Thousands of spectators braved wet weather to watch a Battle of Trafalgar re-enactment off Portsmouth — the climax of the bicentennial celebrations.

Fusillades of gunfire, blasts from cannons and fireworks helped mark the 1805 victory over France and Spain.

The sound effects — including narration by actor Robert Hardy — were triggered from a special soundtrack compiled by Smudge Productions. This was mixed live in ProTools and distributed along 650 metres of promenade by Capital Sound Hire’s Martin Audio W8C system.

Cap Sound, working for production company MICE International, set up their control position at the nearby Southsea Rowing Club, where they were anchored over a ten-day site period at the coastal resort.

After the Queen had conducted a massive international fleet review the battle re-enactment commenced, with reported crowds of up to 250,000 thronging the seafront.

Occupying 13 positions along the length of the esplanade (between Clarence Pier and the Sea Life Centre), were stacks of two WSX, three W8C and two W2’s (the latter handling the nearfield) mounted on Steeldeck. Beyond this, a local company had provided an auxiliary 100V line system so that the distributed sound could be extended over a 1km distance.

The sound was not only fed to the 13 clusters by radio link but also to three video screens, positioned out on Southsea Common. The two groundstacked displays were each flanked by stacks of three W8C’s while the flown screen saw eight W8LC Compact Line Arrays (per side) up in the air, reinforced by ground-stacked WLX subwoofers. The screens were used both for the Fleet review and at night for the re-enactment.

In addition, a purpose stage was constructed on Southsea Common, with a further eight W8LC and four WLX enclosures per side, which hosted a variety of entertainment from Japanese traditional groups to school choirs, all mixed by Giles Woodhead.

The day after the re-enactment the war theme continued with the International Drumhead Ceremony, which took place at a purpose-built arena (the IDC Arena) close to the War Memorial. Attended by HRH The Duke of York and HRH Princess Michael of Kent, this was open to war veterans and invited audience, with a strong emphasis on youth participation.

Featuring a wide range of entertainment — from the Royal Marines Marching Band to speeches by war correspondents such as Kate Adie and Brian Hanrahan — once again Capital Sound Hire provided the sound reinforcement in the shape of four W8LC’s hoisted on Summit masts.

Martin Connolly said the event had been an unqualified success and praised his crew. Overall production manager for the Festival was Kevin Field, while George Glossop took charge of the IDC Arena, Sean Busby-Little and Kevin Hopgood oversaw the Trafalgar Re-enactment sound mix.