The Club was approached by a production company that wanted to use our facilities to make an episode of a reality TV show at the loch. We agreed, and they promised us a suitable financial donation. They then asked us to provide a boat to allow on-the-water filming, and then on the day before filming was due to take place a second boat was requested – also with the promise of a donation. Mike Poole and Iain Millar volunteered their services to man these boats, and a very interesting period of set-up and filming took place.
The show turned out to be something like a cross between Race Across the World and It’s A Knock-Out (who remembers that?), with competitors undertaking challenges leading to a substantial cash prize. The challenge at the loch was to use stand-up paddleboards to retrieve jigsaw pieces that had been moored in the area between X mark , M mark, and the shore, bring them ashore, and assemble the jig-saw puzzle.
The surprising part of the whole event was the sheer scale of the undertaking. There were at least 8 camera operators, a flying drone operator, a remote-controlled boat with a camera, and go-pro cameras on the paddleboards. The production team included security personnel, safety boat operators, caterers, logistics coordinators, and probably others. In total there were probably 40 vehicles, 60 personnel, and thousands of pounds worth of kit on site – as well as the 8 competitors who seems to be international.
Despite a fairly chaotic feel to the event, everything seemed to run smoothly, and to the credit of the organisers, the site was left tidy and secure. Mike helped with the set-up on the day before filming, and must be thanked for his efforts and commitment, including being awakened by the production staff at 4.35 am on the day of filming!
Operating as a camera boat was interesting: the cameramen wanted as static a platform as possible, but with the ability to move to get different perspectives on what was going on, which meant that anchoring wasn’t practical. It will be interesting to see what comes out of the editing process for the show, which I believe is called “The Amazing Race” – once we know when it will be screened we will let you know.
