Did Transport Canada give you feedback that a jet drive is acceptable? If so how does one determine how long a duct needs to be in order to be considered a jet drive?
It’s very obvious you are pushing this narrative to suggest you are the only legal efoil which can be operated in Canada to advance your business. The spirit of this forum is to advance the sport and craft of the builds. What’s next, are you going to start reporting people? I own a company with a drone division and we work with Transport Canada and have found they are very easy to deal with in terms of opening regulations once they have correct information.
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Yes our het is acceptable. As for their specific rules on length you would need to talk to them. Keep in mind it cant be a propeller, it must me an Impeller.
Well Bufadore, there are several dealers in canada selling lift and others efoils with props. Its best they learn about it sooner than later, and for all the rest of this forum to kmow as well that if you get caught riding an efoil with a prop there is a fine here in Canada.
Sure its good news for me, but all im doing is sharing the info with 1800 fellow builders most with prop driven boards and sharing the news.
And yes transport canada will try to workout something out but refulation changes don’t happen quickly.
By definition, a shrouded or ductet axial propeller is an impeller. Propeller and impeller are synonym and often used together to explain them, so the only difference is some kind of housing to keep the tip losses low and to prevent the fluid from going backwards, sometimes the aim is to protect from touching. So the wording in the law (which i find nowhere), is to protect from touching?
I agree, that open props are not good for the use with surfboards or foils, because they might impose an additional risk. As surfboards with fins and centerboards with relatively sharp edges seemed to be allowed, and also foils of any dimension it seems odd at first view. Lets see whats on the other side: We have motor boats with open propellers, mounted even more prominent than on an efoil, likely to hurt so might be a risk for persons in water. But this risk is already present by foils and fins. For beginners i would recommend a shrouded prop, aka impeller how we will call it from now on. For professionals who drive their board without ever loosing control or only driving in open water under certain conditions, i personally would allow it and i would try to get a exception.
It is a pitty, that the canadian laws seem to be so strict and daft in this point. Are there so many accidents with props in canada? Why?
Anyone who wants to sale in canada will find his way to oblige with the laws or get along with stipulations. How did you get your allowance?
At least you warned us, thank you.
I am not affected as i am in europe, having our own problems and so far i do not plan to sell things. Self built things are not impeded in germany, you can get some sign if you like to. Power is locally limited.
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Important news from @Nibbler in Germany.
Then Volker gives a logical explanation.
What can we learn from this misadventure ?
1- Enquire to authorities if you are in a wildlife sanctuary, nature conservation area, nature reserve, etc,…
2 - Enquire to authorities if you need a registration, a licence or both,
In 2019, in most EU mediterranean countries it seems that you need nothing below 4500W/6HP (Italy, Greece, France, … list to be continued …) = no registration number for the board AND no licence for the driver.
In 2020, when/if we see efoils here and there, things will probably be different, same as electric scooters in capitals seen since May/June 2019.
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There are a lot of e boats on every bigger sea in Bavaria. On forggensee e boats are allowed. The point is that you need a license number. And the only way to get it is to contact the administration and ask for one. I called a lot of them the last two days. And they all said the same e boat is OK but e surf or e foil will get no numbers.
They even knew the names of the commercial ones like Waterworld etc. And they also said that they had a lot people asking them. But all were rejected.
In Germany it is different. Your board must be registered above 2.21kw but you are allowed to drive boats etc below 15hp without a driver license
FYI… in Australia we have some laws that need to be considered when using an eFoil or any kind of powered vessel on inland and open waters and to make matters worse there are different rules for each state. In Victoria the rules state that you must register any powered vessel that has more than 40 pounds of thrust or is capable of more than 5 knots. For NSW their rules states that it must be registered if it’s is more than 4.0 kilowatts or 5 horsepower. Plus the operator should have an appropriate marine or boat license with a PWC rating. Luckily boat licenses are easy to get… trying to registering an eFoil is somewhat tricky 
Croatia different too. 1.5hp boat under 299cm doesnt need licence. 4hp under 299 needs licence but doesnt need registering. Everything above that, needs registering and different stages of licence (depends on length, power and brutotons, idk how else to translate it). To make things even worse, it all depends on the region of the country, every has their own rules and pricings. Thats sea wise. Idk about rivers/lakes. Looks like pretty simmilar to Stralia.
Lakes are completely different and much more restrictive in Germany than the sea. On a lake you need a number plate for a boat, at sea even larger boats only need a name and the home port written on it, no need to register it anywhere. That is why I think there will be no problem there.
Police stopped me in the middle of the sea.
I received a report of 800 euros
because I do not have documents for surfboard and the law requires a cruise test
The procedure and the bureaucracy is so complicated in Israel (you have to submit all the plans and diagrams for an engineer’s approval and after that …) that right now I’m looking for a lake in Europe where you can play without problems.
any recommendations?
I received a report of 800 euros
because I do not have documents for surfboard and the law requires a cruise testThe procedure and the bureaucracy is so complicated in Israel (you have to submit all the plans and diagrams for an engineer’s approval and after that …) that right now I’m looking for a lake in Europe where you can play without problems.
any recommendations?
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Would you have been fined if you had been windsurfing at the same place ?
No, the law is only for electrical or motorized tool in any volume of power
Once you have solved the battery transportation (ok by boat but not allowed in planes), you could try :
Depending on which European Mediterranean language you speak or favour (Spanish, Italian, French, …) I don’t think in 2019 (maybe 2020 ?) there would be a problem playing with an efoil in the sea providing you are within 6HP or around 5000W. You just can’t do that in swimmers area. OK in sea scooters/windsurf area.
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So @s9tim and I have registered our efoils in Florida. State law requires that all vessels with an electric motor (of any size) be registered so better to be safe than sorry. Not the prettiest thing on the side of the board but at least it’s done. Cost me $38 with a paper copy of title/registration. Titled as a home-built vessel which didn’t require FWC inspection, but the tax office was curious so they got to take a peak at it. Anyway, if you’re in the USA you’re likely going to need to title/register your board.
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Does it mean that LIFT with new offices in Miami (Florida) (since the fire) would require a FWC inspection as they are not a home-built vessel ? 
No. Anything under 16 ft is OK. They did want pictures on file for mine though.
Hey there,
I own a Lift efoil, registering it in Berlin (Germany) in Jan 2020 was not a problem. Having the manual with me helped, they did copy it for reference. Efoil is registered as misc (“sonstiges”). Registering DIY boards might differ slightly but should be possible also.
Today, I ran into the water police for the second time this year. The first time they let me off with a friendly reminder to register the board which I didn’t have back then. This time they charged me 55EUR with “driving in area where not allowed / not following a obvious straight course” (§3 a WasMotRV).
So challenges persist to some extent. Anyone ran into similar problems in Germany?
I am thinking about contesting it though. For the greater good, obviously. Efoils are not jetskis… Maybe next time…
FYI:
§1.3 WasMotRV:
Wassermotorräder:
Kleinfahrzeuge, die als Personal Water Craft wie “Wasserbob”, “Wasserscooter”, “Jetbike” oder “Jetski” bezeichnet werden, und sonstige gleichartige Fahrzeuge
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