Performer Hoop (Steel / Aluminium)
The Requirements
Rigging specialists Over The Top wanted a performer winch system that had easy and fast assembly, quick movement and the highest safety factors. The performer winch system would need to custom designed to accommodate Boyzone's planned performance, to fly the band members to the 'B' stage and then back to the main stage again.
The Challenge
Our custom performer flying winch system was used during the tour to fly dancers above the stage, then used for the encore to fly all members of Boyzone to the “B” stage and then back to the main stage and the winch is a custom version of the popular Hoist UK range of pilewind winches.
The Solution
The initial request was for the winch system to be quick to assemble, provide fast movement and safe for the performers. The final design featured a 10 line 500kg variable speed performer flying winch, manufactured in a modular construction so that each 2 line drum is housed in a 1m custom section of 52cm truss allowing for easy transportation and installation.
Each of the drum modules are then linked using a drive shaft to the next module, with a central module containing the geared motor assembly. The winch is capable of a
20m lifting height with variable speed lifting and soft start and stop, and is also designed, manufactured and tested to our usual high standards with all the relevant safety features in place for its intended purpose.
The design of the system was specifically modular in nature, which allowed for the system to be easily adapted for use on an X Factor tour to where the system flew X Factor winner Joe McElderry and finalists Jedward as part of their performances.
Project Photo's
Over The Top
Mark Wade, Director at Over The Top
“It was great to work with Paul and Tony from Hoist UK. The system they have supplied me worked great for the Boyzone tour and it’s perfect for the touring industry, as I can connect as many of the drum modules as needed for the job. The system is really simple for me to control and gets the desired visual effect. I now have a piece of equipment in my fleet which is flexible enough to use on a whole host of future shows”.
Hoist UK
Paul Jordan, Director at Hoist UK
"Over The Top are one of the industry's leading rigging specialists and we've enjoyed working with them on this project. They had a clear brief for our design team to work with and we maintained close contact with Mark and his team throughout the design and manufacturing process. We future-proofed our design so it can be used for performances in the future and Over The Top have opted to re-purpose the performer flying winch system for an X-Factor tour. We look forward to working with Mark and Over The Top again on projects in the future."
