With a passion for two sports: kayaking and cycling, I often doubt what to do in the rare free moments left for sporting: should I take the bike or the kayak? No more question with the Waterblade of Alexander Gäbler: a human powered hydrofoil boat-bike.
The picture above is taken from the German cycling-magazine Aktiv Radfahren. The Waterblade was presented on the ISPO (International Trade Show for Sports Equipment and Fashion) in Munich. According to the article in Aktiv Radfahren it makes a 100 meter sprint in 14 seconds, and reaches a maximum speed of 26,1 km/h. The latter is rather disappointing. I thought biking a hydrofoil would be much faster than kayaking a hydrofoil. However the Flyak (a hydrofoil kayak) is said to be paddled at 27,2 km/h!
I have my doubts about the seaworthiness of these constructions. And I will miss the rolling fun. So I will stick to my (separate and) conventional kayaks and bikes!
PS:
1. The website of Foilkayak (the producer of the Flyak) is currently out of the air. You can see a picture and a video of the Flyak on Derrick's blog.
2. I suppose the maximum speed of the Waterblade exceeds 26 km/h. A quick calculation learns that the average speed on the 1oo meter sprint is about 26 km/h. Top speed must be much higher! 40 km/h ??? Human powered on the water? Wow, that opens totally new pespectives for waterbike commuting: in one hour from Woerden to Amsterdam!
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