Drone Videos of Powerboats

Rottnest Island is situated off the coast of Western Australia, just a short distance due west from Perth, the capital of the state.  Using a DJI Phantom 4 drone and a GoPro Hero 5 mounted to a DJI Osmi, top content creator and pilot Sandrine Hecq gives us an aerial view of an epic boat party held off the island to celebrate the Australia Day holiday.  Held on January 26th every year, the national holiday commemorates the arrival of the first British ships in Sydney Harbor in the 18th century. 

As the sun set out on the waters of Chicago's Lake Michigan, top first person view (FPV) pilot JohnnyFPV took the opportunity to get his quad out to chase some boats.  He created this epic cinematic FPV session, in which he skillfully blends views of the spectacular Chicago skyline with equally spectacular views chasing (and having no trouble keeping up with) these high powered watercraft making very good time themselves.  Once again, the legendary FPV pilot shows us the power of racing quads to make entertaining visual content.   

Cape Cod, off of mainland Massachusetts in the New England region of the USA, is one of the country's best whale watching spots.  Cape Cod Rib operates a custom-built whale watching boat which will keep up with the fastest whale.  The watercraft has a 1000 HP engine, enabling it to hit a top speed of over 60 km/hour (40 mph).  Contributor PO3SMith used a drone to show the capabilities of this monster speedboat, which is also used for "joyride" tours.  Definitely progress since the whaling days of 1800's New England! 

While Cappadocia, Turkey is best known for its fairy tale rock towers and hot air balloon rides, it is also becoming a popular spot for another adventure sport - jet boats.  A company there offers rides on high power jet boats in the nearby Kızılırmak River.  AirVuz contributor and pilot Omer Gokcen worked with the operator to film a run by one of these over-powered watercraft - no easy task given how quickly they move.  While not for the faint of heart, they make for the ride of a lifetime! 

Boat races are a classic example of an event which was virtually impossible to capture via video without a helicopter, and only with some difficulty even then.  Now, skilled drone pilots can position their drone to capture some of the most exciting racing action imaginable.  In this video, contributor AIRFLIX used a drone to film a P1 Superstock boat race in the Danish port city of Alborg.  Notice how he is able to film these fast-moving watercraft from virtually any angle regardless of their speed.  

The USA state of Minnesota is known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes.  While most of its lakes are in its less populated northern areas, there are some large recreational lakes closer to the state's main population center in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.  The largest is Lake Minnetonka, a 14k acre lake in the western suburbs of Minneapolis that can accommodate thousands of boaters.  In this video, contributor Fit Lam Studios used a drone to capture the Lake Minnetonka boat scene over a July 4th weekend.

Ride along with top first person view (FPV) pilot Mauro Sciambi as he chases some very fast speedboats somewhere off the coast of Italy.   The video was produced as part of a commercial for the manufacturer.  Amazingly, these are inflatable boats - technically, rigid inflatable boats (RIB's), which can command prices of well over US $100k.  Capable of very high speeds, they represent a perfect target for FPV quads, which can fly much faster than gimbal-stabilized drones such as the DJI Mavic series.  

To understand why first person view (FPV) drone are becoming more and more commonly used for high speed chase footage, check out this fantastic piece by AIrVuz contributor LiftedMedia.  They worked with legendary FPV pilot NurkFPV to film a cigarette boat cruising on Lake Conroe in southeastern Texas.  The boat has a top speed well in excess of 160 km (around 100 mph), and as you'll see this talented pilot has no trouble keeping up with it.  This video was picked for the FPV Pilots to Watch list in December, 2021.  

Only in America.  Top AirVuz contributor and pilot Queen of the Drone brings us this fantastic drone footage of a boat parade in support of US President Donald Trump on the eve of the 2020 Presidential election.  The video was shot over the waters of the Gulf of Mexico near Fort Myers, the main city of southwestern Florida.  As has been the case in most of the Presidential elections going back to 2000, the Sunshine State and its 29 electoral votes (as of 2020) is one of the keys to winning the nation's highest office.  

AirVuz contributor and first person view (FPV) drone pilot RobGrooveFpV brings us this fantastic FPV video from the famed Greek island of Corfu.  The video follows an Axopar 37 Sun Top Brabus Edition cruiser as it plies the waters around the Agia Pelagia area on the northern part of the island.  In addition to some spectacular "chase" type footage, the video features some amazing shots flying along the Corfu coastline.  The video concludes with a spectacular dive down a hill into a partially secluded cove.  

Contributor Invincible Storm Films used a DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone to create this stunning piece from New York City, primarily from the city's Long Island boroughs.  Starting at about the :12 mark, you'll be treated to an epic hyperlapse of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge which connects Brooklyn to Staten Island across the Narrows.  Most of the video is footage of an epic "chase" of a racing boat along Far Rockaway Beach, at the base of the Rockaway Peninsula, which forms the southern side of Jamaica Bay.

Ride along with the drone nerds on a drone accompanying a fishing trip off the coast of Miami, Florida.  They ride out to sea, cruising past some giant cargo ships in the Port of Miami.  Rounding Key Biscayne, they head to Stiltsville - a group of wood houses on stilts one mile south of Cape Florida State Park.  All the action gets recorded for posterity on a DJI Mavic 2 Zoom drone.  The little drone does a great job tracking the boat as it cruises through some of the world's busiest pleasure boating waters. 

Check out this fantastic first person view (FPV) drone boat chasing video by top AirVuz contributor and FPV pilot salva.tours.  The video was filmed in Sardinia on the Gulf of Aranci, an inlet on the northeastern coast of this large Italian island of the Mediterranean Sea.   The boat is a Magnum Marine 47.5, which is powered by three powerful outboard motors and can reach speeds of up to 60 mph (100 km/hr).  This video was picked as a selection for the FPV Pilots to Watch list in April of 2023.  

Talented AirVuz contributor and first person view (FPV) pilot Joski FPV brings us this outstanding FPV video from a boat race in the British Virgin Islands.  He was able to use his FPV quad to film the first leg of the One VI Poker Run 2022, which took place on Sunday, June 10, 2022.  The race, which benefitted a local primary school, included 160 contestants who vied for a first place prize valued at over US $12k.  This video was picked by the AirVuz editorial staff for the FPV Pilots to Watch list in July of 2022.  

While gimbal-stabilized drones such as DJI's Mavic series have revolutionized the world of aerial videography, they still have a fundamental limitation in that they can't generally exceed a speed of 70-80 km/hr (around 50 mph).  That's where first person view (FPV) drones can have an advantage, as they are capable of flying at least twice as fast.  This allows the capture of faster-moving targets, such as high-powered speedboats.  In this video by LiftedMedia, you'll see footage of top FPV pilot nurkfpv chasing a racing boat in Texas.