FUELING THE POWERED BOARD REVOLUTION
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FUELING THE POWERED BOARD REVOLUTION
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CLASSIC JET BOARDS TOW-IN BIG WAVE SURFING - JUST AN EVOLUTIONARY STEP? THE GIRLS OF POWERBOARDING.COM
Promotional graphic for brochure of the Jet Board, from 1968. Powered surfboards have been manufactured and sold by numerous companies since at least the 1960's.
OUR CREDO POWERBOARDING.COM EXISTS BY AND FOR POWERED BOARD ENTHUSIASTS, POWERED BOARD MAKERS AND POWERED BOARD DREAMERS. IF YOU MAKE, RIDE OR SELL POWERED BOARDS OF ANY TYPE, WE WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT! SEND PICTURES, ANNOUNCEMENTS OF EVENTS, AND UPDATES. IF YOU NEED INFO NOT FOUND ON THE SITE, LET US KNOW AND WE WILL TRY TO FIND THE ANSWER FOR YOU.
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BY RIDING YOUR POWERED BOARD TODAY!
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1/31/08 - NEW UPDATES COMING - check back soon! We are still tracking down and fixing a broken link here or a missing picture there. Thanks to our supporters for your patience! They have been described as "Like something James Bond would ride." Show up on a powered surfboard and you are definitely not just another surf dude.
NEW! ELECTRIC SURFBOARD CARTOON The cartoon, which you can see here, is nothing special. But some of the comments below the cartoon are classic. YES! Magazine held a cartoon caption competition for this cartoon of a woman riding an electric surfboard which resembles an ironing board.
QUESTION: Where can I get a powered surfboard? ANSWER: In the United States, the only company selling new Hydrojet powered boards today is Surfango. There are also some of the Surfjets from the 80's and early 90's which can be found in used condition and are a lot of fun. Other companies have been promoting their more expensive high performance boards for several years yet none of these are currently available for sale in the U.S., though they may have limited numbers for sale in other countries where the regulations are less strict. We don't recommend placing a deposit or getting your hopes up about any powered surfboards until they are actually shipping the products. It's hard to run a manufacturing, sales and support operation and until a company is doing that, it's best to consider their products as prototypes. SURFANGOTM HYDROJET SURFBOARD - A SURFJET STYLE POWERED SURFBOARD AVAILABLE NOW
"Surfjet" brand hydrojet surfboards from the 80's and 90's are fun, durable boards that occasionally come up for sale on Ebay. If interested, keep an eye on this up-to-date search that will show any Surfjets that come up for sale: SURFJETS ON EBAYTM RIGHT NOW : (they come up occasionally so if interested, check once a week)
NOW RECRUITING - "Girls of Powerboarding.com" Are you a girl who rides powered boards? Contact us to join this elite corps of female board riders! Email PBDCgirls@powerboarding.com
DISCOVERED! SURF-JET service manual available currently in print and available
Powerskitm Jetboardtm AMAZING PROTOTYPE MIGHT BE AVAILABLE SOMEDAY
The Powerski may one day be the next evolutionary leap in production powered surfboards. But first the Powerski company must make the difficult transition from a well-funded R&D and promotions organization to a company that actually builds, services, and ships to paying customers. They've been taking deposits for a long time, so we wouldn't recommend placing a deposit unless you are very optimistic and very patient. A couple of weeks ago one of their prototypes was for sale on Ebay, for export only - apparently because due to the engine it can't legally be registered in the U.S. So it may be the case that you could purchase one of these if you live in a country where it could be operated legally. Check with Powerski.com if this might apply to you. WANTED! Riders' pictures and stories of Powerski boards. Have you ridden this board?
Aqua Xtremes XBoard Prototype powered board, company now apparently defunct.
We haven't heard much about the Aqua Xtremes board lately. It seems that perhaps the company has gone away. Which is a shame, as we could use more makers of powered surfboards. The company claimed that it "combines innovative hull design and a powerful EPA conforming rotary engine". Last we checked, the previous website www.AquaXtremes.com was no longer active.
