When we first glanced at this video this past weekend, we were sure that it was fake. Then we sat down and watched it and were blown away. This is the first time that anyone has wakeboarded behind a plane. The guy was pretty comfortable back there…
Wakeboarders usually go about 18-24 mph, but behind this plane he was going 50-60mph.
Wakeboard-luminary Bernhard Hinterberger visits Italy for a unique shooting
The multiple German champion, European- and World Champion in cable wakeboarding, Bernhard Hinterberger, once more delivers unique and spectacular pictures. The shoot, which took place on the 652 km long river Po – the longest river in Italy – definitely proved that wakeboarding is not only fun in combination with boats or waterski lifts and that being towed by a “Savage” lightweight airplane is just as entertaining.
Bernhard Hinterberger’s comment, when asked about this once-in-a-lifetime experience, was: „The biggest challenge was the extreme speed at which the plane pulled me across the water. Wakeboards are normally meant for speeds of around 30 to 40 km/h, but today we never went any slower than 80 to 100 km/h, as the plane needs a lot of speed to stay in the air. Because wakeboards aren’t built for such speeds, the board started to bend. This is due to the high frictional resistance. When you are going this fast you can’t even use the board’s edges because the water is as hard as rock. Riding behind the „Savage” lightweight airplane at such terrific speed certainly was an unforgettable experience!” –
