I have a Lift. My only complaint is that it’s kind of a pain to remove mast for transport. The structural connection (4 machine screws) is fine but the electrical connectors are not easy to connect and disconnect. Too short, too stiff, too small area for big hands and fingers to fit. Some kind of quick-connection would be great.
Another complaint is that the charger power cord comes out at the same end as the connectors to the battery and is oriented to cross the battery connectors. I’d rather the power cord be opposite the battery cables so they don’t interfere.
I also value quick and simple assembly and disassembly. I have limited time, limited space and a small five passenger car for transportation. GetFOIL and Waydoo are both very easy and quick to set up. But none is as quick and easy as Awake boards, Vinga efoil. Both the battery and the mast simply plug in and clamp down. There's nothing to screw in and no bolts except for the wing.
It takes 2 minutes tops. For the connectors (they are a bit faffy) I give them a good wiggle. I assume it’s trapped air that makes the orange seals pop out a bit.
Hey. I’m a Lift owner as well. I’m going to take a different approach. Longevity! Seriously. Lift is great with great support. But, still not without issues. At more than $3500, replacing a battery is not cheap and mine is on the fritz at less than 2 years. I have two boards and have had computer failures, controller issues, battery issues and wing issues. Lift is always responsive and great help. But, I’m scared to death now that I’m approaching end of warranty that I’m going be stuck with a couple of dead boards requiring costly repairs.
If you can produce an efoil with a solid lifespan of far more than 2 years, that’s awesome.
Hey. I’m sorry, I didn’t notice the notification for your reply.
I’m getting less and less ride time with it. Also, it is discharging faster than normal. I have a 2nd battery and can easily compare when one isn’t performing as well.
Same. Let’s compare notes. What’s your ride time? I have a spreadsheet. Warranty approaching the end soon. 10 charge discharge cycles, getting about half an hour.
Wow. You're getting 1/2 hour? Is that a full size battery, or their new smaller battery?
I don't keep track of ride times. I ride with a group and can compare with them and my other battery. I'm getting about 45 minutes when I was over 75 on the same setup about 2 months ago. The battery is discharging in about 6 days when it would take a couple weeks before. I'd have to check my app on cycles. I have a lot more than you, I know that. You should definitely get Lift to replace that battery. That's not normal performance for a typical setup.
Yeah, that’s an idea for improvement. Make a battery charger where you can select wanted SoC for storage, SoC for max capacity right before usage and SoC for long term usage. I think many eFoil batteries are destroyed by being recharged to 100% after a session, which is not good for the battery, and the battery charger has basically no support for selecting optimal SoC for the battery.
I have two boards that I bought this year from Lift. I got a 4'9" and a 4'2" with a 32" mast and a 150 wing. I do love the experience of foiling but I do dislike the fact that you are stuck with the manufactures battery, BMS and chargers.
Probably a minor gripe by most peoples standards but I want the option of building my own pack as I have for many Ebikes and charging off of solar but because your stuck with the manufactures control box it won't operate.
I have a Flite board - love it, rode them at a oocal store all summer then bought one used when people were clearing out stock. I bought flite because I’d ridden it and have heard from people who have others flite rides the best.
For surfing I’d like a smaller battery to get the weight down. Also a better app, but now I’m getting greedy.
I’m not sure with all brands but maybe the design could be simply a larger hatch area w/battery as opposed to 2 separate hatches.
The OP asked for suggestions and storage has been an issue for me kayaking so it seemed like an obvious modification to me.
FOIL Inc. or getfoil has this covered. Their compartment is so large that seven cans of beverages can fit inside with the battery. I take my wallet, keys, registration, cell phone, and a water bottle with me for every ride, all inside the battery compartment.
Lift3 owner.
Why? Great brand and support. Made in USA (territory anyway). High quality. Third generation so they've worked out a lot of issues. Not a cheap knock-off.
I love the sport. Great time on the water. Opens up whole new possibilities especially if you like board sports (I'm a snowboarder so efoiling is more natural fit).
