America's Cup video competiton winners

Now available for viewing

The early entry period for the 34th America’s Cup Video Competition has closed with three winning videos selected from 10 excellent finalists. The three initial winners and the seven other finalists may be viewed here.

The competition, launched last month, invited Generation Y to share production techniques on how to energize the look of the competition for the world’s oldest sporting trophy. The under 28 crowd was targeted because of its close association with extreme sports and social media.

Every aspect of the America’s Cup – from type of boat (monohull or multihull) to course format to television production – will come under scrutiny this week at the America’s Cup TV Production Trials, slated to begin Thursday off Valencia, Spain. Two pairs of monohulls and multihulls will compete on modified courses to review the format of racing. The yachts will be equipped with HD and 3D cameras to capture the on board action.

Contestants in the video competition were required to produce a video clip of any length that illustrated unique production techniques. The judging panel of extreme sports and social media experts included television producers and sailing videographers, and they had more than 60 videos to view.

The video competition remains open through September, but the three early winners represented a mix of artistry, music overlay and interesting post-production techniques.

The top three videos were “A bit of Hawai’i,” produced by Ricky Lesser of California, 'Seaweed', produced by Luke Luke White of the UK, and 'Ride It', produced by Alberto Accettulli of Italy.

“All three represented a nice mix of shot composition, artistry and effects to make them appealing to watch,” said Denis Harvey, a past host broadcast director of the America’s Cup and Olympic Regatta. 'A bit of Hawai’i' illustrates a bustling world through time-lapse photography and then slows to a surfer’s viewpoint as he rides his bike with board in hand to launch off Diamond Head. It has a unique viewpoint with a forward-looking camera mounted on the tail of the board.

The video that stirred the most interest, 'Seaweed', was also the shortest at 24 seconds. The panel deemed it “exceptionally clever” and “a fascinating piece of video art.”

The third early winner, “Ride It,” is a portrait of freestyle Motocross riders in Italy and was selected because of the composition of its shots as riders launch themselves through high stunts.

Accettulli of Italy will join the video crew in Valencia for the upcoming production trials whilst White and Lesser are invited future trials scheduled in October.