Pro Drone catches surfing legend Laird Hamilton riding ‘longest wave in the world’

[John Gowland]

Just arrived in time to take this.

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dronedj.com
Kidding, I wish

 

[Prop Wash]

His board and ride were impressive!

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Was the surfboard motorized, I never seen one like that. ?

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Capture the Storm.

 

[Prop Wash]

Was the surfboard motorized, I never seen one like that. ?

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Capture the Storm.

I think it's just the 'whale-tail' ( my name for it) under the board as seen @ 3:13. It give a much smoother ride.

 

[G-dwag]

Was the surfboard motorized, I never seen one like that. ?

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Capture the Storm.

It’s a foil board, like a hydrofoil. From the article “foils he rides at Chicama – an underwater attachment that captures maximal wave power, and lifts the rider above the surface of the wave.”

 

[BigAl07]

That was a GREAT video. Thank you for finding it and sharing it. WOW

 

[GFields]

Awesome, thanks for sharing!

 

[petes]

I was just in Hood River, OR and its known as the wind surfing capital of the world (don't know if its true) but all the wind surfers and kite surfers have those foils under their boards its pretty awesome to watch looks like they are floating over the water. I was talking to some of the surfers and they were saying some of those foils can add $5000 to the coast of the board.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

I think it's just the 'whale-tail' ( my name for it) under the board as seen @ 3:13. It give a much smoother ride.

So is that easier to ride than a regular surf board. I have never gone surfing but maybe that is the way to start ?

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Capture the Storm.

 

[Prop Wash]

So is that easier to ride than a regular surf board. I have never gone surfing but maybe that is the way to start ?

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Capture the Storm.

I have no idea - I'm not a surfer either. His ride was very smooth.
From my Navy days there were a couple of boats with foils under them. When they got to speed, they'd come up out of the water and no more pitching/rolling like when they were just floating.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Well : I found this , and does give me hope. Now I just need to figure out how to carry the drone > loll

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Land on the Water.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

So is that easier to ride than a regular surf board. I have never gone surfing but maybe that is the way to start ?

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly in the Rain and Capture the Storm.

I think it would be similar to surfing, but perhaps you'd need better (or maybe different) balance once lifted above the waves, much higher point of gravity, and a much reduced surface area in the water.

Whatever weight it's lifting, it just needs to reach the required speed to lift the rider and board up out of the water.
It's just like an airplane wing in the way it works to provide lift once moving.

Of course, this sort of design was first used in the Americas Cup bid (win) by Australia winged keel on the 18m "Australia II" in 1983.

 

[TigersFan]

Awesome surfer, amazing drone operation, and excellent video. I really enjoyed the video from all these perspectives. Thanks so much!

 

[John Gowland]

You are most welcome.