Motor Boat & Yachting – May 2018

PRESTIGE 680

Newton’s third law of motion states

that what goes up must come down.

However, as my misadventure with

my very first drone, a DJI Mavic Pro,

demonstrated last summer, it need

not happen in such an ignominious

and avoidable manner. But before

I recount the circumstances of its

unfortunate demise, I would like

to celebrate its brief and glorious

life with a selection of spectacular

images that I captured while cruising

in southern Italy last summer on

Artemisia, my Prestige 680.

As many others from the yachting

community on the MBY forum have

demonstrated, the new breed of

small affordable drones with cameras

have been transformational for the

amateur wishing to capture hitherto

undreamed-of aerial images of their

boat as well as spectacular video

footage of shared family experiences

while out at sea. The ability to ascend

a camera hundreds of feet into the

sky and to travel for miles whilst

videoing or capturing stills is an

amazing thing and, as seen here,

the results can be truly memorable.

I bought my DJI Mavic Pro in the

UK for just over £1,000 from an

online supplier after reading all

the rave reviews that unanimously

claimed it to be the best small

portable drone on the market.

It certainly is an amazing piece of kit

• brilliantly designed, sturdily built
  and incorporating technology that,
  not so many decades ago, would have
  been worthy of NASA.
  Before venturing forth with it out
  at sea, I decided to confine my early
  experimental flights to land. My first

Drone down

Mark Weiss dwells on happier times with his high-tech

boy’s toy, which now resides on an Italian cliffside

attempt was from the balcony of

my flat overlooking the Thames in

Fulham. However, given its proximity

to Fulham football ground, the

software informed me that I was

in a designated no-fly zone and

would not allow me to take off.

I subsequently discovered that most

of central London falls within this

category, so my experimental flights

were done over open farmland in

south-west France, where we have a

house, and the flat coastal landscapes

of north-east Essex.

Mark’s drone captured all these

stunning images including this

shot of Lipari in the Aeolian Islands

Artemisia at anchor

and (right) the amazing

clifftop town of Tropea

PRESTIGE 680

ARTEMISIA

MARK WEISS, Marina d’Arechi, Italy

PRINCESS 67

JENNYWREN

MIKE ROTHERY, Sant Carles Marina, Spain

DUCHY 27

ALCHEMY

PHYLLIS ROCK, Yarmouth, UK

FAIRLINE SQUADRON 78

MATCH II

JOHN WOLF, Antibes, France

MAREX 310 SUN CRUISER

OFFSHORE

RICHARD HALL, Christchurch, UK

STEELER PANORAMA FF53

SYMPHONY

PETER CHESTER, the Netherlands

SUNSEEKER 86

HARD 8

GEMMA HARRIS, Lymington, UK

JEANNEAU LEADER 805

SMUGGLER’S BLUES 2

NICK BURNHAM, Torquay, UK

PRESTIGE 500S

BREAKING BAD

NIGEL PICKIN, Port Hamble, UK

JEANNEAU NC14

DIANA

JOHN BRUNYATE, Port Solent Marina, UK

KARNIC BLUEWATER 2250

BOHEMIAN GIRL

HUGO ANDREAE, Poole, UK

AXOPAR 37 R

VELOCE

PAUL SALLISS, Portsmouth, UK

PRINCESS 61

BATEAU 9

HARRY METCALFE,

Port Saint Jean, France

BAVARIA E40

SOPHIE

SANDER DANIELS, Sneek, Netherlands

FLEMING 55

PLAY D’EAU

PIERS DU PRÉ, Guernsey, Channel Islands

JEANNEAU CAP CAMARAT 625

KIPPER

JACK HAINES, Poole, UK

BÉNÉTEAU SWIFT TRAWLER 34

BLUES AWAY

JACK HAINES, Portimão, Portugal

Top tips from real boat owners in the MBY fl eet

OURBOATS