to start somewhere and hopefully they can keep building on their successes. The WSL has a media budget in the many millions. Simeon pays the IWT media budget out of his own pocket.

And like I said before, is live-streaming that important initially? Better to have HD images 24hr later than fuzzy pixels live.

Select to expand quote

DunkO said..
With you, I had to last minute for Fuerte earlier in year (Spanish national website indicated). Was then really crook from jab just before leaving! I've been really sick from COVID four time, Once from virus, 3 times from vax.

Bugger Dunk, stop the jabs mate, you'll be fine!!

Select to expand quote

boffe said..

And like I said before, is live-streaming that important initially? Better to have HD images 24hr later than fuzzy pixels live.

Still costs a lot to produce. In many ways sporting events companies are really just content production companies. Doing the content production for an event like this with a halfway professional look you need at the bare minimum a crew of two that are able to do everything: Production Management, Camera, Drone, Audio, Interviews, Motion Graphics, travel logistics, etc etc.Assuming you can find two freelancers or a small production company that have this skill set (give me a call if you need help ) and are available during your contest window, expect to pay $50k plus for a 10 day event window. Sounds like a lot? That's really at the lower end. I can send you a budget breakdown.

The WSL has an annual budget of somewhere around US$70 to US$80 million. Each major event they put on costs somewhere between US$1 and US$3 million. They have their own full time in-house production company and hire additional help through their regional offices. You can't compare this to the IWT.

It's almost a miracle windsurfing events like this happen at all.

That said I agree with you that a better media content plan would be advisable. When look at surfing there are a lot of people that watch surf comps but don't actually surf. I think if done properly this could easily apply to windsurfing.

Select to expand quote

boffe said..
With fuzzy pixel the sport doesn't have a nice image. As an company owner would you invest in that product? I wouldn't

Ya, fuzzy pixels aren't much fun.