{"id":12417,"date":"2024-08-23T15:50:49","date_gmt":"2024-08-23T15:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=12417"},"modified":"2024-08-23T15:50:49","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T15:50:49","slug":"hydroflyers-15k-electric-hydrofoil-is-the-mountain-bike-of-the-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/topat10.com\/?p=12417","title":{"rendered":"Hydroflyer's $15K Electric Hydrofoil Is the Mountain Bike of the Sea"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

It\u2019s not until<\/span> the fourth time I fall into the choppy, rolling waves at the mouth of San Francisco Bay, directly below the Golden Gate Bridge, that I realize I probably never should have gone this far out on a motorized surfboard I\u2019ve never ridden before.<\/p>\n

I’m zipping around\u2014a foot above the waves most of the time\u2014on an electric hydrofoil board made by the Canadian company Hydroflyer<\/a>. Jerry McArthur, Hydroflyer\u2019s CEO, is on another of his company\u2019s boards behind me. We started out at a peaceful lagoon inside the bay in Sausalito, but I\u2019ve decided to trek over to the bridge\u2014where the current and waves are the strongest\u2014just to see if the Hydroflyer could handle it. Turns out, it very much can. The question is whether I had the aquatic acumen.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s high tide, meaning currents coming in from the ocean are strong and the headwind is ripping, making the approach under the bridge difficult. (McArthur had warned me about these precarious conditions before we left.) At one point I\u2019m gunning the thro<\/p>\n

ttle as fast as I can make it go, and the board and I are all but staying in place. I finally cross the threshold to the other side of the bridge, then the wind whips me into the water again. This time, McArthur helps me back up onto the board before the waves can smash me into one of the bridge\u2019s pillars, and finally I can get going.<\/p>\n

We head back to the Sausalito lagoon, out of the wind. By the time we are almost home, I\u2019m so exhausted that it\u2019s hard to stay standing on the board. The whole experience was an adrenaline rush\u2014a magnificent scene that I probably never would have experienced without this very expensive electric board. McArthur laughs and says his lawyers probably wouldn\u2019t be very happy to hear that he took me out that far in these conditions. OK cool, I’ll be sure not to tell them.<\/p>\n

\n
\n