We windsurf on a hydrofoil. Eight of the coolest vehicles for extreme sports on the water. Personal submarine DeepFlight Dragon
Extreme fun on the water is becoming increasingly popular. In our review, water vehicles appeared in 2014 that could not leave adrenaline lovers indifferent.
Quadrofoil Q2S hydrofoil
Quadrofoil Q2S, received the title of the “greenest” jet ski, it looks like a two-seater water strider beetle hovering above the water. This futuristic vehicle has a 5.5 kW electric motor and a 10 kWh battery. On one charge you can cover up to 100 km, reaching a speed of up to 40 km/h. The unusual-looking jet ski can already be purchased for pre-order for $27,500.
Electric surfboard Aquila
Electric surfboards (wakeboards and paddleboards) were a very popular toy for water fun in 2014. Aquila took this product to a new level by releasing a board that accelerates to 70 km/h.
Underwater jetpack S.C.P Marine Innovation x2
One of the most unusual devices for water sports can be considered a jetpack, which makes it possible to dive under water and swim using a pair of portable engines. Twin engines are attached to the arms, batteries for them are mounted on the T-shirt, turning a person into a real underwater cyborg. The price of the jetpack is $5500.
Personal submarine DeepFlight Dragon
Until recently, a personal submarine seemed like an impossible dream. However, DeepFlight Dragon managed to break all stereotypes. The small, one-man submarine, which weighs just 1,800 kg, can dive to 120 m using electric motors. The device is still very expensive - $1.5 million.
Pedal boat Schiller X1
By pedaling this pedal boat, you can swim at speeds of up to 16 km/h. The design is simple, like everything ingenious - a frame made of aluminum and stainless steel. PVC pontoons and LED lights.
Hoverboard from ZR
Inspired by the famous hoverboard from the movie "Back to the Future 2", Frankie Zapata developed a water jet hoverboard. With the help of such an unusual board, a surfer can fly through the air at a height of up to 5 m above the waves at a speed of up to 25 km/h. The flying board will cost $6,000.
Sea-Doo Spark
Creators jet ski Sea-Doo Spark We tried to combine the power of supercars with an affordable price. The 90-horsepower Spark is obviously not the fastest or most high-tech boat on the market, but a $5,000 ultralight jet ski that dashes through the waves at 40 mph is sure to have its fans.
Modular jet ski BomBoard
This year appeared on the market modular jet ski BomBoard. It consists of four parts, which, when disassembled, can even be packed into the trunk of a car. You can assemble a jet ski in just a minute. The BomBoard's maximum speed is 64 km/h. Weight – 68 kg.
Especially for extreme sports enthusiasts who decided to spend the New Year holidays in their native latitudes, and not on distant seas, we have prepared a review about.
Is hydrofoil windsurfing for you?
Windsurfing hydrofoils may not be as far-fetched as many people think. Rush Randle tells Windsurfing Magazine.The rear part of the wings seems to have changed compared to the previous modification - extended back. How did this affect your speed? The extension makes the device more suitable for beginners and improves the maneuverability of the board. Unlike classic surfing and kiting, which use different leg attachments, winged windsurfing boards have leg straps, so the surfer can change the regular-goofy stance.
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This tail makes the board more stable in the anterior-posterior direction. I have full confidence in the usefulness of this tail for beginner wing windsurfers.
Some veteran professionals are convinced that boards with wings are too sensitive on the move. Yes, it exists, but if a person has no prejudices and decides to do it, then it turns out to be a real pleasure. A couple of tacks are not enough here to understand everything - you need to work a little on the technique to experience all the sensations that this device can give. He walks very softly on the chop. I can't describe it. You stand very straight and rigid and as if you are not on a board. It feels as if you are not moving.
What tricks can you do on the winged board with your son River? I can jump quite high - 10-15 feet from flat water. Almost did a back loop, but with a winged board it's not that interesting. My son and I ride often. I didn’t even expect that he believed me so much. To feel this truth you have to be a parent! And we walk together. It turned out to be easy - he just fits between my knees and holds on to his boom.
