”The barge” efoil build

[larsb]

Speaking of poor electric karma.. the good thing is the barge worked beautifully last session.The bad thing is that i hit a rock under water at full speed. It was large enough for me to hit it also in the crash - An incredible luck was that i didn’t go totally unconscious and drown as i was riding alone. A guy on the beach swam out and pulled me out of the water and bandaged my head. What a hero! So stupid of me..

Ten stitches in my face, a nice headache and a spine and neck xray (and 8 hours) later i was discharged from the ER.

Don’t know the status of my board but i won’t be able to ride it for a while anyway.

 

[Hillhater]

Ouch !
Sorry to hear about the accident,..your project was very impressive.
I guess there is no need to tell you, as i am sure you will remember that you must do your “homework” before you test yourself against Mother Nature !
Her punishment can be harsh for those who forget to do the research.! :wink:
Old sailor tip... deep water is dangerous,... but shallow water is more dangerous.!

 

[larsb]

I totally agree :wink:
I guess i’ll be fine in a few weeks but right now it’s pretty miserable. My face is twice the size and even my dog is scared of me due to my weird movement pattern.

 

[Leeoskar]

I have followed you project and are very impressed. You are dedicated and creative, sad to here about the exident. I have been riding foils, not electric but with kite and can tell you the rock you hit might be hard but the fin on the foil is very sharp! A full face helmet is recommended at all times.

 

[larsb]

My foil actually is designed so slow that it is very blunt. Radius is about 10mm so you cannot get cut. I’ll have a think about protection..

 

[larsb]

Got a new prop printed, received both their real print and the test print so i did a carbon overlay on the uglier test print. It needs some coats of epoxy to fix the surface but i’m really happy with the carbon overlay


Looking forward to healing and using it!

 

[macribs]

Speaking of poor electric karma.. the good thing is the barge worked beautifully last session.The bad thing is that i hit a rock under water at full speed. It was large enough for me to hit it also in the crash - An incredible luck was that i didn’t go unconscious and drown as i was riding alone. So stupid.

Ten stitches in my face, a nice headache and a spine and neck xray later i was discharged from the ER.

Don’t know the status of my board but i won’t be able to ride it for a while anyway.

Wow - so glad you are still alive and kicking Lars. That could have turned really ugly really fast. Hey karma must still be on your site, 10 stitches sucks, but if x-ray confirmed you ok those stitches are just proof of your good luck and fortune. Where any scares with pride, you sir are an e-foil pioneer. Keep healing and keep on riding. You will master this.

For future rides, maybe you could map out the area you are riding with a boat and those "fish finders" to search for shallow water, stones and stuff so you can ride in safer area? Of course that will only work if there ain't no dam in one end, as such lakes can have large variations in depth within relatively short manner of time.

 

[larsb]

I checked some depth plots already for the nearby lakes.. i’m riding only the deep ones for a while :wink:

 

[macribs]

Smart. Clever way to get safer rides. Enjoy whatever sunny days are left before winter hits. I just noticed autumn is just around the corner this week. Tuesday I think, I went to visit a friend around 7.30 pm. It was almost dark already. Any day soon it dark at 3 pm until 9 am. Fcuk I hate winter.

 

[larsb]

I’ve got a drysuit so my season is eternal :wink:

I checked mast today, seems ok but the upper mount now has some play in it. Glued it solid with epoxy.

I’m now mostly healed so tomorrow is ride time again if the board works

 

[ossivirt]

I’ve got a drysuit so my season is eternal :wink:

Its all good and fun untill lake freezes over :lol:

 

[larsb]

Thanks to global warming my lakes almost never freeze anymore. Damned southern sweden, you can just cut away 4 months in the calendar since the winters are so useless.

 

[larsb]

Back on the horse again, todays ride was the best yet!
Riding was more stable with the glued upper mount. I used entire battery without cutouts and got some eights and ovals ridden. I find toe side turns a lot harder than heel side, don’t know why, I’ll just have to ride more

I’ll eventually do a carbon overlay over the mast, it still takes little force to create twist angle and sideways bending - mast walls could've been a bit thicker on the Gong mast.

 

[buddy]

Kudos to everyone who is talented enough to build an efoil her-/himself. I was think about buying a complete eFoil and tend to Lift Foils. I found this overview of eFoils:

https://e-surfer.com/en/electric-hydrofoil-comparison-e-foil-overview/

Did anyone ride one of these?

Cheers

 

[Allex]

I have a waydoo one.
Very happy with the quality, and I am very picky!
Once you learn how to stand on it it, you want something more nimble though. Something like Fliteboard ULTRA or Lift Pro.

 

[larsb]

Yes, i guess that's the problem with any fixed design that you purchase off the shelf. I can switch to any wing at any time, just 3d-print some motor/mast adapters if i want to ride a Slingshot/Gong/Chinese/Unifoil/whatever wing. I have also shortened my board three times now, down at 145 cm currently

 

[larsb]

I’m in the process of installing an extra storage box on my board currently. The idea is to have some warm clothing and a phone for the winter rides in case of a breakdown. My coldest ride so far was in -12 deg C and i could barely open my car when i got back, my fingers were so stiff.