Clipper Race FPV Drone Live Stream
FPV drone footage fed live into the global broadcast of the Clipper 2023–24 Round the World Yacht Race — across both the Portsmouth departure and the heroes' return.
Client
Unique Media
Role
FPV Aerial Crew
Deliverable
Live Broadcast
0
Nautical miles raced
0
Months at sea
0
Nations represented
Global
Live stream audience
The Brief
Solent Sky Services were called in by production company Unique Media to deliver first-person view (FPV) drone footage integrated live into the global broadcast stream of the Clipper 2023–24 Round the World Yacht Race — one of sailing's most prestigious events.
The race started and finished at Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth, on the Solent, in front of tens of thousands of spectators and a worldwide online audience.
Unique Media specifically requested we use the DJI Avata for the project — a compact, immersive FPV drone ideally suited to dynamic live event filming. Since this project the Avata has been superseded by the DJI Avata 2, which we now fly. Alongside our DJI platforms, we also fly a fleet of custom, purpose-built FPV drones.
What we delivered
- FPV drone footage fed live into a global broadcast stream
- Real-time coordination with the Unique Media production team
- Megaphone-directed crowd and crew countdowns for camera flyovers
- Synchronised Mexican waves at sea and at Gunwharf Quays
- FPV passes over the fleet and spectator boats on the Solent
- Coverage across both the 2023 departure and 2024 return events
Standout moments
- Coordinating the first-ever FPV-led Mexican wave at a live sailing event
- Crews at sea and crowds ashore responding in sync to drone-timed countdowns
- Families of the team watching the live stream worldwide as the drone flew
- Being invited back for the 2024 return — a direct result of what the 2023 shoot delivered
- Flying over an eleven-yacht fleet returning from 47,000 miles of ocean racing
Planning a live event?
We specialise in FPV and conventional drone integration with live broadcast production teams.
Get in touchPre-Production
Every successful live maritime broadcast starts long before the drone leaves the ground. For this project we completed detailed flight planning specific to the Solent environment — accounting for tidal conditions, vessel traffic, and spectator zones.
Full risk assessments and method statements were prepared and signed off ahead of both shoots. The crew were fully briefed on roles, airspace restrictions, and contingencies. Test flights were completed to verify equipment performance and comms integration with the Unique Media broadcast team. Robust back-up plans were in place for equipment failure, weather changes, and operational variables — essential for any live maritime filming project where conditions can shift rapidly.
Production
Delivering live FPV drone footage over an active maritime event demands sustained focus and flawless execution. During the 2024 return, our team flew continuously for approximately four hours, managing back-to-back battery cycles throughout.
Crew hydration and welfare were actively managed across the extended shoot. Every take-off and landing was executed with meticulous care, with a dedicated spotter monitoring the drone throughout each flight. Direct comms with a remote director on land kept our footage aligned with the live broadcast in real time.
We used our megaphone to orchestrate crowd and crew reactions — counting down spectators and yacht crews simultaneously to synchronise with FPV camera passes, creating some of the most memorable live maritime media moments of the event.
Post-Production
For live maritime broadcast projects, the post-production phase begins and ends at the moment of transmission. Our primary deliverable was the live stream itself — FPV footage broadcast directly to a global audience in real time, requiring no post-production pipeline. This is the unique challenge and reward of live event drone filming: the footage must be right first time, every time.
Following both the 2023 departure and 2024 return shoots, the SSS team produced original behind-the-scenes content — published as Instagram Reels and photography — offering audiences a behind-the-lens perspective on what it takes to deliver live aerial media at this scale.
Equipment Used
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