E-foil for beginners: Awake Vinga 3
If you have long wanted to learn how to ride an electric flying surfboard - aka eFoil, but kept putting it off, because the learning process seemed too long and difficult, then you should try out the new board from the Swedish company Awake Boards - Vinga 3. This eFoil has been released this year at the Boot Exhibition in Dusseldorf, Germany “as a user-friendly platform for those new to the sport”.
Intro to e-foiling
E-foils, or electric hydrofoil surfboards, are similar to conventional electric surfboards but they also have an additional hydrofoil wing underwater. It allows the board to get off the surface of the water and fly about half a meter above the water. Not only does it create an exciting feeling of flying, but it is also much more effective. While a standard electric surfboard's battery can last from 45 minutes to an hour, an e-foil with the same battery can often provide you with two hours or more of riding. The Awake Vinga 3 isn’t an exception and it gives up to 120 minutes of riding time.
Stable board
The Series 3 Awake board has more volume (95 L compared to the 60 L of the Awake Vinga S addressed to more experienced riders), making the board very stable, so it’s easy for a beginner to handle it. The manufacturer says that you can stand on it like on a paddle board. The board is relatively large at the front part, which gives the rider plenty of space, so they can easily move from a lying position to the standing one.
The Awake promises that the design is created in such a way that even a beginner can ride this e-foil after 5 minutes of learning. The board itself is quite compact - 170 cm x 69.85 cm x 17.018 cm.
Compared to non-beginner e-foils, the Vinga 3 is longer and more buoyant. This model has hand straps and a double concave in the bottom of the hull. This double concave profile makes it easier to lift off and land the e-foil.
The manufacturers explain: “The issue with the big boards is that they become very sticky in the water, because they have got a very large gliding surface. Here we created a double concave underneath, so these 2 channels will let some air pass through and mix to the water which means that you are going to have a very soft take-off and also if you're going to touch the water you won’t splash it and get ejected from the board”.
There are two handles on the sides of the Vinga 3, so you can pull yourself on the board from the water and to carry the board from the land to the water easily.
Click-to-Ride system
The board can be assembled in just 30 seconds with the Click-to-Ride system: a snap-on locking mechanism to mount your eFoil without screws, cables or hatches. This system also allows you to switch between the boards using the same mast. For example, you can ride either The Vinga 3 board for beginners or the Vinga S for more advanced riders to master your arts and skills and do sharper turns and movements.
The disassembled board is super easy to transport to the beach or lake/river in the trunk of a car or even on a moped or bike.
Safety: shielded jet propulsion
The board is powered by a linear jet system which “gives a lot of grip in the water and it’s also forgiving if you breach the jet because of the constant water flow inside the jet” as the manufacturer explains.
The linear jet system that moves the Awake Vinga 3 across the water is fully covered ensuring that, should a rider fall, they will not make contact with the impeller. The engineers also worked on the wing shapes making them smooth and rounded and the mast is soft edged.
The jet of the board is very powerful, so even if you don’t want to go too fast, the quality of experience will be really high, and it tracks much better during your riding.
The price for the Awake Vinga 3 starts at € 19 900 (June 2023).
Intro to e-foiling
E-foils, or electric hydrofoil surfboards, are similar to conventional electric surfboards but they also have an additional hydrofoil wing underwater. It allows the board to get off the surface of the water and fly about half a meter above the water. Not only does it create an exciting feeling of flying, but it is also much more effective. While a standard electric surfboard's battery can last from 45 minutes to an hour, an e-foil with the same battery can often provide you with two hours or more of riding. The Awake Vinga 3 isn’t an exception and it gives up to 120 minutes of riding time.
Stable board
The Series 3 Awake board has more volume (95 L compared to the 60 L of the Awake Vinga S addressed to more experienced riders), making the board very stable, so it’s easy for a beginner to handle it. The manufacturer says that you can stand on it like on a paddle board. The board is relatively large at the front part, which gives the rider plenty of space, so they can easily move from a lying position to the standing one.
The Awake promises that the design is created in such a way that even a beginner can ride this e-foil after 5 minutes of learning. The board itself is quite compact - 170 cm x 69.85 cm x 17.018 cm.
Compared to non-beginner e-foils, the Vinga 3 is longer and more buoyant. This model has hand straps and a double concave in the bottom of the hull. This double concave profile makes it easier to lift off and land the e-foil.
The manufacturers explain: “The issue with the big boards is that they become very sticky in the water, because they have got a very large gliding surface. Here we created a double concave underneath, so these 2 channels will let some air pass through and mix to the water which means that you are going to have a very soft take-off and also if you're going to touch the water you won’t splash it and get ejected from the board”.
There are two handles on the sides of the Vinga 3, so you can pull yourself on the board from the water and to carry the board from the land to the water easily.
Click-to-Ride system
The board can be assembled in just 30 seconds with the Click-to-Ride system: a snap-on locking mechanism to mount your eFoil without screws, cables or hatches. This system also allows you to switch between the boards using the same mast. For example, you can ride either The Vinga 3 board for beginners or the Vinga S for more advanced riders to master your arts and skills and do sharper turns and movements.
The disassembled board is super easy to transport to the beach or lake/river in the trunk of a car or even on a moped or bike.
Safety: shielded jet propulsion
The board is powered by a linear jet system which “gives a lot of grip in the water and it’s also forgiving if you breach the jet because of the constant water flow inside the jet” as the manufacturer explains.
The linear jet system that moves the Awake Vinga 3 across the water is fully covered ensuring that, should a rider fall, they will not make contact with the impeller. The engineers also worked on the wing shapes making them smooth and rounded and the mast is soft edged.
The jet of the board is very powerful, so even if you don’t want to go too fast, the quality of experience will be really high, and it tracks much better during your riding.
The price for the Awake Vinga 3 starts at € 19 900 (June 2023).
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