Efoil now shipping....anyone tossing their kite?

[BraCuru]

Unless it gets a LOT cheaper this will be a curiosity niche product. I wouldn’t mind having a go though...

You right. It will be a niche product for us, foilers, kiters.
We are poor.
However I believe that a target group is more rich than us.
I can easy imagine that sailors are less sceptical and will be happy to get this device to their sailing gear.

What I love about efoil:
- it does not make noise,
- it does not produce fumes,
- it is so easy to learn. Anyone who does not afraid water can learn it in minutes. They do not need to stay on it. They can sit or stay on knees and levitate,
- it is great fun for experienced rides in waves,
- it is super fun for masses,
- it was working smooth without any breaks for reconnections.

What I miss:
- battery life is too short for me (50-80mins after one day test in cold weather),
- battery charging is too long (2 hours),
- the weight is too much for kids and women. No way that 32 kg can be handled by them.
- not sure if such battery is allowed for flying on passenger aircraft.

What I would love:
- battery for 90-120 minutes ride. Then I would buy a second battery and could ride all day up and down.
- 10 kg slimmer set,
- a jet engine instead of a prop.

Can't understand from that goes such huge price- carbon wings mast and fuselage, say 1500 e, board 800-1000, batteries ok 500-800, motor something abot max 300 e. We have 3000-4000 euros maximum range. So why we have 10k euros final price? Can someone explain ?

I will try as I had the same opinion before I had a close look at it.
Generally efoil by Lift looks for me like a luxury product with no half measures.
This is not a kickstarter with a great idea and but no experience involved.

Foil.
It's not a normal foil. The mast has tunnels for cabling and...
... water cooling of the processor hidden inside a board.
It must be 100% waterproof.
All power, data and cooling connections are waterproof too.
Sound easy and cheap to make, huh?
It looks that the battery compartment might be filled up with water accidentally and the device should work.






Battery.
I have no idea about prices but when I hear that there are almost 100 cells and a price of the single cheap one is 10€ than how to built a waterproof powerpack for less than 1000€?


Charger.
Just loo at the picture.Does it look like a 100€ charger?


Processor
It looks like a brick of electronics with couple of battery protection levels.


Controller
That was my concern before the first ride. I thought it would work so slow like gopro wireless remote controllers. Every time a remote is underwater it needs 5-30sec to reconnect with a camera.
In case of Lift there is no issue like this. It stays connected with the processor even when a board is fully submerged. How it works I have no idea but love it.

Bags.
look at this:

This is a hard shell bag.

Board.
Nice design and well done. It must be stronger than any other foilboard.



Development.
This is unknown part but for sure it must be a some portion of the price.
You can't develop such a device in 3 months by a one man-orchestra and present it to customers (with guarantee rights).
I believe that such a product had to be developed and tested in 2 years at least by a team of 3-6 guys working on it.

Do you still think that anybody can build such quality for 3-4k€?

Hmmm, the feel must be amazing indeed, but I also think it will not last for long (could be wrong).

Peter - we are not a target group. IMO most of us will try and stay with the greatest tool on Earth which is a kite powered by a hydrofoil.
But we are a promil of population. We are crazy freaks
I know that many can say I am too enthusiastic. Probably I am. But I had a chance to ride it and see reaction of spectators on quay and beach. There were crowds wondering to see, to touch, to try.
I was delighted by a fact that anybody who does not afraid water can ride it. It can be done by my grandchild, daughter, wife and father.
No doubts. This is future and will be huge market for sure bigger than kite foilboarding.

[Horst Sergio]

Hi BraCuru,

thanks for the deep insight. I am completely with you, but maybe in 2 years with rising production rate we will see price going down to 6-7 k€. Hope on our lakes with many rich kids around, then we wont get into Trouble, about which kind of foils will be allowed or not.

[revhed]

NO!
R H

[a99]

Very great review! Still im not happy that this can be for mass as its so easy to ride. Best to have space in water and not traffics:) why i love kiting that this is something that not all can do, its privilege - you need to have real love for water and not easy to learn it and control.

[fernmanus]

While I would never toss my kite for an efoil, I can see a lot of potential in the efoil.

I love kiting, but the wind does not always blow when I have time to spend on the water. Sure, I could go out on a paddle board, but they are bulky and slow. I could go out on a jet ski, but they are loud and are not allowed or difficult to launch on many waterways.

The efoil opens up a lot of opportunities for exploring waterways that are not windy or experience crappy winds. You could experience waterways that are too narrow or wooded to kite such as mountain lakes or rivers.

The efoil is silent, doesn’t create a wake and the footprint is tiny compared to a kite, boat, or jet ski.

The cost of entry is high, but not completely unreasonable when you look at the cost of a jet ski or boat. Plus, you don’t need a trailer or hitch for an efoil. I too would like to see a longer battery life, I am sure that will come in time. Early adopters will have to live with that limitation, but they can enjoy the novelty of a unique toy and make the rest of us jealous when the wind is not up.

[tkaraszewski]

I’m late to this party but I’m going to address the original question.

If I could either efoil or kite on a surfboard, and those were my only options, I’d kite on a surfboard. I got into kiting from sailing and wind power is really what makes it interesting to me.

That said, I have nothing against the efoil, and I think it’d be fun on windless days, but prices would have to come way down for me to consider buying one.

[BraCuru]

1 minute video:

[Dave K]

No doubt we will get at least a couple of these on the OBX for the adventure outfitters like Kitty Hawk Kites (maybe Real) to offer lessons. Will be interesting to see how they hold up in rental/lesson operations.

FWIW, my next play toy is going to be a paraglider for dune soaring. Less $, way more skill

[downunder]

BraCuru,

I love your optimism

But, it is not about riding and how easy is something to ride.

It is about falling.

If you need a helmet and/or other body armor than no one will pick it up except enthusiasts. There is a reason why so many people ride PWC ie on Bali, simply because it is unregulated.

Regulate it and bang! No one rides it, except a few...

[longwhitecloud]

Invented on kiteforum nearly 5 years ago!

I actually contacted someone about patents but they told me the second I put the picture up in the public domain it was too late

If anyone knows of any prior artwork let me know and I for sure will no longer be making this claim

I would like a go!

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2386992&p=864443&hi ... rd#p864443

I also manufactured the worlds first ever side-walled kiteboard in a pneumatic press (like snowboards are made). It didnt end well business wise, but today they are nearly all made like this- even wakeboards started using this manufacturing method.