Are Drones The Future Of Tow Surfing?

Yesterday we stumbled across this clip, of a guy skimboarding behind a drone. Our first reaction was is it real? It seem’s like it would be a fairly easy thing to fake with some top level video trickery (like this video of Tony Hawk riding a hoverboard for example).

However the creators of the clip, a company called ‘Freefly Systems’ were quick to come back to us and inform us that whilst they did not recommend that their drones were used for such an activity, and it was purely for experimental purposes, it was very much real.

Still, it got us thinking, if this is possible now, with drone tech continuing to develop as fast as it has over the last year, could tow in surfing using drones become a reality in the very near future? It seems that not only would it save the need for a tow jet ski, but could also even be used in lieu of a safety ski also.

A drone with a tow rope attached could fly in after a wipeout and whip a surfer caught inside of a sticky situation a jetski would never have been able to reach them in. With big wave tow surfers already pushing the limits of what it is humanly possible to surf (see an example of that here) a technological advancement like this, which could lead to increased access and increased safety at remote tow waves around the world could be all that’s required to allow hellmen to take it even further.