Do you think boards with hydrofoils are capable of staying in the global “flow” of windsurfing for a long time? I think they will be in the "flow".
Photo by Erik Aeder. Based on materials from Windsurfing magazine www.windsurfingmag.com/
When asked what a hydrofoil is, any tech-savvy citizen will tell you about the famous passenger ships “Raketa”, “Meteor” and “Kometa”, about high-speed patrol boats, and less often - about the “Flying Gray Terror” Boeing PHM. And of course, we will talk about powerful propeller and water-jet, diesel and gas turbine engines, which are necessary to lift a heavy vessel and keep it above the water.
It turns out that in order to soar on hydrofoils, a powerful engine is not at all necessary. It may not exist at all. Today, foil skiing (water skiing on hydrofoils, from the English hydrofoil ski), foilboarding (riding on a “winged” wakeboard), kite foiling (the same thing, but not behind a boat, but behind a kite) and their numerous variations are one of the most dynamic developing areas of water sports.
Heavenly Roots
It is believed that the first person who came up with the idea of attaching hydrofoils to water skis in the early 1960s was Walter Woodward, an aircraft designer from Massachusetts. Woodward himself did not water ski, so his invention had to be tested by an athlete he knew. Riding on the new equipment turned out to be even easier than on regular skis: the ride became smoother because the surfaces of the skis rose above the waves, and it became easier to hold the towing halyard due to a significant reduction in vibrations. As befits a good American inventor, Woodward teamed up with graduate economist Lucas Emmanuel to patent his design and open a company called Cosmo Dynamics to mass-produce Dynaflite Hydrofoil skis.
The seat posts of modern foilboards are often complemented by a ball joint and a shock absorber, like on a mountain bike. The shock-absorbing seat makes riding even more comfortable. The rigidity of the wing strut determines how extreme stunts the projectile can withstand.
The projectile was an ordinary water ski, connected by a crossbar, to which a real underwater biplane with two load-bearing wings and a stabilizer was attached from below on two inclined struts. An important role in the popularization of “winged” skis was played by the famous George Blair, nicknamed Banana George. A charming athlete of considerable age, famous for his late arrival to the sport and his virtuoso ability to slide behind a boat on his own heels, he used Dynaflite Hydrofoil in his shows: dressed in a yellow Santa Claus suit, he paraded around the lake, greeting the audience in honor of Christmas.
Tricky windsurfing
Hydrofoils can be equipped on almost any water sports equipment. However, when trying to “give wings” to a windsurf, quite intricate technical problems arise. The fact is that on the vast majority of equipment, the wing strut is located exactly under the athlete, so the mass balance is maintained and the board itself performs an exclusively auxiliary function. With windsurfing the situation is more complicated. In addition to the athlete, there is another very heavy element on the board - the sail. Moreover, the force applied to this sail constantly changes depending on the wind and control actions. In such conditions, maintaining balance while relying on a small wing is very difficult. Some athletes manage to reach such a level of skill that they can constantly maintain balance on a sailing foilboard. For others, technical tricks come to the rescue.
The Miller windsurf is equipped with not one, but three hydrofoils. The largest wing, the supporting one, is located under the athlete on a long stand. Small balancing wings are located in front and behind, near the keel. Interestingly, Miller's front wing is not simple, but supercavitating. Thanks to its special wedge-shaped shape, during movement it forms a gas layer around itself, thereby reducing friction and allowing it to reach colossal speeds.
Another unusual Miller invention is the hinged wing struts. When a windsurf moves on hydrofoils, its keel rises above the surface of the water and becomes easy prey for the wind. The wind turns the board and to compensate for the rotation, the athlete has to tilt the surf. When the racks are rigidly attached, the wings also roll, and the surf begins to go in a circle. The hinged mount allows the wings to maintain a strictly vertical position, while the entire surf is tilted.
