Matt's first Takuma Efoil Experience - Review

Here's a little write up on my e-foil experience.

I was recently fortunate enough to have the guys at Mackite let me try the Takuma Cruising 1600 E-foil. Here's a short take on my initial reactions. I've been kicking around an e-foil for a long time. While the price-point is dropping, we all know that this isn't just another board purchase that you can slide by the wife. Because of that, I've been a little hesitant to jump in. However, after getting on one and feeling the glide and seeing the possibilities, my eyes have totally been opened.

Cole from Mackite set me up with the board and gave me the 5 minute tutorial. I am notoriously not handy so when I saw the gadgetry of the board I was a little apprehensive. However, the connectivity of the battery to the board, as well as the mast and electrical for the motor to the board was quite intuitive. As was the bluetooth remote to the board itself. I put the board in at the boat launch in Spring Lake. I started on my knees at low speed and just felt the movement of the board and familiarized myself with how to adjust the speed via the remote. I found the remote to be comfortable in my hand as well as extremely easy to use.

Within 1 minute I felt comfortable enough to get the board up to speed and to get in surf stance and to get up on foil. I was instantly stoked. Here I am on glassy water, flying freely!! No wake, almost no noise and I could go wherever I want. So sick! Once I was up on foil I was very comfortable. I started making slight turns and got a little too aggressive on a couple and I fell off. The second I fell off, the board stopped and stayed within 5-8 feet of me. Getting back on and back up on foil became a breeze.

In summary, I am so getting one of these and frankly I can't wait! Living in Grand Rapids, with a busy family I often don't have time to drive to Lake Michigan to chase wind or waves. Now, I can drop my e-foil on Reed's Lake or the Thornapple River 5 minutes from my house for 30 minutes or so. That excites me big time. I had a sea doo that I would have my kids pull me behind for foiling. The issue with that was that I needed to convince two of them that pulling ol dad behind the sea doo was something they wanted to do. Well, I learned that in fact it wasn't something they wanted to do. Speaking of my kids, I think the efoil will be the easiest way to teach them to foil and I can see how we'll be quickly fighting over who gets the next turn on it.

The efoil will open up so many new horizons in terms of ways to enjoy our amazing waterways. I cannot recommend it highly enough and as I said, can't wait to get my Takuma e-foil from Mackite! Ride on friends!!