Drone Videos of Sailboats

Contributor Jus Medic created this spectacular video of the world-class sailing scene off the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia, which is essentially the southern portion of the country's coastline along the Adriatic Sea.  The video provides a bird's eye view of what is considered to be some of the finest recreational sailing waters anywhere in the world, a place of turquoise blue waters, gentle breezes, and many ports and beaches.  It includes footage of the islands of Hvar, Solta, Brac, Salmatia, and more.  

Check out this marvelous compilation of sailing footage, compliments of AirVuz contributor vagamundo.  These are serious sailboats plying some of the world's most famous sailing waters, such as those found off the Spanish Mediterrean island of Majorca and the Italian island of Sardinia.  Tracking these big, fast-moving boats isn't easy; one bad move and the drone is lost forever (to say nothing of the potential damage to these very expensive watercraft).   The reel shows how drones are changing the way that this exciting sport can be captured.  

The Aegean Sea, an eastern extension of the Mediterranean Sea, is home to some of the finest sailing conditions in the world. With clear skies, beautiful islands dotted everywhere, crystal waters, and steady winds, sailors from around the world have flocked to these Greek and Turkish waters for many years.  In this video, Aerial Channel uses a drone to show the grandeur of a large sailing yacht plying these waters from an aerial perspective.  

Former Drone Video of the Week Finalist littleviking brings us this excellent drone video of a well-known yachting race in Australia.  It's the 50th running of the Westcoaster, which runs from Melbourne (the capital of the southeastern state of Victoria and the country's second-largest city) to Hobart, the capital of the island state of Tasmania.  The length of the race is 435 nautical miles (about 500 statutory miles or around 800 km).  The video was filmed in Port Phillip Bay, just outside of Melbourne.  

Miami, Florida has a fantastic sailing scene, and is the site of many sailing races.  One of them is a catamaran race called M32 North America Up Top.  Here, the catamarans - two hulled boats built for speed - race up and down the Bay of Biscayne with the gleaming skyscrapers of downtown Miami and Brickell Avenue in the background.  Top contributor OneManOneDrone, who has made a specialty of aerially filming the Miami waterfront scenes, captures it all from a bird's eye perspective with this amazing video. 

A paraw is a type of sailboat which is native to the Palawan province of the Philippines.  Developed organically as a form of waterborne transportation over many years, these double hull outriggers are extremely suitable to cruising between the numerous islands of the region.  Contributor Vincent Hurdequint used a drone to film these amazing sailboats plying the crystal blue waters of the South China Sea, providing us with a bird's eye view of a unique and highly native form of water transportation! 

Izmir is the largest city in Turkey's Aegean region and the third largest city in the country overall.   Among other roles, Izmir has emerged as the center of Turkey's sailing scene, which is one of the largest and most important in the world.  Contributor and pilot Burak BÜYÜKBAYRAKT used a drone to film the Arkas sailing race, which is held off the city's coastline every year.  It's a major event in the sailing world, and his video does an outstanding job of capturing the excitement which surrounds the competition.

Almost without question, the sailing capital of the USA's West Coast is the beach town of Newport Beach, California.  Situated about an hour's drive south of Los Angeles in Orange County, it is home to countless sailboats large and small and hosts many sailing and yachting events throughout the year.  In this drone video by Marty Mitchell, you'll get aerial coverage of a yacht race between Catalina Island and Newport.  The video was shot with two DJI Phantom 3 Professionals.  

Prepare to be swept away by this stunning drone video from Greenland, compliments of top contributor Brendon Dixon.  He journeyed from Iceland to eastern Greenland aboard the old fashioned sailing ship Arktika, and brought along a very modern piece of equipment to record the journey: a DJI Phantom 4 drone.  The result is absolutely spectacular.  Greenland is truly one of the last frontiers, and the bird's eye footage of the beautiful wooden ship navigating its iceberg fields will astound you.  

Autel Robotics used New Zealand's stunningly beautiful Bay of Islands to show off the power of their new EVO compact foldable drone.  The area is formed by a group of islands off the northeastern coast of the country's North Island, near the city of Whangarei.  The bay contains nearly 150 islands, most of which are uninhabited.  It's one of the most popular destinations on the North Island, and is considered a world class fishing area.  It's also become a magnet for the worldwide sailing community.  

The British Virgin Islands lie in the northern Caribbean Sea, with Puerto Rico to the west, the US Virgin Islands to the south, and Anguilla to the east.   While the islands are known for stunning beaches, the BVI's are probably best known as one of the most popular sailing spots in the Caribbean Sea and indeed in the entire world.  Contributor One Man_One Drone took his DJI Phantom 4 drone to the BVI's and created this stunning aerial tour of the island's magnificent mountains and flotillas of sailboats.  

