Jet-Propelled Surfboard Battles the Breakers

Nice! I've got to get one of these!

Sounds like fun even if you aren't a surfer!

Surfs up dude... Cowabunga?!?

Ya really cool guys... let's completely change the way all man-powered sports work. It would be cool to add little power springs to the bottom of BB shoues so we could all dunk. Or how about a rocket booster in a backpack to beat everyone at the marathon? A GPS-guided soccer ball would be rad -- then the scores would be like 1,340 to 1,250. The winner scored higher because their goalie used those power-sprung BB shoes. What a joke this is. If you can't paddle then don't surf. If you get tired get out of the water so that others can share. Fatigue is God's way of controlling the crouds in the water so leave it be.

I think you might be taking it a little far. . .I'd group this more with advances seen with carbon fiber in cycling and hockey, or even newer style rebreather gear for diving. People who use this style board aren't going to be using it for a competitive advantage, they're mostly just going to be able to have a little more fun for a little longer period of time.

to wylekyote, you clearly do not surf and really do not understand the dynamic of surfing in general. arealsurfer was not even talking about using it competitively, this thing would make it so fuckers could steal waves from you left and right with no effort even if they aren't good at surfing at all. It's unfair to everyone else who wants to paddle for their waves like a respectable human being.

indeed.

Surfers are always dickheads. You idiots think you're the coolest thing around. I'm actually surprised that any surfers even read PopSci. Probably researching the latest shark repellents. Pussies.

bing7856 has it right. Get out of this thread Jonny-boy ET and get back to your WOW gaming session with the rest of the 12-year old girls kicking your ass on-line. You should spend your time applying ointment to your game-ridden ass sores instaed of spewing your piehole on stuff that exposes your ignorance and lack of intelegence.

Hey surfers...

why don't you walk your ass down to the beach instead of driving your old car and creating traffic in my town and also polluting the environment.

While you're at it....

Build your own surfboards... like the old surfers did in their day

and...

why use leashes and wetsuits?

Those made surfing easier and more fun...... something you're against.

Nice try "surfer". I'm a 35 year old small business owner that despises the worthless trash that is sucking this nation dry. One name describes the glamorous, romantic life that is surfing, Andy Irons. Slater is the exception. I think it's time you sell the VW bus and join the adult world.

Actually, I do surf quite a bit and I still don't have a problem with this. I probably won't use one of these boards but I really can't see having a problem with a few of these being around unless you're just one stingy sob. Do you really think this board is going to even provide that thrust long enough for someone to threaten all those precious waves that you so clearly deserve more because you paddled a few extra minutes? Get over it. Lesson one, life isn't fair. Quit acting like a 6 year old and just man up to the facts. Lesson two, man can and will create machines that make tasks easier or require less work. It's this great gift we have called intelligence that drives us to do so. I'm using "us" there loosely, surfer dudes. Ever considered getting an education and a job so you can afford one of these boards instead of being jealous of the other kids on the playground?

What the ??... jeez leave the surfers alone, they are enjoying
themselves unlike some, including me sitting behind a desktop each day. Yes i can do things with the money i earn but not while i'm working, those times are few and far between. At least they enjoy their life, i have other things that keep me happy so that's fine, but surfing that i've never tried before, and it sounds and look like fun and excitement.

Those who does not appreciate surfing, get some excitement in your life, that's what surfings about, thumbs up to the surfers!

Surf's Up !!!

@electrix
To bad the locals will kick the crap out of you for getting in the way. Unless you can outrun them with a motorized surfboard! Surfers enjoy there life because they're bums at heart.

Oh my god, I have so many things to say to you fucking morons who are trying to put us down for opposing this. First of all, the board will provide enough thrust so anyone who wants can sit far outside and catch waves that others can't. