Matt Nuzzo: What's up everybody? Matt Nuzzo hanging out here in the backyard at REAL to talk to you about Fliteboard eFoils. If you're watching this video, you're down the eFoil rabbit hole and you're ready to purchase. Once you're ready to purchase, here are the main things that you need to understand: who it's for, battery size, and construction. Before we get to that good stuff, let's talk about why Fliteboard. Fliteboard is a premium board brand. We're carrying it here at REAL because we like premium stuff. You'll see there's a range of prices when you get an eFoil. None of them are cheap, but when you go to Fliteboard, you can really push the level of how much you can spend on an eFoil. You're looking at this racing eFoil; that thing is expensive and it's awesome.
But when you get down to the bottom price range on eFoils in the market, you run into some major issues that we have to discuss. At the bottom level, you're dealing with battery fires, safety hazards, construction failures, and things that just take your money and literally throw it straight out the window. When you buy a brand like Fliteboard, you get that reliability, you get that safety, you get the service, and you're going to get a product that's going to last you for a long time.
So number one and the first thing to consider is who's going to be riding this board. A lot of it has to do with the size of the rider and the type of experience that you're looking for. Generally speaking, the bigger the rider, the bigger board you're going to need. It seems pretty basic, but a lot of people are trying to get the smallest board that they can get, but that just makes it a lot harder for those that are going to be using it. A bigger board is going to have a bigger sweet spot. A lot of people think that when you get up on foil, the board doesn't matter, but the board size is really critical because a big board is going to give you a much more stable platform to ride. Just like if you want to ride waves like you're going to do with the L3, you're going to have a really small board that's really nimble and goes side to side.
Next is battery sizes. There's three things to consider when you're looking at batteries: how much you're spending, run time, and weight. The more expensive the battery, the bigger it is, the heavier it is, and the longer the run time. It's pretty straightforward. Looking at these batteries, we have the Nano, the Sport, and the Explorer. When I pick up this Explorer, it is heavy. We're talking about a 30 plus pound battery here, but it gives you over 2.5 hours of run time. The most popular battery is the Sport battery. The Sport battery is that nice balance of cost, run time, and weight. You're getting about an hour and a half of run time on this Sport battery. The Nano is going to be your high performance, short run time option. A lot of people are liking these in the smaller boards for higher performance.
One final thing to consider about batteries: spend up and get the high power charger. If you don't get the fast charger, you're going to have to charge that battery overnight. It takes forever with the standard battery. So, just spend the money and get the fast charger.
For construction types, we've got a variety of different boards here in a variety of different constructions. This is one of our favorites, the Air. It's a hard board with an air outer layer. The Air gives you lots of durability and lots of safety. You can bump it into boats, you can bump it off the dock, or you can fall on it. This is a really popular first choice for people getting into eFoiling. The price is going to be a little bit less than when you're going to something in the carbon or the higher end, but it is a really great choice.
Next up is a new one to the line, which is the Soft Top. This is a complete hardboard with just a softer outer layer. Again, it is good for those bumps and bruises. It is not quite as soft as a landing, but you're going to get a little higher performance feel when you're going for the full glass hardboard with the soft top. Over here, we've got the glass construction. You have glass and carbon, which are going to have a very similar riding style and feel. You are adding more weight with the glass—about 2 lbs more in board weight when you're going glass construction over carbon—but you are saving some money. Then you get to the carbon. This is the cream of the crop. It features really high-end weaves, is really polished, looks great, and is the lightest weight. That's why they're using the carbon on the race board and the L3 because you want to have the lightest weight, stiffest construction that you can get out there when you're doing performance eFoiling.
The last thing we want to talk to you about is ride quality. When you hold one of these things in your hands, you'll see how much craftsmanship goes into the quality at Fliteboard. One of the things they've done which is really unique is they've put the prop in line with the front wing. That does quite a few things. First off, it gives you less nose ride. Anyone that's ever eFoiled knows that the board likes to stay nose-high until it planes out, but having this prop in line gives you a really smooth takeoff and a very smooth ride. Also, with the prop lower, you get the entire mast for usable range. Having the full mast gives you all this area to make sure you're staying in the water while you're out there eFoiling. These masts are available in different constructions from carbon to aluminum. They also have different size foils and different props.
That's a lot of information for one video. When you're trying to find the right eFoil for you, you can give us a call at the shop or come and join us here in Cape Hatteras to learn how to eFoil and have a Fliteboard experience on your own. That's what we do. We teach people how to foil and we share our stoke about this sport with people on and off the water. If you have more questions, give us a call at the shop at 252-987-6000 or reach out online at realwatersports.com. We'll see you guys on the water for the next session.
