Dropped by Primbee as the sun was going down and got 15 min of drone time....met Robert Wilson down there who was kind enough to let me film him for a few minutes. Look forward to filming more in 25 knots!

Best drone filming i have ever seen!!!!

Great video,... so close at times the drone was probably pushing the sail along!

That's sensational footage! Golden hour of the day, beautiful colours....just surreal.What a reward for Rob for hanging in there when everybody else had gone home.

Please do tell us when you're next doing some drone footage at Primbee and I'll be one very happy ,willing subject!!!

really nice video, great sailing Rob

Simply brilliant work mate. I think there's going to be few of us lining up for some video action

Yep thats some of the BEST footage ive seen!!! Wicked close Droning action...

Hey cheers fellas stoked you guys enjoyed it!

The forecast for Saturday is looking good for Primbee so I'll try and get there and film then maybe go for a sail. If you see me setting the drone up come over and say hi.

A couple of tips if you see the drone flying near you;

1) Try to keep a straight line. It's really hard for me to adjust angles when you're sailing at 35kts plus without making the footage wobbly.

2) if the drone is filming you, can you take a course slightly off wind.... not only will I get you at max speed the drone is flying off the wind which makes control easier and drone can fly faster to keep up with you. The drone flies max 40 knots cross wind.

3) If drone is flying near you please no sudden change of directions towards drone. Sometimes I'm flying as low as 1.5m above the water and I've had sailors suddenly go into a tack with the drone upwind or gybe with drone downwind. It's really hard for me to anticipate and I've had a few near misses with sails.

Cheers,
Paul

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southsidekid said..
Best drone filming i have ever seen!!!!

Yep second that, Awesome. Getting in so close to see whats going on in the cockpit . Very brave pilots (both)!

How shallow is it there? Need a delta fin or a regular weed fin OK?
Thanks

Primbee is tidal so it depends on tides and any recent rain. On shallow days, sub-20cm draft is required to bear away through the shallowest sections (where it gets awesomely flat!). On deeper days you can ride 30's quite comfortably. Otherwise, you can just stay out much wider till you find acceptable depth for whatever fin you've got, but you won't get to enjoy the flattest sections. Looking at the water level graphs for Saturday afternoon (when the video was taken), the water level was definitely in the range of 20cm or less drafts being optimal for maximised sailing area.

Weed is scarce at the moment so anything between 40 and 50 degrees work nicely. Delta XT and Delta XT 50s go very, very nicely (my general preference for minimised draft, the inevitable ploughing when shallow water starting and good grip). 60 degree delta's generally don't work as it's a little too rough and they are ultra sensitive to chop. Gun Weed Controls, Kestrels, UFO's, Black Project Weed Speeds 40s and 50's are all popular.

Hey Paul, still good for a drone session tomorrow at Primbee? Forecast looks fabulous...the only problem will be finding me in the crowd....

Rough thoughts on what time tomorrow?

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eckas said..
Hey Paul, still good for a drone session tomorrow at Primbee? Forecast looks fabulous...the only problem will be finding me in the crowd....

Rough thoughts on what time tomorrow?

Hey Eckas,

Yes mate that was still the plan. I'll probably get there between 11am-12pm.

Would you or anyone else know someone who would have the capability for me to charge drone batteries there? Does anyone have an inverter or some kind of power pack? Does anyone live close by that would let me use their wall socket? I have 4 batteries that would last 12-15 min each in 25 knots. If I could charge them up I could do 8 drone sessions over the course of a few hours rather than 4.

As as for filming, because I have limited time with batteries I'll be filming whoever is going fastest and happens to be in the right spot at the right time. My mission will be to get the best shots possible so apologies in advance if I don't film everyone! I'll do my best.

Also can I ask anybody who has the capabilities or wants the glory shot that if you have the drone following you to do something visually more appealing than standard so for example if you're gybing rather than do a standard one , do a lay down to get the max visual appeal... or whatever it may be to make a shot stand out is always appreciated.

