2010 WBRA #1 & #2 @ Berkeley Circle
By: Brock de Lappe (USA 121)
Posted: 4/28/2010
First Use of GoPro Helmet Cam
Since the first of the season races last Saturday on the Berkeley Circle, I've received a number of emails asking how the videos worked out from my new helmet cam. This was really the first day using the camera and there's still a lot to learn.
The GoPro Hero is a small camera that fits inside a waterproof housing. A 32GB memory card allows storage of up to 4 hours and 21 minutes of 1080p HD video. The camera comes with several mounts which attach to a helmet with very sticky 3M adhesive tape. I used a carbon fiber Sweet Wanderer kayak helmet, as it is designed for wet applications. One concern I had was learning to duck further down in the cockpit on tacks and jibes to avoid having the camera hit by the boom. This was definitely a bit of a distraction when sailing.
I used iMovie on my MacBook to do the editing, though once again, I am very much a novice at using this program.
Given the 127 degree angle of view in the 1080p mode of shooting, boats appear farther away in the footage than they actually are. There's also a microphone in the camera which picks up audio so I'll have to be careful with what I say during races. Saturday's races were sailed in relatively light winds, so action on the course was tame compared to our normal SF Bay Spring conditions. Nevertheless, it was truly a beautiful day and a great start to the season. Congratulations to Chris Herrmann (USA 108) and Peter Jeal (USA 113) for taking the first bullets of this year's championship series.
The quality of the original footage is vastly superior to what ends up compressed on YouTube. We may need to look for optional ways, such as posting videos on our own web server, to improve quality. Stay Tuned