Over the course of 20 years of trying to disrupt the watersports market, Woodward and Emmanuel tried to produce “winged” surfboards and hydrofoil catamarans, not to mention various modifications of water skis. Unfortunately, they never managed to achieve serious success.
winged chair
The return of “winged” projectiles in the 1970s is inextricably linked with the name of the athlete Mike Murphy. Mike, a sports equipment store owner, was one of the lucky few to try out Dynaflite Hydrofoil. Murphy was not interested in just smoothly riding behind the boat, and he decided to test the projectile on a slalom course and try to jump out of the water. The design of the skis turned out to be not strong enough to perform tricks - the weak racks bent, the wing could not cope with the load. The skis clearly needed improvement. So the projectile received reinforced struts and a wing with a new profile and significantly improved hydrodynamic properties.
In 1972, Murphy and his colleague Bud Holst invented the kneeboard. The idea was to lower the center of gravity compared to water skis, thereby improving the controllability of the projectile and diversifying the arsenal of complex tricks. But such a board deprived the athlete of the opportunity to absorb the shocks of the waves with his legs; all the blows went to the spine and head, and controllability was unimportant. The problem was solved by adding a hydrofoil to the board. The wing was secured to a single stand - after all, the projectile had only one “ski.” To put the board into mass production, the inventor sold the patent along with the prototype to Hydroslide, a leading kneeboard manufacturer. However, instead of making the projectile popular, Hydroslide for five years banned Murphy from not only mentioning it in the press, but even from riding his own invention.
George is famous for his original way of riding behind a boat on his own heels, his unique artistic style and tireless cheerfulness. Banana George, a three-time Guinness World Record holder, is called a water skiing icon. At 92 years old, he continues to compete in water skiing and barefoot skiing, master new extreme sports (snowboarding, skydiving), and also plays music.
The invention of the most popular hydrofoil projectile is associated with the injury of Murphy's friend, athlete and inventor Bob Wooley. While hydrofoil water skiing, Bob injured his ankle joints. In order to continue skiing without putting any strain on my weakened legs, I had to install a seat on the skis. During skiing, the spray flying between the skis hit the athlete's face, so the separate skis turned into one wide one. Wooley's teammate, Mike Mack, also tried the hydrofoil, but couldn't stay in the seat. Mike had to install a belt on the seat, which they called Mackstrap. In approximately this form - with one wide ski, leg bindings and a belt on the seat - the most popular hydrofoil project exists to this day - the “sit-down” foilboard.
The joy of flight
Today, hydrofoils complement almost all water sports equipment: wakeboarding and kitesurfing boards, surfboards and windsurfs, water skis, foilboards for riding on your knees or while sitting. What makes athletes so willing to switch to the “winged” technique?
The main advantage of hydrofoil projectiles is the smoothness of the ride, unattainable on conventional skis and boards, and at the same time independence from waves. A “winged” projectile simply does not react to waves whose height is less than the length of its wing strut: it rests not on the surface of the board, but on the wing, which is constantly in the water. Hydrofoil projectiles allow one to reach significantly higher speeds than their “wingless” counterparts, since it takes less energy to maintain the athlete at the same height than to constantly throw him over the waves.
The athlete usually spends most of his energy on absorbing the shock of waves and holding the towing halyard, which constantly changes its tension. When riding on a hydrofoil, a person gets much less tired, which allows him to concentrate on performing tricks or simply enjoying the scenery. A foilboard is no more difficult (and perhaps even easier) to control than a regular water ski. The only difficulty with hydrofoils is that they are somewhat more difficult to float up and get into position. This is done in two stages: first, the athlete must plan on the surface of the board and only then, gradually increasing speed, rise above the waves. Of course, you won’t be able to launch a hydrofoil from the shore either—you’ll always have to start from the depths.
WINDSURFING BOARD "AFS-1"chydrofoil.
FLIGHTING OVER WATER IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR EVERYONE!!! WITH AHD HYDROFOIL "AIRFOILAFS-1"
What is the windsurfing of the future? This is a flight on a board with a hydrofoil (foil) over the water! We have opened a new era of foil windsurfing
WHEN: With winds from 0-15 knots (less than 7 m/sec)
Technology, innovation, excellence, sensation, balance, magic.
