One of the newest forms of watercraft, an efoil, passes by one of the oldest forms of watercraft, a sailboat. It was late, on a rainy afternoon:
A little over a month ago, I had this webcam view, waterfront at Hotel Beaufort (NC), playing on my TV. I was more interested in my laptop, than watching the webcam, but that view is “relaxing”. Something new was added to the other watercraft chugging along eastward. I didn’t know what it was, but single individual, apparently not in or not on a small watercraft like a canoe, kayak or ski. Little or no wake, not a jet ski. Moving incredibly fast, passing everything going eastward. And the person came back in the opposite direction in about 10 minutes. *I googled and found “efoil”.
An efoil looks like a boogie board, with a fin beneath, and an electric motor & propeller, and has a Bluetooth hand controller for the rider to control their speed. It can also slice through the water at 25+ mph, which is incredibly fast. They are currently expensive, about $12K, and probably will always be inherently dangerous.
This is the nearest thing I’ve seen to being able to walk on water, and much closer to flying. Still, there is a submerged portion (electric motor, propeller & stabilizer fins) that will remain beneath the surface of the water. Dangerous? Well, you could always lose your balance while riding and fall where the efoil hits you with one of it’s sharp edges. Or, going 25+ mph on water, just falling off and skimming like a stone across the water, could be problematic. Or, the submerged portion might snag on something.
Still, I would like to see efoil races that run from the Beaufort waterfront over to the Cape Lookout Lighthouse and back. Maybe not much of a race since the lighthouse is about 8.5 miles from the Beaufort Hotel, as the seagull flies.
Bill Gibson, II 