Will eFoils kill Wake surfing?

[The Hulk]

crazy Father's Day purchase at $13k, But I'm having a blast riding a fliteboard pro.. figured it's a good weekend to ask for forgiveness on a purchase? 

crazy power, fast, scary, fun, already injured haha, but perhaps I should have watch the video first that if you're going to fall jump away or don't go super slow and up on the foil and fall and roll it & the fin hits you..

anyways after you get the hang of it it is just a blast.. Right now for me it's way more fun than wake surfing.. took me about 30 minutes to get the hang of it and after three rides I feel a lot more confident about an hour and a half of use so far 

My 9-year-old son picked it up in about 5 to 10 minutes and loves it Said it's way more fun than wake surfing..

it's a lot easier than taking out the boat and frankly without all the expenses..

 

I got the extended battery We go out for over an hour and the battery is still 40 to 60% left crazy..

I started to see a handful on our lake and it looked pretty fun but man when you get on and start to get the hang of it it's way more fun than it looks just like wake surfing.. 

My next adventure is going to try and ride it about 4mi to a floating Lake restaurant eat a burger and ride it back. 

If I were a wake boat company I'd want to buy one of these brands as I can tell you for my own experience we probably won't be surfing much this summer anymore. We will be mostly e-foiling and I think I'm going to get another!

They seem ridiculously expensive and they are more than a jet ski in many cases but it is the sport we all have been looking for and we don't need a group of homies to go out and ride! 

And instead of $200k+ plus You get all the fun you want for about $13k currently and I suspect that will drop significantly over the next 4 to 5 years as the technology advances and more than two players get in the game.. 

Wake surfing manufacturers should be scared to death about these things catching on! no joke I probably wouldn't have a wake boat if this thing would have come out 6 years ago.. 

 

 

[Bradley Thornton]

I get what you are saying. BUT I also feel like you miss the point. Personally I don't want to send my kid off why I set on the dock/sandbar I want to hangout with my family on a boat spend Quality time with them. Now when my kids are gone I'll be all over this and still have the boat when I can get them to come over. If I had a boat house on the water this would be a must as an extra toy but the boat would still come first as I would tell the kids if we have time we are using the boat. If its just them wanting to get a quick set use the eFoil

[RyanB]

This trend will FOR SURE cause boat prices to fall….

[CaptainMorgan]

I tried an efoil last year for 10min and gave it a "meh" as I fell all over the place ...but then I learned to foil last fall and tried the efoil again this week and it was A BLAST! 

Concur with @Bradley Thornton that it wont replace my boat as I cant fit 2 families for a day of making memories.  But the appeal of going for a spin with minimal prep, clean up, and only on my schedule is high (similar to a kayak ride but with speed and adrenaline). 

Will be curious how the activity newness wears off - my kids initially loved to surf 4 yrs ago when we initially got the boat and have now declared surfing boring.  Buddy with efoil rode it a ton the first year then barely at all last year...

[CaptainMorgan]

Thinking about this more, i can see @The Hulk point of these complicating a wakeboat upgrade decision for example.  It's way cheaper to buy a pair of these things and add to repertoire of activities vs upgrade to get a slightly better wave.  But way more applicable to those with waterfront property than trailered boats.

Single Efoil can still be social- last week we had a big group - at one point I surfed while 2 others foiled on 2nd waves, and jet ski and efoil guys zoomed around behind us. We rotated slots and kept everyone involved.

@The Hulk have you tried regular foiling behind the boat? It's got similar "flying" feel but with surfy aspects - teenagers may dig it as much or even more (can do tricks vs just ride around).  I see reg foils as a potentially bigger threat to wakeboat industry as entry point is 10x lower than efoil and it can be done behind virtually any boat.

[Cole2001]

I can see e foils replacing jet skis but not boats. Not enough of a social aspect to it. I also rode one last summer and after I figured it out was kind meh. 

