Surfboards might seem like simple pieces of wood – basically they are boards right? Well, there has been much innovation, and today surfboards are made of composite materials and can be highly crafted machines – yes, machines even as some new boards now include motors.
This is the idea behind the WaveJet, which started out as a mere concept just a decade ago. Mike Railey came up with the idea of using a small motor built from hobby shop parts to help catch the big waves. He cut up the boards, glued the motors on and basically had a lot of failures.
But the idea caught on better than the board caught waves, and surfboard developer Steve Walden helped. The result is the WaveJet boards, which feature a pair of battery-powered water jets that can propel riders up to 12mph in the fastest configuration, thus ensuring that the big waves are caught and not missed. While the WaveJet has no throttle, just and on or off it will get you going where you need to go.
The company also believes this concept could be used for more than just surfboards, and could be ideal for a range of personal water craft. The Personal Water Propulsion (PWP) engine would be used with kayaks, kiteboards, rescue boards and even light boats. The engines provide 20 pounds of thrust and can run for more than 30 minutes.
It also sounds like it would sure beat paddling out to the waves.