We first met Fliteboards CEO David Trewern and his team in person in the summer of 2018 and have been in regular contact ever since. Again and again, new details were revealed to us in interviews and meetings at trade shows.

In January 2019 had. we the first Fliteboard in Germany. We took directly the exhibit from the boot fair in Düsseldorf. Since then, the Fliteboards has been improved every year.

We are an official dealer and service center of Fliteboard.

Fliteboards 2022

In 2022, the team from Australia was once again able to shine with innovations. For one thing, the remote control has been improved. The trigger can now be pulled through further, which means a finer dosage of motor power.

The new Explore batteries have also been revised. The two outer metal plates are now titanium instead of aluminum. Also, a special PCM (Phase Changing Material) has been used to increase safety. In addition, the new 21700 cells are now installed. These are supposed to increase the longevity.

The motor was damped from the inside to reduce the motor noise once again.

The smartphone app also received some updates. Man now compete with fliteboarders around the world. For example, not only the routes and speeds are shared, but it is also recorded how long you ride a wave without engine power.

Fliteboards 2021

In 2021, Fliteboard had launched the 2nd generation of the Flite Board. One of the main innovations was that the data cable between the battery and the controller was now dispensed with. Data is now exchanged via Bluetooth.

In September 2021, I visited the Fliteboard team in Cannes at the Yachting Festoval. The following video interview with product demonstration was created for the E-SURFER Youtube channel:

Video Chapters:

0:00 Fliteboard Series 2 introduction
0:27 Bluetooth data connection
0:52 Starting procedure
1:20 Safety features
1:58 Fliteboard rubber pad
2:23 Foot straps
3:08 Fliteboard wing variations
4:28 Fliteboards TrueGlide Propeller

The Fliteboards 2 do without the arming to activate the eFoil via a sensor at the top of the board and instead uses a specific sequence of buttons on the remote control.

There are 4 models again this year. The inflatable Air. The Standard, the Sport and the Ultra Model. With the Ultra Model for very good riders, you now have the option to attach foot straps. For this purpose, there are pre-drilled threads in the board, which you can locate using a template under the rubber pad.

In addition to the standard wings, there is now a Flow and Flow S series. These Flow models are high aspect wings that allow longer glide. In addition, there are Race or Speed wings, which allow for very fast rides of up to over 50 km/h.

Last but not least, there is a new free spinning propeller that allows for surfing waves in the ocean and behind boats. Overall, the Fliteboards make a very good impression. In addition to the new features, they have also adopted features from the market leader Lift Foils such as the foldable propeller and the High Aspect Wings. Lift already has the third generation of eFoils with the e3 and had already introduced this accessory last year.

Fliteboards at boot show 2019

The Fliteboard electric foil models were presented at boot 2019 in Germany end of January. The 3 models standard, pro and inflatable were ready for orders at the time and were supposed to ship between March and June.

The Fliteboard (standard) is the allrounder board with 100 litres volume and is available in white, black and ash wood colour. The Fliteboard Pro with 70 litres is available in the same 3 colours and is targeted for more advanced riders.

Last but not least the 3rd model is the inflatable board with 180 litres which is designed for beginners, schools and rentals. It is also easy to handle and transport. Please watch the full 10 minutes demonstration of the Fliteboard electric foil with Hudson @ Fliteboard in the following video:

The Fliteboard electric hydrofoils offer more options. You can have a mast which is either 60 cm or 75 cm long. The shorter mast is easier to handle for beginners and as such it is recommended for the inflatable board. The 75 cm mast is designed for choppy water and more aggressive turns. Both masts Fliteboards at boot 20are available either in aluminium or black colour.

Hudson from Fliteboard explaining the different masts

The Fliteboard electric foil  offers also 2 battery options. The sport battery with 30 AH and 1.65 kWH is lighter for a more aggressive riding style while the cruiser battery with 42 AH and and 2.2 kWH (which is about 350 EUR more expensive) is for longer rides.

There are also 2 options for the wings. The larger CRUISER WING is easier to ride and designed for more stable foiling and heavy riders. The smaller FLY WING is for higher speeds up to 40 km/h, faster turns and lighter riders.

BTW, this Fliteboard electric foil in ash wood is now ours 😉

The remote control is always in safety mode and you arm the board by holding the remote control close to a sensor at the nose of the board. It has 20 virtual gears, which makes it easy to start foiling as you can choose the maximum speed and therefore just pull the full trigger while standing up.

Fliteboard electric foil remote control

The remote displays plenty of information such as:

• travel distance so far and remaining
• time elapsed and remaining
• maximum speed and average speed
• battery charge for board and remote
• Wh/km efficiency screen to identify the speed for longest distance
• diagnostics of battery temperature, current usage. etc which is measured about 100 times a second

Fliteboards – the beginning

CEO and founder David Trewern who was grown up in the small Australian surf town Merimbula and started to surf and windsurf with 10 years. Later on he switched to kitesurfing where he broke the GPS speed world record of 44.9 knots in 2015. Through kitesurfing he got also introduced to hydrofoils.

Fliteboard CEO David Trewern

For days without wind David was thinking about a hydrofoil with electric motor and worked on up to 20 prototypes with friends. His goal was very soon to develop the first electric hydrofoil with the motor integrated into the fuselage. What had started as a project for fun became a full time startup to bring out the Flite Fliteboard.

David had already founded 2 successful companies which had hundreds of employees at the end, but the Fliteboard was according to him the most complex process. The first months the focus was on the engineering process and hundreds of hours in front of the computer to define the right setup. The board, the foil, propulsion systems, battery and remote control were challenging hardware and software projects.

A lot of challenges

David found out that he needs more power than he expected and at the same time the weight needed to be reduced. And of course all components need to be salt-water resistant. He didn’t allow any compromises, he said, to develop a product that he would not only buy, but queue up to buy. David is living and working Byron Bay very close to the beach which allows him to test his e-foils almost every day. He spent several hundred hours on the Fliteboard to test it again and again.

I had the chance to meet David and the team multiple times. The first time was in summer 2018 where I had the chance to ride the prototypes in Spain. I was riding the inflatable version and the standard version.. It was easier to ride than 2 other electric hydrofoil ( a DIY board and the first Cabratec) I tried before. Only the Lift Foils eFoil gave me a similar experience.