Get a unique perspective of a famous Italian sailing ship in this amazing first person view (FPV) drone video by top AirVuz contributor Mauro Pagliai.  The vessel is called the Amerigo Vespucci (named after the famous Italian explorer) and it's docked in the port town of La Spezia on the Italian Riviera.  Commissioned in 1931, it's used for training purposes by the Italian Navy.  The three-masted ship has an overall length of 331 ft. (101 m) and a total sail area of 30.4k square ft. (just over 2.8k square m).   

Mediterranean has long been one of the most important bodies of water in the world for sailing.  That role has continued, long past the point where wind was the only form of propulsion.  While the Aegean Sea may be the site of the biggest sailboat concentrations, the French and Italian Riviera's are likely a close second.  In this video, contributor Gzhuravlev used a combination of drone and ground footage at a regatta to create a memorable look at the sailing scene in this part of the Mediterranean.

Kampen is one of the best-preserved cities in the Netherlands.  Located near the mouth of the River IJssel in the central province of Overijssel, it was once one of the members of the powerful Hanseatic League of cities.  It gradually lost its access to the sea, beginning with the silting-up of the river in the late Middle Ages and finally with the closing off of the Zuidersee in the 1930's.  Nevertheless, the town retains a proud sea-faring tradition, as you'll see in this drone video by SkyStudio.

The French territory New Caledonia is less well known compared to other South Pacific spots such as Tahiti or Tonga.  Like most of the islands in the region, New Caledonia has some ideal sailing conditions, particularly for those who prefer calmer waters close to shore which  allow for other less wind-dependent activities such as stand-up-paddleboarding and scuba diving.  In this video, Martin_NC used a drone to record a weekend built around catamaran sailing at one of the island's beautiful lagoons. 

Kaneohe is the largest bay in the Hawaiian islands, sitting on the south shore of Oahu.  Because of the protection provided by the bay, it's become a major center of sailing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, and various other water sports activities.  In this video, contributor and pilot Skyhighhawaii uses a drone to create an unforgettable video of a catamaran sailing across the crystal waters of the bay.  The picture of the tilted craft sailing along the amazing light green sea is almost hypnotizing.

While gimbal-stabilized camera drones such as the DJI Phantom and Mavic lines have revolutionized the world of sailing, these quadcopters aren't suited to high speed sailing.  Even if they are fast enough to keep up with fast-moving sailboats, they aren't able to get shots like what you will see in this remarkable video by top contributor and first person view (FPV) pilot SFPV.  He used a GoPro mounted to a racing quadcopter to film some seriously insane catamaran sailing action on San Francisco Bay.  

With a seafaring tradition that dates to the Antiquity, Croatia's Dalmatian Coast has emerged in recent decades as one of the world's top sailing spots.  In this amazing piece from top AirVuz contributor and pilot Jus Medic, you'll be treated to some epic scenes from this legendary region along the Adriatic Sea.  The video features footage from the following locations: Kornati National Park; the island of Hvar; the walled city of Dubrovnik; the islands of Vis, Lastovo, Korčula, Mlijet, and Brač; and more.  

SailGP is an exciting new sailing competition, featuring foiling catamarans that can reach speeds of over 60 knots - about 70 miles per hour or around 110 km/hr.  While they can be filmed by experienced first person view (FPV) drone pilots, what you'll see in this video by legendary FPV pilot JohnnyFPV goes way beyond that - watch as he flies UNDER the catamarans during a SailingGP event on Lake Michigan in Chicago.  This video was a shoo-in for the FPV Pilots to Watch list in July of 2022.  

AirVuz contributor and first person view (FPV) drone pilot Diego Logo FPV earned a spot on the FPV Pilots to Watch list with this fantastic video of a yacht race.  The Ocean Race is a round-the-world competition held every 3-4 years since its inception in the early 1970's.  The competition involves Volvo Ocean 65 class yachts, a monohull design which can reach speeds of up to nearly 40 knots.  This video was picked by the AirVuz editorial staff for the FPV Pilots to Watch list in late January of 2023.  

Like almost all drone videos, first person view (FPV) drone videos involve multiple "takes" and editing of various clips.  What makes this piece by top AirVuz content creator and FPV pilot George FPV so incredible is that he did it in one take.  The flight over some racing sailboats is highly entertaining to watch, all the more so knowing what kind of flying skill it required to do this without multiple cuts.  It's why we chose to place this on the AirVuz FPV Pilots to Watch list in June, 2019.