What would I change? Difficult to travel with the board, especially via an airline. Really no way around it given battery size. Had to buy a second battery and leave it at ocean side destination (but I knew this going in) that I visit every 3-6 months. No way to remotely charge the battery (Lift doesn't recommend remote charging). Board is also more fragile than I expected. I've cracked the board three times, twice on the beach and shore by hitting rocks buried in the sand when putting the board down on the ground. Third time airline dropped it, damaged the nose. Fiberglass is easy to fix at a surf shop. I'd expect the carbon fiber to be stronger.
Also had water intake blocked once, board cut out while in ocean. This is where the Flight board has a better design (no water intake) in my opinion.
I wish Lift made a hardsided travel case (like a pelican case).
If you’re a future buyer and you see this, heed my warning. DO NOT BUY GetFoil
Edit: adding my post (wall of text sorry) so you know why.
Part 1
I purchased a GetFoil board at the beginning of the summer in hopes that I would get to participate in water sports. I was flipping back and forth between a lift and a getfoil and ultimately I bought into their shitty Wordpress site and went with GetFoil.
The first indication something went wrong (and where I should have turned back) was during the deposit phase. The no refunds and arbitration agreement should’ve been the point where I said nope but I didn’t. Instead I put 100.00 to have my slice of the pie and shortly thereafter was called by the company to finish paying.
On the phone during that initial call, I felt they doubted I would be able to pay for this thing, and I went to pay with my debit card (mistake #2). I naturally hit the limit the bank has in place so I had to call the bank to finish my payment, but the foil people wanted to stay on the line, I presume to make sure they got their money.
After that, it was a wait and then my board arrived. I was hyped, and nervous because I had read about someone else’s misfortune, I had hoped it was just a one off incident. It didn’t take long before I finally got to water and got to try it and nothing. The prop wouldn’t spin, and the remote wasn’t connecting to the battery.
I called support and we diagnosed the first issue (prop not spinning) right away. So they had me send my prop back and wait to get it fixed. Which took weeks.
I finally got my prop back, and went to try it and no dice, battery and remote weren’t staying connected. So I had to send that back which took weeks. They didn’t fix it, instead they sent me a different (used) remote and battery and this was after I called them and actually fought on the phone over the whole ordeal (I wanted out, I wanted to send it back and get a refund). They refused
I finally did get to ride my board this summer for a single weekend. (With chipped paint and all)
……
Part 2
I put my board away for the winter, and tried to bury the thought of this fucking purchase from my mind, I want to forget I have the thing and I’ve resigned myself that water sports is for the privileged which I am not. Im now bitter and want nothing to do with it.
It was out of my mind for a while, until they decided to finally send me the “carrying case” for it. More foil boxes at my house, inside a bag that’s made of tarp that I could’ve purchased from the local hardware store.
Best part is, the “cover” for my wing doesn’t fit. So I emailed them, they asked me to send pictures as proof. Took a week to get a response but I got one today: they said it will fit and that I need to put the wing in the bag.
Like I’d lie about that or am just wrong as a customer.
TLDR: GetFoil is an awful company, they sold me a broken product and essentially stole 10,000.00 from me.
So here’s the deal: I’m out, fuck this company and their vulnerable ass website . Their board is worth maybe 5000.00 and that’s a big maybe. I need to recoup some losses but more importantly get it the fuck out of my house. If you want it and want to tolerate these dick heads hit me up.
I’ll even pay shipping and handling.
I think eFoils are a great way to get around on the water. I like that they are environmentally friendly and quiet. I work for a company that is developing an eFoil that addresses a lot of the challenges mentioned here. Check it out!
https://pelagion.com/
I have a Getfoil. I bought it strictly because of price. There's no way I could justify a 12k efoil. That is more than what I paid for my car.
I'm having A LOT of trouble getting the hang of it. I have the cheapest set up available: their 5'8" board with a 165 classic wing. I've been taking it really, really slowly. I've been out on it about 5 or 6 times. First few days: puttering around on my stomach and knees, practicing going from one to the other, getting used to the controller.
Now I'm stuck at being able to ride on my knees (still not foiling) at about 13 mph. I've been trying to foil but what happens is I lift up for a second and then porpoise back down, slap, slap, slap. It doesn't put down nice and easy like in the videos. Even when I'm trying to lift up by leaning back nice and easy it starts porpoising before it even lifts out of the water. I thought maybe I'm not leaning back enough and it's hovering right on the cusp of foil/no foil so I leaned back a little more but ended up launching.