WANTED! A source for hydrojet engines for powered surfboard experimenters and homebuilders. The smaller and lighter, the better, with hydrojet impeller hooked up and ready to go. We get requests from people looking for such an engine. If you can supply it at a reasonable price, let us know! Email boardsellers@powerboarding.com
BOARD
OR BOAT?
When you buy a surfboard, you can throw it in the water and begin riding. You don't need a boat registration number or to pay a yearly boat tax. BUT... If you were to put a small hydrojet engine on the back of that same board, your "board" is now considered by the government to be a "boat" and you can't legally put it in the water without boat registration, yearly boat tax, etc. Same as a personal watercraft such as a JetSki or SeaDoo, in fact that's what your board has now become - a "personal watercraft." Now you are required to wear a life preserver while operating it, and may be required to have onboard such items as a fire extinguisher, boat registration papers, and emergency whistle! While regulations vary from state to state and country to country, in the U.S. and Canada, powered boards are subject to regulation, taxation, and government certification of a manufacturer's design. That may be one reason we don't see more rapid innovation and more manufacturers of these boards (at least yet). Imagine how much surfboard design would have been slowed down if every time a shaper came up with a new surfboard shape they had to apply to the Coast Guard for certification of their new design, or if for every surfboard you owned you had to have a registration number, ownership title, and pay a yearly tax. This is also probably one of the main reasons no one has tried to manufacture small add-on engines that could be attached to existing surfboards - would you want it as much if you knew it would turn your surfboard into a boat hull? And would you even be able to get such a surfboard registered as a boat? It seems unlikely that government regulations regarding powered surfboards will change anytime soon, however, so we might as well learn to live with them. Registration, legislation and taxation of personal watercraft is a well-established practice and since powered surfboards fall under that category, the best policy is to get your boat registration, pay your yearly boat tax, and obey Coast Guard regulations. Let's face it, the Coast Guard often takes special notice of thse unusual "personal watercraft", and if your registration sticker is out of date, your powerboarding fun can be ended for the day with a fine to match!
POWERED SURFBOARDS AND THE MAINSTREAM SURF MEDIA - IGNORANCE OR HYPOCRISY? The mainstream surf media has never expressed much love for powered surfboards. But why, when the attraction - and connection between the two - should be so obvious? On the rare occasion when a surf magazine mentions powered surfboards, it is usually in the context of a "worst inventions of the year" or "worst ideas ever" article. And although the mainstream surf media is quick to praise the epic and awesome spectacle of surfers being towed into huge surf by jetskis, the idea that boards can power themselves and that this is a good thing in some circumstances is never expressed. The pilots of the aquabikes which pull tow-in-surfers into the rides of their lives are presented as heros - their devotion to their machines and efforts to hotrod them for maximum ocean performance are legendary. So let's put two and two together and imagine a time when the jetski and the board have merged. What's more epic, being dragged into a wave, or pulling into under your own power? These waves are impossible to paddle into without power because the waves are too large, with water moving too fast. The only way to catch them is with power-assist. Eventually, powered boards will show that man can catch these waves without being dragged. Will the surf magazines then retroactively change their editorial stance, praising the innovators of powerd surfing as underground heros? Only time will tell. One reason why there is such a gap - maybe even hypocrisy - between the mainstream surf media's coverage of regular surfboards and powered boards is due to the surf industry as it exists today - the surf industry that pays the bills and provides the contests, events, and products which the magazines cover. Simply put, the mainstream surf industry is not set up to produce, sell, or maintain powered surfboards. Since powered surfboards are categorized as "personal watercraft", new models must be certified by the Coast Guard and a title transfer must take place when they are sold. Your regular surfboard shaper does not have government authorization to shape and sell "boat hulls", which are what the government calls a powered surfboard's board. Repairs on a powered surfboard's engine not available at traditional surf shops, and even ding repair on something like a Surfjet requires different materials and methods than what would be used for a traditional surfboard. There is also an inherent fear that powered surfboards might take over popular surf locations and "spoil things" with their noise and smoke. This is mostly an unjustified fear. Jetskis have already over-run most areas where they are allowed in, and most good surf spots do not allow personal watercraft, so powered surfboards would not be allowed there anyway. More importantly, the best conditions for regular surfing and powered surfboard riding are very different. The mainstream surf media seems to be ignorant of this distinction. If the surf is good, you don't need a powered surfboard and it would in fact not be as much fun as a regular surfboard. The added weight of the board and its engine would reduce your maneuverability and powered surfboards are not made to survive the type of wipeouts that constantly take place on regular surfboards. So even if you tried to ride a powered surfboard in larger breaking waves near the shore, you would probably end up flooding your engine after a few good wipeouts. Salt water would flood the engine and your would have learned that lesson the hard way. Powered surfboards can be fun in the ocean, but mainly in deep-water breaks when the water is glassy and there are small, unsurfable lines coming in which you can carve and jump. These small lines make awesome launch ramps allowing you to easily get as much altitude as you can handle. There is no substitute for the pure and natural rush of riding regular surfboards on good waves. This is simply not the environment that powered surfboards thrive on. Most powered surfboard enthusiasts who live near surf are also surfers and when the surf is good, the powered surfboard is left at home! So where do powered surfboards thrive? Basically 3 conditions are ideal: 1) glassy, flat water (for smooth carving) 2) boat wakes (for surfing the wakes, carving off the wakes and jumping0 3) small ocean swells in semi-glassy conditions, away from the beach (for carving and especially for jumping) Let's say the you're a surfer and the surf is flat. You could ride no surfboard at all, or grab your Surfjet and take it to the river to jump boat wakes and do hundreds of carves in less than an hour. Or you live where there is no surf at all, but you have access to a lake or river. The mainstream surf media may not "get it", or maybe they "get it" but they feel it is not their role to promote it. Maybe they just don't like it. Or maybe they feel that when the surf is flat it is much more radical and hardcore to buy a surf magazine and sit on the couch reading it than it would be to get on a powered surfboard and carve, surf wakes, and get air...
Surf-Jet
Produced from the 70's through the 90's, the venerable Surf-Jet is the most popular powered surfboard ever. Surf-Jets are reliable, fun, and being ridden every day by enthusiasts all over the planet.
USED
AND LIKE-NEW SURF-JETS AVAILABLE TODAY KNOWN SOURCES FOR USED AND LIKE-NEW SURF-JETS:
TOP SOURCE FOR SURF-JET PARTS THE PLACE TO GO FOR MAINTENANCE INFO, SURF-JET FORUM, REPLACEMENT AND PERFORMANCE PARTS - THE "SURF-JET GURU" SITE!
This site, run by the "Surf-jet Guru", contains boards for sale (both new and used), spare parts, advice on repairing and maintaining Surf-jet boards, and much more! Check out the bulletin board where Surf-Jet enthusiasts post messages and the Boards For Sale section listing boards the Surf-jet Guru is selling himself. He has used boards as well as a number of original, brand new Surf-jets. The Surf-Jet Guru site is the definitive authority and resource for information on Surf-Jet brand powered surfboards. If you want to buy a Surf-Jet or get info on maintaining or repairing the Surf-Jet you already own, just go to...
Motorsurf? Jetboard? Motorsurf Corporation is currently in the development stage of their Jetboard? , a light, high performance hydrojet surfboard.
STATUS: Not currently in production and not currently available for purchase. Prototypes remain and at some point development and possible mass production might be resumed.
Daniel Burnham's Jetsurfboard
Daniel Burnham of Spokane River has patented and built a prototype version of his version of what the powered surfboard of the future should be - and as the picture above shows, it is a fast future indeed. "This board is so fun to ride you have to see it to believe it," writes Daniel. "Note how easy to take off from shore and ride! I can ride right back into shore and step off the board and only get my feet wet. Fun! " Daniel's board was recently featured on TV on Spokane's local news. The cold weather of winter is not slowing down this hard-core powered board innovator. Daniel is hard at work on a new version using a new engine and sleek board design - probably right now!
