FliteLab AMP S & AMP Jet Package

Overall:
For the surfer at heart with hands free operation, giving you the ability to take in the vibe of the lineup including the skills of prone paddling, positioning for pop-up and making duck-dives and all the activities of being in the lineup but not requiring the nuisance of hand held remote, lanyard, tiny little screens and trigger power control. The safety of all power and control systems integrated into the board makes it more desirable in surf.

Setup:
1-2 foot waves, slight 5mph side off breeze. Long period, clean swell. Flitelab AMP 4-6 31 liter board, Mast mounted just past mid point of tacks. Armstrong 980ha/220glide on 60cm fuse and 75cm perf mast. Timers tuned to 60 sec for easy paddle mode and 10 sec for power boost mode. Rider weight 155lb and capable of 4-1 wave linking, pumps and carving and typical prone foil setups (w/o any external power). Wave experience with winging, FoilDrive.

Likes:
Great capabilities and features packaged in a simple to use product with intuitive controls that work really well together.
Really bright and crisp high resolution multi-color deck mounted LCD status screen.
Easy to read display in the sun and water.
Well designed layout of display control pad, great use of easy to read fonts. When powered on, defaults to a picture of the battery with the percentage available, just like a MacBook.
Button layout well thought out and intuitive with each activity (paddle or wave) mode on opposite side and a diff shape button (oval vs. triangle). Can be easily learned and pressed with out looking after only part of a session.
Being able to use any foil kit, no limits. Use the same foil winging or behind the boat, easy to unbolt - no extra work, tools, tape or special alignment or extra screws.
Super nice deck pad. Board carbon quality super high.
Enjoyable to sit on, pivot and move around - that its so similar to a typical prone foil kit, the learning curve is maybe 3 waves.
Being able to catch non-breaking waves as a prone foiler.
High performance board that paddles easy, fast, and glides into waves - even with out using the power.
Being able to pump like a prone board, with similar balance and projection and not having any drag with external batteries, cables, motors or props.
Board handles and turns easy, so experience can be drawn from other disciplines of foiling.
Rider stance stays the same as in other foiling disciplines like wake foiling, prone, and winging. No new balancing techniques to learn. Leverage what you know.
The system is so well balanced there is no alternative non-standard stance required in contrast to systems with external mast mounted motors and batteries.
Touching the deck down on pumps can be recovered on long pumps -its not the end of the world as it is with other mast mounted systems.
The low power paddle mode to get out to the waves is right speed and makes it easy to duck-dive any oncoming waves and white water.
The power boost mode pushes just as hard as other competitors mast mounted propeller systems requiring a hand held remote and trigger.
The way in which the motor automatically shuts down when the board reaches flight.
Battery status is constantly displayed, unless there is a countdown timer showing during a paddle or wave boost. This makes it really easy to see overall status of the system

Challenges:
Its important to note that the take off is slightly different than a pure prone foil kit. When the boost power combines with wave and with a foil taking flight, you need to stay squatted for an extra second during pop-up. This is subtle but it does improve success. Your stance stays the same, there is no change.

The Amp Board is truly what I've been dreaming of since my first day prone surf foiling - a paddle assist and a slight boost to get into waves and on to foil.

I was able to ride the 4'6" at 32L, paired with an Armstrong 725 performance mast, 60 fuse, HA780 foil and speed 180 tail on a waist high glassy day on the Outer Banks.

I'm a very experienced surfer, foiler and weigh 160lbs. I liked the board at this size but could have ridden the 27L.
The controls are intuitive and perfect. I didn't think I would use the paddle assist but over an hour-long session I found myself using the paddle assist to get back out to the waves, or buzz over to a set just out of reach. The short boost was enough to catch every wave I wanted and just about enough to get up on foil with the slightest additional push from the wave. The shut off worked perfectly - with the longer paddle assist, I used it a few times to catch waves, and the boost immediately turns off once on foil. I found the performance of the board exception - not too heavy to surf foil at a high level and able to pump around the lineup to link waves. Additionally, I enjoy foiling for the surf paddle training through the summer. This board doesn't rob me of that during my session. I can still paddle it out to the lineup and even with the paddle assist, you still paddle, just at a faster pace.

The battery lasted just a bit over an hour with very little downtime between waves, boost and paddle assist. I lost track on the number of waves I rode in that hour!

The amp board still requires a breaking wave (or at least it did for me) so it's purely a surf foil product for me, compared to Foil Drive where you can ride unbroken waves but the performance of this board once on foil and into a wave is superior.

As a surfer, this is it!