[The Hulk]

everybody's talking about social aspect but I thought all the new Young generation kids are antisocial? 😂

they'll probably have to upgrade these things with a new handle that holds your iPhone 😂

[The Hulk]

57 minutes ago, CaptainMorgan said:

Thinking about this more, i can see @The Hulk point of these complicating a wakeboat upgrade decision for example.  It's way cheaper to buy a pair of these things and add to repertoire of activities vs upgrade to get a slightly better wave.  But way more applicable to those with waterfront property than trailered boats.

Single Efoil can still be social- last week we had a big group - at one point I surfed while 2 others foiled on 2nd waves, and jet ski and efoil guys zoomed around behind us. We rotated slots and kept everyone involved.

@The Hulk have you tried regular foiling behind the boat? It's got similar "flying" feel but with surfy aspects - teenagers may dig it as much or even more (can do tricks vs just ride around).  I see reg foils as a potentially bigger threat to wakeboat industry as entry point is 10x lower than efoil and it can be done behind virtually any boat.

No I have not and I guess I never really thought about this that you could probably use it with a normal but I just assume you had to still have a wake boat or a decent wave.. interesting though!! and good point! 

[RyanB]

Can “the kids” eat Cheetos while efoiling?  If not, they probably will stay in the boat. 😉
 

In all seriousness I think they look super cool. And if they weren’t so expensive I’d already have bought one. But I don’t see it replacing the boat. 

Edited June 19, 2023 by RyanB

[UWSkier]

Anything that results in less people rolling sacked out surf wakes is good with me!  Foils welcome!

@The Hulk you can finally get that pontoon boat you always wanted.  Keep the family aspect of boating, have tons of space, and foiling is doable, both E foil and standard.

[shawndoggy]

Unless you have more than one and a friend to sesh with, I think it will get boring over time because it’s a lonely solo activity vs the togetherness of a boat. 

[justgary]

@The Hulk, I say go ahead and get that second one.  That makes the chances of finding a buddy that much greater. 

Soon you'll be harping on the manufacturers to make a 27 foot efoil board that will hold a cooler, the whole family, and a dog!

[The Hulk]

20 hours ago, UWSkier said:

Anything that results in less people rolling sacked out surf wakes is good with me!  Foils welcome!

@The Hulk you can finally get that pontoon boat you always wanted.  Keep the family aspect of boating, have tons of space, and foiling is doable, both E foil and standard.

bought the tritoon last summer, We use it 90% of the time and the wake boat is 8% of the time for tubing or kneeboarding... and 2% surfing 🤣

[The Hulk]

9 hours ago, justgary said:

@The Hulk, I say go ahead and get that second one.  That makes the chances of finding a buddy that much greater. 

Soon you'll be harping on the manufacturers to make a 27 foot efoil board that will hold a cooler, the whole family, and a dog!

I was thinking about strapping my SUP to this thing so I could be a little bit more comfortable have more stability put a big cooler on it and just go around! 

[The Hulk]

All I can say is don't knock it till you try it! For me what I like was that I was able to just go at it for an hour and a half I was tired before the battery was close to being dead...

with four kids under 10 it's hard to go surfing these days they're not quite all into it except for my oldest but now he wants to efoil instead..

when we did go surfing I'm lucky to get 10 minute runs.. couple other people on the boat do their runs next so you know it you're at 45 to an hour Plus fill and empty time at minimum you're well over an hour or an hour and a half adventure to get 10 to 15 minutes if you're lucky... 

on those rare occasions I do get one person that just wants to drive for an hour and a passenger that wants to watch and you can surf for an hour but those times are rare...

I understand the aspects of the social part of having a boat I'm not knocking that.. I'm just saying that it's a whole lot easier to go spend a hundred grand on a pontoon and add one of these to your mix then to go spend 250k on a wake boat for a similar thrill.. 

I mean you can go buy a NICE  tritoon $120-140k two efoils $26k and two awesome jet skis 13-17k ea and boat lifts and still be less than your mid range wake boat.. 

