Based in Asia. Filming the World.

I first met Laurie Gilbert when I was planning the coverage for the ’87 America’s Cup Challenge off Fremantle, Western Australia.

Previously yachting coverage had consisted of long shots from fixed positions and helicopter coverage with viewer excitement about equal

to a Formula 1 snail race. Our challenge was to hold the interest and educate the armchair viewer about the skills and drama of off -shore match racing in heavy

seas.

Laurie had demonstrated his ability in capturing sports action but this assignment was 15 kilometers out to sea, bobbing around in a 25m

launch. Duration of the races was 2-3 hours grouped in 12 day bursts with the eliminations starting in August and the final in February.

With an international clientele of some 20 broadcasters we needed to lift the bar on previous coverage standards. This is where Laurie’s ingenuity came to the fore. Apart from

the gyro lens to steady the images from the boat we needed to be able not only to position the cameraman but also to hold him in the boat.

Laurie liaised with engineers and sporting goods suppliers to develop a harness that not only achieve the above criteria but allowed him to deliver exceptional coverage in extreme

circumstances. Our coverage earned us many accolades and international awards due in no small part to Laurie’s special skills.

Apart from this invention, which he has used to great advantage on yachting coverage around the world, Laurie was also instrumental in developing a helicopter pickup system

which allowed us to have the boat footage edited for release before the yachts had docked.

Laurie is exceptional not only for his ability as a cameraman/cinematographer but also due to his understanding of yachting strategy, being in the right place at the right time, whether

on sea or in the air. These attributes make him unique in his chosen field and he would be the natural choice as cinematographer for any feature film that involves yachting.