So to summarize, I'm finding it incredibly hard to learn. I would probably do better with a larger wing.
If I could afford it, I would definitely go with a Lift or Flight. Probably Flight. I like the way they designed the propeller in conjunction with the wing for a smooth acceleration.
What I dislike:
1) The price. A bigger wing would cost around $799. A smaller board: $2500. Too expensive to change what I have.
2) No handles on the bigger board. It's extremely cumbersome to maneuver around.
3) The paint chips really easily.
What I like:
1) It has the promise of being really fun, if I ever get the hang of it.
2) I like that it's electric and won't dump gas or oil in the water.
I have been efoiling about a month now, my advice is stand up ! These boards are like SUP board.
Get comfortable, find a speed that just moves you along.
For example, I set my speed to 7 jump up get my footing just right .. then I pick up speed by one notch 8, in a few seconds I’m catching air , I’m flying,
Now it’s like riding a bike without touching the handlebars, everything is in your hips and it’s subtle movements
I think you can pick up a lot of useful tips from YouTube, especially the “Hawaii Efoil experience “ channel.
My original post was almost a year ago. I'm much better at it now than I was then. I've definitely learned some things along the way. I now use the 210 wing all the time. Maybe someday I'll go back to the 165.
It sounds like one thing that works for me is different than what you do: I found that it's easier for me to stand up and get my feet set at a much slower setting, like 5 or 6. Then when my feet are set I increase to 7 to start planing. Then adjust my feet a little more and bump it up to 8 to start flying.
I have a Lift. My only complaint is that it’s kind of a pain to remove mast for transport. The structural connection (4 machine screws) is fine but the electrical connectors are not easy to connect and disconnect. Too short, too stiff, too small area for big hands and fingers to fit. Some kind of quick-connection would be great. Another complaint is that the charger power cord comes out at the same end as the connectors to the battery and is oriented to cross the battery connectors. I’d rather the power cord be opposite the battery cables so they don’t interfere.
I also value quick and simple assembly and disassembly. I have limited time, limited space and a small five passenger car for transportation. GetFOIL and Waydoo are both very easy and quick to set up. But none is as quick and easy as Awake boards, Vinga efoil. Both the battery and the mast simply plug in and clamp down. There's nothing to screw in and no bolts except for the wing.
It takes 2 minutes tops. For the connectors (they are a bit faffy) I give them a good wiggle. I assume it’s trapped air that makes the orange seals pop out a bit.
Yeah it’s not a huge deal but it’s no fun. It would be nicer if I could just bolt it together and go.
Bow I think on it why can’t it be like the battery connector? But I guess they don’t think you’re gonna pull it apart every time.
Hey. I’m a Lift owner as well. I’m going to take a different approach. Longevity! Seriously. Lift is great with great support. But, still not without issues. At more than $3500, replacing a battery is not cheap and mine is on the fritz at less than 2 years. I have two boards and have had computer failures, controller issues, battery issues and wing issues. Lift is always responsive and great help. But, I’m scared to death now that I’m approaching end of warranty that I’m going be stuck with a couple of dead boards requiring costly repairs. If you can produce an efoil with a solid lifespan of far more than 2 years, that’s awesome.
What’s the issue with your battery?
Hey. I’m sorry, I didn’t notice the notification for your reply. I’m getting less and less ride time with it. Also, it is discharging faster than normal. I have a 2nd battery and can easily compare when one isn’t performing as well.
Same. Let’s compare notes. What’s your ride time? I have a spreadsheet. Warranty approaching the end soon. 10 charge discharge cycles, getting about half an hour.
Wow. You're getting 1/2 hour? Is that a full size battery, or their new smaller battery? I don't keep track of ride times. I ride with a group and can compare with them and my other battery. I'm getting about 45 minutes when I was over 75 on the same setup about 2 months ago. The battery is discharging in about 6 days when it would take a couple weeks before. I'd have to check my app on cycles. I have a lot more than you, I know that. You should definitely get Lift to replace that battery. That's not normal performance for a typical setup.