No words can describe the feeling of the rider when he flies over the water, almost 3 times faster than the wind, with a wind speed of only 7 knots!!!
Years of development, testing and testing have finally resulted in the creation of an exclusive board that will allow you to experience the unique sensations of free flight over water.
WHAT IT IS: AHDAirfoilSurfing? This is a completely different style of riding on water. This is walking on a board on the water with a different technique, in a different stance and on completely different equipment, different from a classic windsurfing board. It's a game of concentration and balance.
WHO IS THIS FOR: The AFS-1 can be ridden by anyone who knows how to ride a regular windsurf board at high speed and turn with confidence.
However, you must understand that it will take time to learn foiling step by step.
HOW TO DO IT: The AFS-1 is a progressive windsurfing board concept.
With a volume of 110 liters, the board easily and quickly goes on planing.
You need to keep balance and not be afraid of speed - both success and extreme sensations are in your hands!
The board comes with two hydrofoils for different levels of rider experience.
Level 1: The first wing must be used on the board without inserting into the loops.
It will allow you to learn and feel the behavior of a foil board with relative comfort, and then master walking on it.
Level 2: The second wing is used when walking in loops.
Your legs should be as wide apart as possible, while remaining in a comfortable position to maintain balance.
With a wind of just 7 knots (less than 5 m/sec) on an AFS-1 board with a 7 meter sail, you can already take off above the water.
Ideal for Russian latitudes, with our winds of medium strength!
AFS-1 design:
The board has an aggressive cutout at the nose. It allows you to maintain maximum flight speed without allowing the wind to upset your balance.
The board and hydrofoil (fin) are completely made of carbon - 100%.
Fin (hydrofoil):
Combines the latest manufacturing technologies,
Manufactured at FlorianMadecComposite by experts of the highest level in yacht building and aeronautical products.
It is a seamlessly manufactured design made from autoclaved carbon fiber.
AHDAFS-1 - concept, development: BrunoAndré
AHD AFS-1 –finaldesign: Philippe ROULIN-PYD
AHD AFS-1 –shape: Pascal Gerber
Manufacturing: Florian MADEC-FM Composite
Company TRIDENN AHD Windsurfing Boards
A video of riding on an electric board with an eFoil hydrofoil has appeared on the Internet. We were interested to know more about this device. Here's what we found: in a small workshop in Puerto Rico, a group of enthusiasts led by Nick Lisan began developing an electric hydrofoil board in 2009. Today they are already accepting orders with advance payment on eFoil (that's what they called it). Total cost is $12,000, advance payment is $6,000, order completion time is 5-6 months, delivery costs and customs payments are at the expense of the buyer. Warranty – 1 year. The first deliveries will begin in September 2017, quantities are limited.
It's time to go somewhere near the water and have a good rest. The best way to do this is to equip yourself with some kind of personal watercraft.
For example, such as this most interesting new product, which will allow you to ride the waves and bring a lot of positive emotions.
Control panel
Summer is the time to go on vacation somewhere near the water. Swimming is always good, pleasant and, moreover, useful. However, we should not forget about the existence of a huge number of water vehicles, of very different classes; in particular, we should not forget about individual water vehicles. Today, there is not a very wide variety of such products on the wide market and this new product, called eFoil, is designed to correct this terrible injustice.
So, an eFoil is a swimboard with a motor and propeller that allows it to propel itself forward through the water. The vehicle is intended for lovers of outdoor activities near the water and swimming, as well as for all those who want to try something completely new. The new product should hit the market in September of this year.
The dimensions of the vehicle are 168x71 cm. It is intended for one person. The maximum speed will be 22 knots, the manufacturers assure. This miracle will operate on an electric motor and be powered by a 1200 W lithium-ion battery. You can charge it from a regular 220 Volt outlet. A full charge will take approximately 2.5 hours. As for the duration of the ride, a full battery should be enough for almost one hour of cutting through the waves.