For more info, see Daniel's web site: http://web.archive.org/web/20070208182021/http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/jetsurfboards/
Monojet A high performance jet-powered surfboard. The Monojet is a high performance jet-powered surfboard created by Egon Monostory and in development for over twenty years. Its top speed is claimed to be up to 40 miles per hour and the design and maneuverability look excellent. A good video of these boards in action can be found at the Monojet web site: http://web.archive.org/web/20070208182021/http://www.monojet.com/
POWERED SURFBOARD F.A.Q. Q: Are some powered surfboards actual jet boards? A: All known mass-produced powered surfboards since the Jet Board from the 1960's and 70's, through the Surf Jets of the 70's, 80's and 90's, to the currently produced powered surfboards, all used internal hydrojets for safety and power. When people refer to a "jet" surfboard they are referring to the hydrojet propulsion system which is usually based on a generic, general design with some variations from one manufacturer to another and is the same type of system used on a jetski, water bike, or hydrojet jet boat. A hydrojet engine simply sucks in water, accelerates it, and blasts it out the back, moving the vehicle forward - usually with great speed! There is no exposed prop so the safety of this type is excellent. With the availability of hydrojets, it is not recommended that any type of exposed prop be used for a powered board! The "Jet Board" is the marketing name given to a powered surfboard produced in the 60's and 70's. Powerski and Motorsurf produce boards which they refer to as a Jetboardtm. In none of these cases is the board powered by a an actual jet engine, it is a conventional internal combustion engine which powers a hydrojet.
Q: What companies are currently selling and shipping powered surfboards? A: The Powerski company is heavily promoting their boards, taking orders and deposits and signing up dealers but not shipping boards to customers yet. You may have seen them in magazines or on television. It is difficult to determine when you would be able to actually get a board delivered by them since the delivery date keeps getting moved forward. Contact Powerski for their latest availability information. There are a number of Surfjets (another powered surfboard produced in the 70's, 80's and 90's) which are available used and even in never-used condition. Surfjets have a "hump" on the back where the engine is. They are reliable and fun. Their performance may not be as high as the new powered surfboards being developed, but unlike those they are available today and at lower prices. Other companies and individuals are working to produce their own powered surfboards both for sale and for their own use; hopefully in the near future there will be a variety of brands of powered surfboards to choose from a variety of manufacturers, including those catering to those who want to push the progression by building their own custom powered surfboards. Hopefully we will see a day soon when the choice of a manufacturer is based on features, availability and price, and reputation - just as it is with non-powered surfboards, skateboards, snowboards, and wakeboards today.
WANTED!!! INFO ON WHERE TO GET VINTAGE JET BOARDS (LIKE THE ONE RIDDEN BY THE ENTHUSIASTIC LADY TO THE LEFT) REPAIRED AND RESTORED. IF YOU HAVE ONE OF THESE BOARDS OR KNOW WHERE TO GET THEM REPAIRED, LET US KNOW!
WANTED!!! POWERED SURFBOARD STORIES! IF YOU HAVE HAD AN INTERESTING EXPERIENCE WHILE RIDING YOUR POWERED SURFBOARD, WRITE IT DOWN AND SEND IT TO US SO WE CAN TELL THE WORLD ABOUT IT. IF YOU NEED HELP EDITING YOUR STORY, NO PROBLEM - WE CAN CORRECT ANY GRAMMAR OR MIS-SPELLINGS. SHARE YOUR STORY WITH THE WORLD!
WANTED - INFO ABOUT OTHER POWERED SURFBOARDS AVAILABLE NOW OR IN DEVELOPMENT! WHETHER PRODUCED IN YOUR GARAGE OR BY A MAJOR WATERCRAFT MANUFACTURER, WE WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT! SEND LINKS, PICTURES, AND INFO.
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Contents are Copyright 2001 by Bill Cobb Productions, Inc. and cannot be used without prior approval. All rights reserved. POWERBOARDING is a trademark of Bill Cobb Productions, Inc. |
Personal
Water Vehicle service manual from Amazon.com - includes 11 pages of detailed
SURF-JET service information!
