Lampuga is a German electric jetboard manufacturer based out of Ratstatt. They started shipping the Lampuga Air model in April 2019 which they had already announced at the boot show in Dusseldorf in January 2018. You may have heard about the “old Lampuga” which was a company from Hamburg in Germany who released the Lampuga jetboards already in 2016. This company however went bankrupt in April 2017 and doesn’t exist anymore.
The new Lampuga jetboards are completely designed from scratch and even if they use the same name and somehow look a little bit similar you can not use any parts for the old boards. Investor Nicolai Weisenburger bought the assets and patents in 2017, but closed the factory and moved to Rastatt where he hired new staff and developed completely new boards. Nicolai’s main job is in real estate, but he was an early investor in the old jetboard company (which went out of business) as he was fascinated from the beginning about electric surfboards. He believed in this trend and thought he can make a better e-jetboard with the right strategy and staff. He hired a complete new crew including a new managing director who runs the daily business.
He build completely new factory with over 1,500 square metres where the jetboards are produced. It is based in Rastatt which is close to the black forrest in Germany. His engineers studied the weaknesses of the first generation board in order to improve the manufacturing process and reliability. According to Nicolai one of the most challenging tasks was to figure out all the legal requirements to launch such a product as well as finding a reasonable way to transport the lithium ion batteries to customers.
The big coming out of the new company with the new boards was at boot 2018 which was in January of that year. Lampuga impressed with a huge booth and new colourful electric surfboards. Originally the plan was to ship in 2018, but as many other manufacturers they had to realise that it takes 2 years from a prototype to a reliable mass production jetboard. Nicolai wanted to do it right and delayed the launch to spring 2019.
Unlike other e-surfboard manufacturers, Lampuga is not selling directly to consumers. Instead they are focussing on the rental market and resellers such like the Jetboard Shop from Berlin. In theory they have 2 more models next to the Air model. The Lampuga Boost with a carbon fibre hull and the Rescue model, but they are currently focusing on the Air which got most interest from the resellers. We meet the Lampuga team several times a year which includes their Business Development guy Sascha Platen as well as the Managing Director Alexander Pick. In June 2018 the team brought a few prototypes to Berlin and I enjoyed to test them on the Havel river.
Last but not least Lampuga announced a 3rd business to business (B2B) model which is designed for lifeguard organisations or cruiser ships. The Rescue jetboard is a modified Air model with some extra features such like more handles and a resttube. If you think about it, it makes actually a lot of sense to offer such a board. It is fast, has a soft shell which protects lifeguard and swimmer and has a lot of volume to carry even 2 people.
Even in very rough water it can ne manoeuvred easily and safe by laying on the board. It is like a small life raft with a powerful electric jet motor. Since this is a pure B2B product please contact us for details.