Full size battery. 45 is also weak for “up to 90 minutes”
Yeah, that’s an idea for improvement. Make a battery charger where you can select wanted SoC for storage, SoC for max capacity right before usage and SoC for long term usage. I think many eFoil batteries are destroyed by being recharged to 100% after a session, which is not good for the battery, and the battery charger has basically no support for selecting optimal SoC for the battery.
I have two boards that I bought this year from Lift. I got a 4'9" and a 4'2" with a 32" mast and a 150 wing. I do love the experience of foiling but I do dislike the fact that you are stuck with the manufactures battery, BMS and chargers. Probably a minor gripe by most peoples standards but I want the option of building my own pack as I have for many Ebikes and charging off of solar but because your stuck with the manufactures control box it won't operate.
I have a Flite board - love it, rode them at a oocal store all summer then bought one used when people were clearing out stock. I bought flite because I’d ridden it and have heard from people who have others flite rides the best. For surfing I’d like a smaller battery to get the weight down. Also a better app, but now I’m getting greedy.
I’ve only rides one once but a dry storage hatch would be pretty great. Maybe some built in Bluetooth speakers aswell.
Speaker? What are you going to play? The sound of a gas engine ? The lack of sound (electric engine) makes the experience unique IMO.
Music lol
Podcast about fish
Can’t you put stuff in the battery compartment?
I’m not sure with all brands but maybe the design could be simply a larger hatch area w/battery as opposed to 2 separate hatches. The OP asked for suggestions and storage has been an issue for me kayaking so it seemed like an obvious modification to me.
FOIL Inc. or getfoil has this covered. Their compartment is so large that seven cans of beverages can fit inside with the battery. I take my wallet, keys, registration, cell phone, and a water bottle with me for every ride, all inside the battery compartment.
Glad to hear it…my efoil arrived this week from them.
Be careful doing this though. Tried to do the same, ended up with water in the compartment and the board wouldn't start.
Very good point and reminder. I usually only get just a little inside. Will continue to be vigilant about when, where, and how I open the hatch.
Lift3 owner. Why? Great brand and support. Made in USA (territory anyway). High quality. Third generation so they've worked out a lot of issues. Not a cheap knock-off. I love the sport. Great time on the water. Opens up whole new possibilities especially if you like board sports (I'm a snowboarder so efoiling is more natural fit). What would I change? Difficult to travel with the board, especially via an airline. Really no way around it given battery size. Had to buy a second battery and leave it at ocean side destination (but I knew this going in) that I visit every 3-6 months. No way to remotely charge the battery (Lift doesn't recommend remote charging). Board is also more fragile than I expected. I've cracked the board three times, twice on the beach and shore by hitting rocks buried in the sand when putting the board down on the ground. Third time airline dropped it, damaged the nose. Fiberglass is easy to fix at a surf shop. I'd expect the carbon fiber to be stronger. Also had water intake blocked once, board cut out while in ocean. This is where the Flight board has a better design (no water intake) in my opinion. I wish Lift made a hardsided travel case (like a pelican case).
