When Mike Compton of Pirates Voyage took on the challenge of bringing the new attraction to life in Myrtle Beach, SC, he turned to the rigging experts from J. R. Clancy. Compton had worked with Clancy on three other recentprojects, so he knew they could help make the technical aspects of this show as exciting as they could be.
The latest attraction from Dolly Parton, Pirates Voyage moved into the building that housed her famous Dixie Stampede attraction for 19 seasons. Transforming a former Dixie Stampede hippodrome into a pirates' show in just five months - from its closing in January 2011 to its grand reopening on 3 June 2011 - was no small challenge, Compton explained.
"It's a metal building with girders, so we installed a series of catwalks coming off the girders to access everything," he said.
To raise and lower the massive set-pieces, Clancy supplied 11 custom-built, variable-speed drum hoists, each with750-pound capacity and a blazing top speed of 416ft per minute. "I'm familiar with a lot of the hoist configurations that Clancy manufactures, so we provided the drawings of the catwalk and the locations of the hoists," Compton said.
With seating on every side of the arena, the hoists would be in full view at all times, said Patrick Finn, Clancy dealer project manager. "Mike needed hoists that could go into a confined space and still function," he said."The hoists are mounted to the side of the catwalks, and diverting loft blocks are mounted from the roof steel to get the lines to drop in the proper locations. There are four types of hoists, each designed differently to get the proper space and capacity requirements for the different scenic elements."
The hoists lower such pirate-specific props as anchors, skeletons, and a throne into view at dramatic speeds to delight the audience. To accomplish these effects, the owners selected Clancy's Altus controller.
(Jim Evans)
