Finally got mine and first session I used my 58 litre Wingboard. I could not get going at all. Not sinky enough and not floaty enough. Plus trying to hold the rope and controller. Grabbed my 32 litre prone board and so much easier. Straight standing sink start with a slow rise to the surface and then gas to get foiling. Boogie is everything it was promised to be.
Great video Dave! Love your honesty and focus on the safety of other water users. It looks so fun but, as you say, very dependent on location and user ability. I really hope this doesn’t cause issues in years to come.
Great review Dave, I’m a boogie owner and as a tow surfer for 20 years I find wake style take off more easy on the body rather than drop knee. Plus I don’t use foot straps, just give a little bit of throttle to hold feet on board, can maintain that until I see a set coming. Riding 34L on a 4,6 at 80 kg on ha680,880,980 wings. Luckily I live where’s there’s hardly any surfers so not an issue with crowds. Keep up your great reviews 👍
Great work! very thorough and honest. Finally all the info I was looking for especially how to launch. The prone pop up required for DIY tow boogies is very frustrating.
Great honest video Dave. I think these tow boogies are banned in NSW, due to their 'unmanned' nature. The motorization of surfcraft particularly foil craft at popular surf spots does offer a risk to the public, but perhaps just as critical, the assumption to the rider has that he has priority since he has caught it out further out than the sitting surfers, suppers and foilers. To add insult to injury, the Operator now on foil in the break, has the option to link up perhaps 3 waves of say, a 5 wave set. This doesn't look like much fun for the other surfers, are they expected to just sit there and accept this new reality? One of Newtons laws of physics states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. The reaction will probably start with more aggro in the surf towards ALL foilers followed by banning ALL foilers from certain beaches, which will most likely be poorly enforced leading to more aggro in the line up. I know the leaders of foiling in Australia and overseas have been flogging motorised surfcraft since it it a natural progression of their business model as do the shops, but in the end, we will all lose.
how can you see the boogie if its out the back behind 4 lines of waves, what if there is someone between you and the boogie , does it auto avoid them ?
As much as I like the video and the tow boogie, I have reservations due to how I have seen it used recently at my locals. As we have seen with efoil/FD there are people who will regularly take these into lineups with surfers or into places where other motorised craft are not allowed. My concern is that this will eventually result in restrictions to be placed on these devices, but that it will target all foiling and not just the motorised methods.
The question one should ask is who owns the lineup and who has more right to decide who can do what where. My thoughts would be fish have more rights then humans in the ocean.
The beauty of the tow boogie is there’s no need or reason for it to be in the lineup. I use mine the same as Dave as a chip in device then I leave it way out the back and either pump or paddle back to it. Even then I’m no where near other surfers. If you see someone foil driving or driving a tow boogie through a crowded lineup then best to educate them on the appropriate use rather than just reflexively bash the device as a hazard. After all it’s the person making the bad decision going through the lineup not the device that’s the problem. This goes for all foiling through crowded lineups whether powered or not, we all have to be smart about it. The tow boogie is an awesome device that further allows us to foil outside crowded lineups away from other surfers. It’s the most fun I’ve had on foil.
Just saw one 1/3 the size of this at sunset Cali. He left it outside but got too close to surfers. I see the problems but I want one too. Looking for a better break.
There a awesome idea, but as foiling becomes more popular , there just going to get us banned,I was out a my local the other day & there were 4 foil drive foilers out there, & they were a pain in the arse taking every wave. I’m a winger & it’s the last thing I want is for us to be banned from foiling.
I have property in Mexico with an empty point break just outside of town. Would it be possible to prone a regular surfboard out to the lineup, catch a wave and then summon the boogie to come and pick me up and tow me back out?
What a complication of such a simple thing as surfing/foiling. Absolute over-engineering, irresponsible use of planet resources and a great way to get water sports banned in beaches. The video is great though…
So in case you are in some way disabled - it is completely fine to launch a semi-autonomous thing that looses controls behind the waves into the ones swimming around - make more disabled ones.
