I’m finishing my early-morning session, riding from the outside in through the inside, beginner’s break and I spot these two guys on sponge-looking longboards. I’m not paying very close attention at first, but sense that “something ain’t right with this picture”. Then it hits me: these guys are taking off on waves without paddling. No, I’m not talking about “no paddle” take offs: they had electric motor driven PROPS built into their boards. Neither one of them was paddling a single stroke: neither when they were taking off nor when they were paddling back out to the lineup. Unless I’m mistaken, the motor seemed to be controlled by a wrist-mounted remote.
Terrific: JUST what we need! Wait til the surf schools get hold of THESE contraptions: oh joy!
I’ve seen motorized boards before, back in the mid 70s, but because they were extremely heavy, bulky, expensive and unmaneuverable, they never caught on, even with beginners. These things, on the other hand, may proliferate and turn out to be a REAL nuisance.
Scary thought! The answer would be a strict ban (with heavy fines!) on any motor-powered watercraft, anywhere except yacht marinas and the open sea! Where did you see these?
I’m not inclined to give somebody on one of those any respect. And if they start using the motor to weasel or snake, the gloves are DEFINITELY off. The motors did seem capable of a short burst of speed.
If I see these guys again, I’m going to try to find out if these are prototypes or if they are actually in production. I was just so disgusted and pissed off by the implications of the existance of such a thing that I was in no mood to “chat them up” at the time.
I predict ugly confrontations if these craft start showing up in any numbers at established surf breaks. You can pretty much visualize the kind of DORKS that would be using them.