Birth of a Motorized Surfboard

An anonymous reader writes: "The October Mechanical Engineering has a article on the creation of a motorized surfboard. Looks like a bigger creative leap than Segway and potentially a lot more fun!"

Comments

Re:Hang Octane! Cowabunk!

[vnguyen6]

And we wonder why Americans become so obese!

Getting lazy

[ee_moss]

I went surfing for the first time last summer. By the end of the summer, I was feeling pretty cocky about my surfing abilities. At first, though, it seemed like a real pain to fight against the waves paddling, trying in vain to make it out of the kill zone just past where the waves are breaking. But, as I kept it up, my muscles grew. Which was a good thing, because I had an office job at the time that kept me there 15 hours/day. Surfing was the only way to keep fit, and although this might be good for beginners, I think this is just going to contribute to the obesity and laziness of this world.

Surfing is supposed to be a sport!

Re:Getting lazy

[baba]

I've seen at least two instances of decades old (50's?) motorized boards in Santa Cruz; one in the surf museum, and another at a pizza shop. This is no new invention, and I suspect will fare just as well as the old ones. Real surfers don't seem to go for this sort of junk.

Skill?

[Kethinov]

I honestly don't see the point. Surfing is about skill and instinct. You need to find the right wave, then have the ability to propel yourself onto it and maintain balance for a set period of time. Automating the process takes the effort out of it.

But who am I to critisize? I live in Kansas and didn't RTFA. (Well I did look at the nifty pictures.)

Something's missing here....

[Mulletproof]

"Looks like a bigger creative leap than Segway..."

Let's see here... Auto-balancing two wheeled compact electric vehical or a surfboard with a small motor inside of it. Oh yeah, the creativity is just leaping from this project...

Doesn't this

[Timesprout]

Sort of defeat the whole purpose of being outdoors, getting some sun and fresh sea air and some good healthy physical activity at the same time?

If you need a motor perhaps you should wait until the virtual surf simulator is released for Ninentendo in oh say 20 years.

As long as it isn't smelly and noisy...

[sfled]

Yeah, that's why I go surfing, to see blue smoke, smell partially burned hydrocarbons and listen to the irritating whine of a small internal combustion engine.

First Prototype Created in the Late 1970s

[jeti]

Yes. Creativity and lazyness reached a new height that led to the first powered surboard - in the late seventies.

Re:Getting lazy - how about looking the mirror?

[omarKhayyam]

Hmm...talk about lazy, how about reading the article? This is not about avoiding paddling out to catch a wave, it's about surfing where there are no waves.

I wouldn't have bothered responding, except I can't believe this was modded +5 insightful.

This is something I will vandalize.

[fruity1983]

There are lots of appropriately modded posts on why this is such a stupid idea: Laziness, noise, smell, etcetera.

I have another reason.

The best part of surfing is... the surfer chicks. At least, it is in Tofino. All those beautiful hippy babes, in skin tight wetsuits, walking barefoot across the sand on a cloudy day, with the smell of the ocean and the roar of the surf as a great background.

Now compare that with how it will be if these things ever take off:

All those chubby women, in roll-tight wetsuits, leaving 8 inch deep craters in the sand as they stumble to the water, with the smell of sweat and Macdonalds and exhaust and the high pitch whine of a two stroke engine in the background.

If I see these on the beach, I will kick someone's teeth out.

Re:Hang Octane! Cowabunk!

[Weh]

I've "surfed" a motorized surfboard back in '91 or '92. It had the engine with jet at the back, the control (using a line with throttle control from front) was similar to this design.

The ride was alright I guess, not all that fast and really heavy compared to a real surfboard. The weight and limited power of the engine plus the fact that the jet inlet comes above the waterline easily limited the board a lot with regards to radical moves potential. I think I would have gotten bored with it quite fast.

I didn't try it in waves but I wouldn't want to wipe out with a board that heavy (does it have a leesh?? - would it tear off your foot?). Similarly how do you duck-dive a board like this? It would save you a lot of paddling though but I think this thing is not really intended for waves.

I don't really like motorized watersports equipment, they pollute the environment. The joy of the beauty of an area such as a beach, lake, river can easily be spoiled for a lot of people by the presence of one loud jet-ski.

Use of technology

[m00nun1t]

This article is also a great insight into how businesses view technology. He spoke about how it helped him build better designs, get to market better, improve communication, speed up production, etc. Not once did he mention Microsoft vs Linux, pros and cons of open source, etc. Doesn't mean he doesn't have an opinion, it's just not his focus. As someone who is a technology person, but spends most of my time talking to business people, this is pretty spot on.

Worth keeping in mind - for business, technology is just a means to an end.