Photos by Jennifer Stenglein/Fliteboard
Now, more than ever, is the time for some outdoor fun near home, and one Nyack-based company has the answer. Fliteboard is a company producing electric-powered hydrofoils, an electric surfboard that raises you up out of the water and gives the illusion of flying.
The mission behind the Fliteboard was to create an easy-to-use, safe way to enjoy this fast-growing sport. To help achieve that, Fliteboard created the first unibody eFoil.
“When we talk about a unibody eFoil, what we mean is we put the motor inside the fuselage of the whole system, as opposed to where our competitor has the motor, which is mounted halfway up the mast,” explains Rudi Miklosvary, the head of Fliteboard’s U.S. operations. “Now, the benefit of our system is that it provides a far more efficient propulsion mechanism because there is less wetted area of the whole motor body.”
In short, less friction equals more efficiency.
Fliteboard also manages to optimize speed, reaching around 27 miles per hour, while being emission- and noise-free. With a powerful marine battery, the Fliteboard can last for an hour and a half on the water. The board garnered global attention with awards such as the Good Design Award and recent Red Dot “Best of the Best” International Design Award.
After three years of development, Fliteboard launched in Australia in January of 2019, and set up its U.S. headquarters in Nyack in December of 2019. “Nyack, from a geographical point perspective globally, is a very good position to provide for a wide variety of customers,” tells Miklosvary.
“We’re in the business of delighting our customers,” says Miklosvary. “We provide a unique experience — the sensation of flying over water, which is unlike anything else.”
Find any body of water that’s at least four feet deep and you’ve got a place to ride the Fliteboard. Miklosvary notes the Hudson River is the perfect place to try it out — no waves/wind are needed to ride. (Please check with municipalities before you launch your craft.)
Fliteboards don’t come cheap, however. Starting at $12,935 they are about twice as expensive as personal watercrafts like WaveRunners; go to us.fliteboard.com for more information.
