Throughout the F1H20’s Global Tour 2019, the Gravity Media team has travelled to destinations across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. They are now ending the year in the UAE, for the Grand Prix of Sharjah.

The F1H20 UIM World Championship is the world’s foremost international series of single seater inshore circuit powerboat racing. 

Gravity Media is the Host Broadcast provider, with an onsite flyaway consisting of 10 cabled cameras and four onboard boat systems along with a support team of six broadcast and RF engineers. 

Renowned throughout the Arab world for its commitment to art, culture and preserving the local heritage, the Emirate of Sharjah is the place to visit and explore, experience and discover the secrets of a unique Arabian lifestyle and Islamic culture, and offers an impressive array of over twenty museums, several art galleries and beautifully restored heritage areas.

Sharjah is the third largest of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and is the only one to have land on both the Arabian Gulf Coast and the Gulf of Oman.

It is an emirate of contrasts where visitors can enjoy a holiday in the sun, discover traditional markets (souks) or visit modern shopping malls, exploring the many heritage sites and museums. As well as admire the majestic mosques, stroll around the lagoons, and experience the natural beauty of true Arabian deserts, mountains and seas.

Sharjah covers approximately 2,600 square kilometers. In addition to Sharjah City, which lies on the shores of the Arabian Gulf, the emirate has three regions on the scenic east coast; Dibba Al Hisn, Khor Fakkan and Kalba and is a close neighbor to Dubai.

Sharjah‘s location is significant both geographically and historically. The city overlooks the Arabian Gulf coastline that stretches for more than 16 kilometers, consisting of sandy beaches and built up areas. The central region combines lush green oases, with gravel plains and rolling red sand dunes.

To the East the emirate reaches the Gulf of Oman coast where the landscape changes to a spectacular rocky coastline backed by impressively high mountains. Historically, the east coast is full of archaeological sites dating back to as early as the 2nd millennium, and forts built by the Portuguese in the 16th century were used to control the spice trade.

Gearhouse Broadcast France was at the F1H2O French Grand Prix over the weekend of 5–7 July. The F1H2O World Championship is the flagship international series of single-seater inshore powerboat racing. Billed as ‘competitive, challenging, risky and entertaining’, F1H2O is regarded by those in the know as one of the most spectacular and exciting sports in the world.

The World Championship series features 20 of the world’s leading drivers at the helm of boats that can top 140mph on the straights and enter hairpin turns at over 90mph. Oof.

The Gearhouse team was onsite at Évian-les-Bains with a bespoke eight-camera package to cover the event. The set-up included two RF and four waterproof RF onboard cameras specially designed for these races. Tune in for the next race, in China, later this year to see what all the fuss is about.

Flyaway production systems are the backbone of today’s production workflows, offering flexibility, powerful tools and operational efficiencies. Fully scalable and tailored to customers’ individual needs, they can be deployed at a moment’s notice for sports and entertainment productions globally.

Delivering up to 12 HD cameras each, our modular systems can be adapted to the specific needs of each individual production – be that studio-based or on location.

The recent adventures of our France-based flypacks include: travelling with PRG to the African Development Bank’s annual meeting in Equatorial Guinea; delivering the Hong Kong, Singapore and Fiji legs of the new Global Rapid Rugby tournament; and heading to Portugal for F1H2O powerboat grand prix.

For the geeks among us, the full kit list for each of these recent deployments includes:

African Development Bank, Equatorial Guinea

Global Rapid Rugby, Asia-Pacific

F1H2O powerboats, Portugal