I was an early Kickstarter backer of Waydoo back in 2019. Having seen a prototype of their more affordable efoils at CES (The Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas in January 2019, I was motivated to join their Kickstarter campaign. I was backer #51 and in October 2019 they delivered on the promise of an affordable performance efoil. I wrote my original in dept review which can be found here (Waydoo Efoil Review) and made additional updates as time passed. Three years on, I am still a huge fan of Waydoo. Since that time I have ridden Lift V3 and other foils. For the money, nothing beats Waydoo hands down.
I have ridden over 650 miles on my original Waydoo Flyer One. It is the long mast and patroller wing version. As my skills improved I made a few modifications. First I removed the prop cage rear shield which improved manueverability. Next I removed the entire prop guard which greatly improved range and speed by creating significantly less drag. My board came with the original aluminum prop, I switched to the plastic prop briefly to see how that impacted performance. I found it worse. I needed to ride at a higher gear to achieve the same speed and range suffered. In 2022 they release a new set of props with much lower aspect ratios. I upgraded to the smaller prop and wow did that make a difference. While it took a bit more power to lift out of the water once flying I could ride further and faster at a much lower gear. This was a big improvement. As you can see there is a pattern of improvement here.
Fast forward to 2023 and I have made even more upgrades. It started with the purchase of the two blade folding prop. This yielded the greatest improvement to date. The folding prop offers greater range, greater speed at lower gears and the ability to glide. While I have not ridden in the ocean yet, I have been able to completely depower when catching wakesurf boat wakes. This is super fun and cool. The other major advantage of the folding prop is that it is much safer than the other props when not using the prop guard. As soon as you release the trigger on the remote the prop folds which limits the riders exposure to getting cut. One adjustment that is required if you plan to use the folding prop in waves and try to glide is that you must fully unlock the auto-remote lock function otherwise if you want to get back on the throttle you will first have to hold down the minus button and it creates too much lag. I would only recommend this for expert riders.
About a month ago I started having my first issue of any significance with my Waydoo. Periodically it would not connect with the battery, board and remote. Some have had a magnet issue, but that was not my problem. Waydoo’s team in China tried to troubleshoot. While they were responsive they were unable to figure out my problem. I reached out to Kevin Wade the Waydoo USA representative and he was very helpful. We isolated the problem to an issue with the battery or so we thought. I ordered a new battery even though my original battery only has 115 cycles on it and the battery seems in good health. After receiving the battery my connectivity issues persisted. Kevin suggested that it might be something in the power unit. Fortunately I live only a few hours from his Charleston, SC center. I drove down to Waydoo USA HQ, got to meet Kevin and he helped troubleshoot my issue. We tried a new mast/power unit and it solved my issue. A loose connection in my original power unit is probably to blame. I purchased the new Waydoo Flyer One Plus power unit and he convinced me to also buy the rear surf wing.
My original power unit which is the long mast version never bent nor broke like some of the other Kickstarter units. I had received the front wing brace and it worked great. The new mast shows many signs of improvement. There is no need for a front brace, the material seems stronger overall. To outline my current setup. Original Waydoo Flyer One board, original battery, original remote, patroller front wing, folding prop, rear surf wing and new long mast/power unit.
All I can say is wow. The new power unit is silent. It is amazing how quiet the motor runs compared to the original unit. It connects perfectly to the battery and remote relieving me of my concerns of getting stranded on the water. I am finding my range has increased by about 30% with the new power unit and rear surf wing. I need to do some testing with the old rear wing to understand how much of the improvement is the new power unit versus the surf wing. Overall I am super pleased.
If you are interested in ordering a board or upgrade accessories, click the image below:
Waydoo has the best design of any efoil with no wires and with the soft boards. Unless you are a high performance rider looking to surf waves, Waydoo makes a great design for cruising and learning. My top speed on the new setup is 28 mph and I weigh 165lbs. I can cruise about 12 miles on a charge and typically ride at 17mph avg speed on a fresh water lake. The backward compatibility of their new gear is a huge plus. The modularity also enables swapping parts for different conditions.
My next hope would be for a smaller board that is compatable with my existing setup. As an advanced rider stealing boat wakes, it would be cool to have a smaller board with less swing weight at this point. Kudos to Waydoo for continuing to innovate at an accessible price point. Visit the Waydoo Site to purchase boards, kits or accessories.
Waydoo has since released a new model the Waydoo EVO. Read our full review here: Waydoo EVO Review