Photo credit: Surfer Today
Red Bull athlete Brian Grubb performed the first ever winch-to-drone handle pass while wakeskating the winding turns of Slovenia’s beautiful Sava Bohinjka River. He didn’t use a normal store-bought drone either, as this special 53-pound Infineon Technologies drone was powerful enough to allow Grubb to skim along the surface of the alpine river, jumping over half-sunken trees, boulders, and at times gliding over water just a few inches deep. Read more for the B-roll footage from shoot and additional information.
Infineon Technologies, a German company, managed to build a custom flying machine with a battery as powerful as 158 smartphones put together (1,5 kWh / 51,8 V / 30 Ah) and 80-centimer (diameter) rotor blades that could tow Grubb for 10 minutes straight as well as lift him in the air if necessary.
“Skimming across the surface of a beautiful river, handle-passing from winch to drone on the go, tricking nice little wooden features and flying the drone under a bridge feels pretty damn good. It tastes even sweeter when you know your good times are not harming the beautiful surroundings,” said Grubb.
