Baywatch World Record Beachball

11th July 2017

We had an amazing opportunity to build and install the worlds largest Beach ball for the then up and coming film that was Baywatch. Paramount Pictures wanted to make a statement and we happily accepted the challenge, the idea for the world record beach ball started to roll!! This was a massive challenge to take on but we successfully managed to pull it off. A lot of organization went on behind the scenes of this venture, right from the initial idea, to designing, arranging all of the people to make this possible.

Right from the off, we knew this would be something very special, ideas went back and forth between ourselves and Paramount, but the decision was made, the ball would go onto the Thames, right near Westminster Bridge, the London Eye and Big Ben.

The day the install began was a really early start, while London slept, the team gathered on a small dock just outside the heart of the city, it was chilly, pitch black and 2 am, the van rolled up, the doors opened and we knew it went time, with only a small window of time to get the contents of the van, all the kit and the team onto a barge on the water before 2.30 am before the tidal water made it an impossibility to get to the location. A lot of amazing teamwork from ourselves and the guys on the dock, the PLA, the barge was loaded and the tugboat was arriving, the ball was en route to the location.

As the sun started the raise over the city, the team started to get everything unpacked, ready and in position, ready to arrive at the location. Everything had to be ready for the morning rush in busy central London, the countdown had begun.

We knew that the challenge was massive, being on the choppy water, being towed at high speed, in the dark, while getting everything prepared for this installation, the team pulled it together and everything was beginning to fall into place, the idea had started to become a reality really quickly.

We arrived at the location, everything was near ready, the sun was shining, we knew this was going to be a really special event. The city started to come alive and us being on the water was causing a lot of interest. The generator fired up, the fans started blowing, the tether lines tied, the ball started to come alive.

As it started to take shape and inflate, the later in the morning it became, people, started to gather, stopping for pictures and selfies with growing structure. By breakfast time the ball was fully inflated, standing a massive 20 metres above the water, it seemed to dwarf the barge, the tugboat and the team, it was huge, but we had done it, the World Record Baywatch Beach ball was alive.

We waited for the officials to come from Guinness to arrive to make it official, the measurements had been taken, we had done it, it was an official world record!

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