Drone surfing is the new sport of being towed on a surfboard by an airborne drone. It’s like wakeboarding without a boat, or kitesurfing without a kite. It is something you probably would never have thought possible, but a new generation of high-powered drones are providing us a glimpse into the future.
The benefits of drone surfing
- You don’t need a kite, sail, boat or waves
- Less cables than kitesurfing. Just a single rope and handle
- You can drone surf when there is no wind
- You’ll be the only one doing it (at least in the short term)
The drawbacks of drone surfing
- You need to charge or refuel your drone regularly
- If it falls out of the sky you lose an expensive piece of kit
- Accidents involving drone surfers and other surfers will be messy
- You need to carry an octocopter (eight rotor drone) around with you to have fun
- You need someone else to control the drone
- Noise, pollution, energy consumption
Is this what we’ll all be doing in 10 years? Getting hauled around by personal drones that simultaneously record our every movement? Maybe. For drones to have evolved to the point where they can be used as action sport equipment in their own right, says a lot for the current state of tech and engineering. First generation consumer drones struggled lifting off with a GoPro.
Think about the incredible potential uses for drones like these in surf rescue, and general emergencies. A drone could very conceivably be used to airlift an injured person to hospital, at way less cost than a helicopter.
Remember we used to dream about flying cars? Those dreams have started coming true.