[imagesource: HydroFlyer/ Unifoil]

South African hydrofoil company Unifoil was born in Jeffery’s Bay in the Eastern Cape, where Unifoil creator Clifford Coetzee has been developing foil designs since 2014. His first designs were mapped out on his coffee table.

Coetzee has dedicated years to refining his product, in collaboration with a team of top hydrofoil riders from around the world, including Hawaii, Australia, South Africa, and Brazil.

The Unifoil website tells you to “strap in and get ready for liftoff”, which is more than applicable to their latest creation – the HydroFlyer.

Over to InceptiveMind for the details.

HydroFlyer is based on lightweight carbon fiber construction and is powered by a supercharged lithium-ion battery that lasts for 2 hours of riding time at speeds of up to 35 mph (56 km/h) before a recharge is needed. The battery can be recharged in around two hours using a standard A/C power outlet.

It requires no fuel and generates no pollution. It also comes fitted with detachable handlebars.

The rider can adjust the speed using a wireless controller built into the handlebars. The controller feeds the signal to the onboard computer to power on the silent motor built into the waterproof mast. Once the HydroFlyer hits about 4 knots (4.6 mph), the power of lift and thrust begins to work its magic, and the foil comes out of the water.

Watch it in action:

The current price tag is sitting at roughly R200 000 so it doesn’t come cheap.

But, if flying above the water is what you want to do, this looks like the best way to do it.

You can pre-order the HydroFlyer here.

[source:unifoil&inceptivemind]