Summit Steel at Royal Windsor Horse Show

24 May 2010

UK - Summit Steel supplied a wide selection of its SmarTmast range to the Royal Windsor Horse Show, which were deployed around the main arena to provide an elegant solution for the flying of video displays and PA and lighting points.

Summit were working for equestrian event specialists and show producers Horse Power, and have supplied the show for the last five years, during which time its rigging requirements have steadily grown in scale.

This year, there were additional technical requirements, utilised for both the Horse Show and for the Windsor Tattoo, which was staged on four of the five evenings of the Horse Show.

Two 6 x 4m LED screens, each weighing approximately 1.2 tonnes were positioned at the ends of the arena - one straddling the warm up paddock entranceway, and the other at its opposite diagonal corner. These relayed competition and public information as well as displaying branding and advertising. The screens were suspended on two SmarTmast 3s, a product specifically designed as a flexible rigging method for screens.

Ten SmarTmast 1s were used to create lighting positions around the arena. Summit undertook special calculations so the height could be increased to 12mrather than the standard 10m. This height gain was necessary to preserve good sight lines from the low rise seating stands on four sides of the arena, and involved adding a lot more ballast to the bottom of the masts. Each SmarTmast 1 was rigged with six Vari*Lite 3500 moving lights, spec'd by LD John Pope, and supplied by lighting contractor PRG.

Six of the 10 masts were evenly spaced down one of the long sides, with four along the other.

This year, a much larger PA was specified for the entertainment stage, located in the middle of one long side, so the main left and right arrays were hung on two SmarTmast 4s either side. These normally extend to 15m, but again, due to sightline requirements and to avoid obscuring the magnificent view of Windsor Castle on the hill opposite, their trim height was reduced to 12m.

The SmarTmast 4 has a larger base size because it's constructed from 52 cm trussing, and picks up the PA off 2 x 2-tonne points front and back, enabling it to carry much larger PAs. Audio for the event was supplied by Delta Sound.

(Jim Evans)