The idea came out of a windsurfing trip to Pozo in the Canary Islands in 2019. I enjoy filming windsurfing and thought it would be awesome to capture the pros in action up close. Cross on conditions meant jumping on one tack and wave sailing on the other, hard to do with a single camera so I came up with the idea of a dual GoPro mast mount. Got some great footage and several iterations down the track and its time to share the love. Its really easy to swap sides so don't worry if you only have one camera.
Design goals were:
Simple attachment, click it on and forget
Fixed camera angle so no guess work. Setup up to capture the rear half of the board and lots of the sail to keep the sponsors happy!
No bolts or nuts to tighten that could catch or corrode (not a fan of trying to tighten something with frozen hands during a winter session)
Light weight (if you've spent big $$ on a 100% carbon mast you don't want to stick something heavy on it)
Completely plastic so no corrosion
Tough and hard to knock off
Eliminate need for stock GoPro cages and mounting posts (have broken a few windsurfing)
Pretty stoked with the result, main body is printed out of tough ABS filament that clicks on firmly and takes a lot of effort to get off. The cages are a crazy tough but flexible enough to squeeze in a GoPro and hold them firmly in place. Haven't lost one yet but if you are worried please use a tether directly to your GoPro.
Turns out its a great coaching tool too, with a fixed position and angle you have a consistent reference. Over the last 8 months we have managed to get in on quite a few PWA riders so there is a great catalog of styles and skills you can compare yourself too. Check the YouTube links below, will be adding more as we get them. Special thanks to Daniel and Dave who did a heap of filming in WA this year (2020) and managed to get quite a few visiting PWA riders with their mounts. (Daniel's YouTube Channel).
This is my preferred mount, designed for the GoPro Session 4/5. GoPro Sessions are a great action camera for windsurfing, small and light you don't even notice the extra weight. With the super compact Session Mongrel mount they stay well out of the way. Just push the cameras in to their flexible housings and click it on, no fiddly bolts, nuts or clamps. Velcro strap for extra protection.
Tragically GoPro no longer make the Session but you can pick them up cheaply on the second hand market. The Session 5 has slightly better image quality but 10 minutes less battery time (around 1 hour 40 minutes). All the footage to date has been shot on GoPro Session 4s (Super View, 1920x1080, 48fps).
Currently only for Reduced diameter masts (RDM).
49 grams (without strap).
Enough people have asked for a version for a standard GoPro so I have designed one but really suggest you grab a couple of Sessions instead. Only compatible with the Hero 5 and Hero 7 (will do a Hero 8 version when I can borrow one) as these don't need the clunky waterproof case. It uses the same mast attachment as the Session Mongrel but the cameras are wider which means they protrude quite a bit more and because the lens is offset you have to put one camera in upside down. NOTE : I haven't tested this mount and the bigger Hero cameras will put a lot more load mount than the smaller and lighter Sessions. Crash test dummies required
Currently only for Reduced diameter masts (RDM).
59 grams (without strap)
Coming Soon..
You can find the stl files and printing instructions here : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4169061 . It's Open Source so feel free to download and print your own.
Each part takes about 1.5 hours to print so 4.5-5 hours in total. Go nuts, print them for your friends and flick me a link to your clips at crispymongrel@gmail.com and I'll add it to the list.
If you would like to support this project and its on going development you can get one off me for AUD $45 plus postage including a strap. I am not expecting to get inundated with requests so for now just ping me an email @ crispymongrel@gmail.com
DISCLAIMER : No guarantees or warranties with this one, we have given it a good flogging and are happy to use it ourselves but its a 3D printed mount folks so use it at your own risk. We don't bother with tethers but if you're worried you can tether the Sessions however the Heros don't have a tether point. The $$ is for my printing services not the mount, that's free ;-)
No mount is fool proof and as far as I know no one will cover the loss of your GoPro. No risk = no reward so get out there and make some memories.
Slowed down, a master class in cross on wave sailing.
When I asked Victor if he was worried his rivals would see all his tricks if I shared this clip he said something like "not at all, if they improve it will make for better competition" What a legend!!!
One of the Pozo trip highlights, Marino is a full frother. Always smiling and always stoked even when the conditions weren't great.
They don't say much, just get on with it. The Japanese juniors have a solid work ethic. First on and last off the water. Awesome performance by Takuma Sugi taking out the 2019 Maui event in his age group.
Was so light and flat this session, don't know how Marc made it work. Mad skills and first Pro to try the mount!
Irish Love
Dave and Daniel Johns
Me
Knackers
Tim
Tao