When the drone is out I have really limited time on the battery so just go for it! The pros are taught this when making footage... the film crew only have limited time so when the cameras filming don't hold back.... if you crash that's also good footage ha ha! Waving or shakas to the camera also are encouraged if you want!

I don't know if this will be possible but I was thinking it would be awesome if I could muster like 4 or 5 of you guys to sail as close as possible together for one battery session and I could film the action. It would visually look really sick. Here is some inspiration;


Look forward to tomorrow the sun will be out, the tide will be good & wind direction and strength look great so fingers crossed I don't crash the drone and get some epic shots!

See you tomorrow!
Cheers, Paul

The last video made it to Windsurf UK website plus a few others so if we do a better job with this one hopefully we can get heaps of hits & you'll be famous forever! Ha ha

www.windsurf.co.uk/category/videos/

www.windsurfing.pl/gpssm-ranking/

Nudie, Eckers, Stu, Bushie, Jetlag, Tez, MT, Mudcrab, Kenny, Ferris, Timmy, a whole bunch more Speedsters, Gustbusters and few Sydney ring'ins, drag racing down the strip and laydown gybing around SS lake log.....comin' right up!!!!

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eckas said..
Nudie, Eckers, Stu, Bushie, Jetlag, Tez, MT, Mudcrab, Kenny, Ferris, Timmy, a whole bunch more Speedsters, Gustbusters and few Sydney ring'ins, drag racing down the strip and laydown gybing around SS lake log.....comin' right up!!!!

Yew!! Cheers Eckas.... I'll be rolling up in a white VW Up...it's a small city car if you see me come over and say hi. I'll have my gear as well..... I'll be sailing on my waveboard and Ezzy sails.

Eckas will be the one in a shorty wetsuit

... if the wind is light, Eckers will be the only fool sailing a formula board in the Primbee shallows...YeeeHa!!!

Well got a few good shots at Primbee today however it was hard to not get the drones camera to wobble in the 25knot gusts.Sorry if I missed you today... I didn't have enough batteries to get everyone.Video will come soon!

Thanks Paul. Nice to meet you today.

All good re: the sail mate

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Tony Wills said..
Thanks Paul. Nice to meet you today.

All good re: the sail mate

Sorry Tony! You were a top sport about the drone hitting the sail...As you can see there's a shot above for you plus some video footage on the way!

Cheers,
Paul

Great pics, love the retro sail

Awesome pics Paul

Looks terrific. Keen for the footage. I'm amazed you didn't lose the drone!

Great pics! Check out the sail profile at the battens on the ol NP!!! Interesting... Havnt sails changed.....

Simply awesome. Well done Paul. Eagerly awaiting the video.

watching that makes me know why i love windsurfing .
keep em coming ,and thank you .

Video uploading now....will be ready in just over an hour!

Cool! I'll get the popcorn ready.

We are all waiting so I can put it on the big screen down at the Snow.
Dad pleanty of snow and we are loving it to

Well here's the video from Saturdays action!

It was a hard day to film because many of my shots were not usable because the drones gimbal would freak out once the wind got above 25 knots. Some of the gusts were well in excess of 30 knots and the drone was struggling, in some of the clips I was having a hard time following the sailors because the drone was going at max speed. The read out on the screen was saying around 70km/h so that means guys were pushing 40 knots in some of the shots. The combination of the drone at max speed and 30 knot cross winds really tested the limits of the Phantom 4 but it held up admirably.

There were quite a few other good shots I had that unfortunately I couldn't use as the gimbal went all over the place.

I also managed to hit my first windsurfer after filming many hours of windsurfing over the last couple of years. Tony Wills was the lucky winner and the drone did a 10-15cm cut into his new Severne Mach 1 sail. I felt really bad about it as I saw him walk the rig back across the lake but he was super cool about it and said some sail tape should fix it up. We both agreed some cool shots of him in the video would be payment for the repair.

Anyway hope you like the vid!

*Choose 4K in YouTube settings if you have fast internet it looks way better!

Cheers,
Paul