BOSE on the beach again for Billabong Pro 2011
Every year in July the focus of the surfing world turns to Jeffrey’s Bay, and a cosmopolitan band of surfers, WAG’s, officials and media crew descend on the sleepy seaside village, transforming it into an international surfing mecca for the ten days of the Billabong Pro competition.
From humble beginnings in 1984 as the Beach Hotel Classic, the event has matured to international status, and is the fourth stop on the annual ASP men’s World Championship Tour. This year saw 2010 winner Jordy Smith sucessfully defend his title against a formiddable line-up of international and local pros.
While the surfers battle it out on the legendary Supertubes waves, the Billabong Pro Webcast crew ensured that millions of followers around the world kept abreast of the action. In 2010, the multilingual webcast saw over 1.2 million hits from 323 000 unique visitors, and the TV feed was enjoyed by 5000 000 viewers. This year, coverage is again available on the web, on an array of mobile platforms, and on international TV stations.
Avitech Systems and BOSE are proud to be part of this historic event, having providing the on-site sound and related services for nine years running. Bose “install anywhere” loudspeakers are ideally suited for this type of outdoor event, and their wide, even sound dispersion patterns ensure optimum coverage of the competition site.
On the beach, a stack of four 802 loudspeakers projects commentary and scoring to surfers in the water, while weatherproof Panaray 302 and DS100 loudspeakers provide coverage of grandstands and competitor areas. In the commentary box, a BIAMP digital signal processor provides audio signal routing and equalization, and BITTNER power amplifiers (ideal partners with BOSE loudspeakers) provide the power behind the sound. Remote control of the system is done via an iPad, using BIAMP's "Da Vinci" control surfaces.
The Billabong Pro 2011 ran from 14-24 July and was broadcast live on www.billabongpro.com
