PORT HURON, Mich. — In mid-July, Liggett Communications station WPHM(AM) concluded its annual coverage of the 94th Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race and Blue Water Festival in Port Huron, Mich.
The sailboat race starts in Port Huron and ends at Mackinac Island and is organized by Detroit’s Bayview Yacht Club. The race is held during the same week as the annual Blue Water Festival, beginning July 11 with the downtown Rotary International Day Parade.
WPHM Morning Show host Paul Miller anchored live coverage of the parade alongside the Rotary Club’s Matt Wallace, and WPHM Director of News and Programming Caleb Gordon interviewed parade participants.
Gordon explained, “For the parade broadcast, we used both a Marti RPU located in the station vehicle and the Comrex Access. I was on the street with a wireless mic, which fed into the RPU, as well as an ambient mic for street/crowd noise. Paul Miller and Mat Wallace were on the second floor of the Sperry’s building anchoring parade coverage from there.”
The following morning, Miller hosted his show from Tio Gordo’s Cocina in Port Huron.
On July 13, Miller, Gordon and WPHM Sports Director Dennis Stuckey provided 12 hours of coverage dockside during the festival using the Comrex Access. “At one point on that Friday, all four of our stations were doing simultaneous remotes during the Blue Water Fest,” Gordon said.
Then on race day, WPHM broadcast live from the starting line of the Mackinac race in lower Lake Huron. Stuckey anchored coverage from the studio with Miller and Bayview Yacht Club’s Ted Everingham live on the starting line boat.
Gordon said, “We utilized an (ancient) Marti RPT, which we placed in the boat. We attached a omnidirectional UHF marine antenna that we purchased specifically for this broadcast, as it is a good match with the Marti transmitter.”
The race was delayed for about five hours, due to lack of wind, but after the start Miller and Stuckey headed to Mackinac Island to broadcast from the Grand Hotel July 16-17 as boats crossed the finish line.