 

 

[vanamp]

I have zero interest in any kind of foiling.   It just does not scratch the same board sport itch for me.  I don't think board sport enthusiast are scared but if I could find a way to wakesurf for $13k I'd be in. 

[The Hulk]

Just now, vanamp said:

I have zero interest in any kind of foiling.   It just does not scratch the same board sport itch for me.  I don't think board sport enthusiast are scared but if I could find a way to wakesurf for $13k I'd be in. 

just try one at a local shop and report back 

[CDAWake]

Dying to try foiling. Efoil or behind a boat, it all looks fun

[CaptainMorgan]

24 minutes ago, vanamp said:

I have zero interest in any kind of foiling.   It just does not scratch the same board sport itch for me.  I don't think board sport enthusiast are scared but if I could find a way to wakesurf for $13k I'd be in. 

i had the same opinion for like 2 yrs - buddies would foil and i'd politely decline and surf while i rolled my eyes at them. I even tried a couple times and took awkward falls to 'confirm' it was dumb...

But then last year i tried again on a whim and had a little success and then a little more and then bam, i could do it and it was GREAT.  its different for sure, and i still enjoy surfing, but foiling opens up a huge playground of maybe 100' by 100' behind the boat to carve around on so i like to surf a couple sets then foil a couple sets.  It can get more aggressive than floating around as buddies do jumps and are working on flips (long way to go there).

so you may be surprised (or you may hate it and thats cool too) - but if you try,  i'd try to borrow stuff from someone thats been doing it for a while as the setup is tricky & expensive and wrong setup can doom the attempt.

[vanamp]

25 minutes ago, The Hulk said:

just try one at a local shop and report back 

They are at pretty much all the events we have our pop up shop at and could demo one anytime.  I see the appeal but I'd take a wakesurf ride 100 times out of 100.  Generally I am not a fan of motorized things or things that involve extra "stuff".  People think I am kidding when I say I don't like my boat but its what I can do with my boat that I like not the boat itself. 

 

[vanamp]

The one exception for me may be the One Wheel.   I have been purposely avoiding riding one because I don't have $1800 to burn. 

[anutami]

2 hours ago, vanamp said:

The one exception for me may be the One Wheel.   I have been purposely avoiding riding one because I don't have $1800 to burn. 

We bought 2 last year and now they just sit in the garage.  Cool at first but gets old pretty quick.  Don't waste your $$$.

[hunter77ah]

53 minutes ago, anutami said:

We bought 2 last year and now they just sit in the garage.  Cool at first but gets old pretty quick.  Don't waste your $$$.

Which one did you get?

[mxmark4]

11 hours ago, CDAWake said:

Dying to try foiling. Efoil or behind a boat, it all looks fun

Foil had been my favorite activity so far behind the boat. More fun than surfing way more challenging and when you get the hang of it there's pumping, the second and third wakes, taking it to the beach for surf foiling, dock starts, winging with out the boat, and stealing waves from other boats. Can't do that surfing or any other watersport I have tried. E foil looks fun, I had high hopes of buying one this past year at boat show after my dealer promised smoking deals on them, but at 12k I decided that it's not for me. Until they come down in price I am out on the e foil. 

[dalt1]

10 hours ago, anutami said:

We bought 2 last year and now they just sit in the garage.  Cool at first but gets old pretty quick.  Don't waste your $$$.

I bought an EUC 2 years ago. (Electric Unicycle) not One Wheel. It will top 30 MPH and range of 70 miles. Mostly goes on vacation trips now to ride for time on land and not in boat. A lot like E Foils in fact that need friends to have them to to have group fun. Price point much lower though at $1,500 - $4,000.

I would love to try the E foil though. Thinking the lack of air time would bore me fast. Learning curve probably short due to my Strapped in foil time. This foil setup is $8,000 or more to replace in todays dollars.

Edited June 20, 2023 by dalt1