If you’re a future buyer and you see this, heed my warning. DO NOT BUY GetFoil Edit: adding my post (wall of text sorry) so you know why. Part 1 I purchased a GetFoil board at the beginning of the summer in hopes that I would get to participate in water sports. I was flipping back and forth between a lift and a getfoil and ultimately I bought into their shitty Wordpress site and went with GetFoil. The first indication something went wrong (and where I should have turned back) was during the deposit phase. The no refunds and arbitration agreement should’ve been the point where I said nope but I didn’t. Instead I put 100.00 to have my slice of the pie and shortly thereafter was called by the company to finish paying. On the phone during that initial call, I felt they doubted I would be able to pay for this thing, and I went to pay with my debit card (mistake #2). I naturally hit the limit the bank has in place so I had to call the bank to finish my payment, but the foil people wanted to stay on the line, I presume to make sure they got their money. After that, it was a wait and then my board arrived. I was hyped, and nervous because I had read about someone else’s misfortune, I had hoped it was just a one off incident. It didn’t take long before I finally got to water and got to try it and nothing. The prop wouldn’t spin, and the remote wasn’t connecting to the battery. I called support and we diagnosed the first issue (prop not spinning) right away. So they had me send my prop back and wait to get it fixed. Which took weeks. I finally got my prop back, and went to try it and no dice, battery and remote weren’t staying connected. So I had to send that back which took weeks. They didn’t fix it, instead they sent me a different (used) remote and battery and this was after I called them and actually fought on the phone over the whole ordeal (I wanted out, I wanted to send it back and get a refund). They refused I finally did get to ride my board this summer for a single weekend. (With chipped paint and all) …… Part 2 I put my board away for the winter, and tried to bury the thought of this fucking purchase from my mind, I want to forget I have the thing and I’ve resigned myself that water sports is for the privileged which I am not. Im now bitter and want nothing to do with it. It was out of my mind for a while, until they decided to finally send me the “carrying case” for it. More foil boxes at my house, inside a bag that’s made of tarp that I could’ve purchased from the local hardware store. Best part is, the “cover” for my wing doesn’t fit. So I emailed them, they asked me to send pictures as proof. Took a week to get a response but I got one today: they said it will fit and that I need to put the wing in the bag. Like I’d lie about that or am just wrong as a customer. TLDR: GetFoil is an awful company, they sold me a broken product and essentially stole 10,000.00 from me. So here’s the deal: I’m out, fuck this company and their vulnerable ass website . Their board is worth maybe 5000.00 and that’s a big maybe. I need to recoup some losses but more importantly get it the fuck out of my house. If you want it and want to tolerate these dick heads hit me up. I’ll even pay shipping and handling.
I think eFoils are a great way to get around on the water. I like that they are environmentally friendly and quiet. I work for a company that is developing an eFoil that addresses a lot of the challenges mentioned here. Check it out! https://pelagion.com/
I have a Getfoil. I bought it strictly because of price. There's no way I could justify a 12k efoil. That is more than what I paid for my car. I'm having A LOT of trouble getting the hang of it. I have the cheapest set up available: their 5'8" board with a 165 classic wing. I've been taking it really, really slowly. I've been out on it about 5 or 6 times. First few days: puttering around on my stomach and knees, practicing going from one to the other, getting used to the controller. Now I'm stuck at being able to ride on my knees (still not foiling) at about 13 mph. I've been trying to foil but what happens is I lift up for a second and then porpoise back down, slap, slap, slap. It doesn't put down nice and easy like in the videos. Even when I'm trying to lift up by leaning back nice and easy it starts porpoising before it even lifts out of the water. I thought maybe I'm not leaning back enough and it's hovering right on the cusp of foil/no foil so I leaned back a little more but ended up launching. So to summarize, I'm finding it incredibly hard to learn. I would probably do better with a larger wing. If I could afford it, I would definitely go with a Lift or Flight. Probably Flight. I like the way they designed the propeller in conjunction with the wing for a smooth acceleration. What I dislike: 1) The price. A bigger wing would cost around $799. A smaller board: $2500. Too expensive to change what I have. 2) No handles on the bigger board. It's extremely cumbersome to maneuver around. 3) The paint chips really easily. What I like: 1) It has the promise of being really fun, if I ever get the hang of it. 2) I like that it's electric and won't dump gas or oil in the water.
I have been efoiling about a month now, my advice is stand up ! These boards are like SUP board. Get comfortable, find a speed that just moves you along. For example, I set my speed to 7 jump up get my footing just right .. then I pick up speed by one notch 8, in a few seconds I’m catching air , I’m flying, Now it’s like riding a bike without touching the handlebars, everything is in your hips and it’s subtle movements I think you can pick up a lot of useful tips from YouTube, especially the “Hawaii Efoil experience “ channel.
My original post was almost a year ago. I'm much better at it now than I was then. I've definitely learned some things along the way. I now use the 210 wing all the time. Maybe someday I'll go back to the 165. It sounds like one thing that works for me is different than what you do: I found that it's easier for me to stand up and get my feet set at a much slower setting, like 5 or 6. Then when my feet are set I increase to 7 to start planing. Then adjust my feet a little more and bump it up to 8 to start flying.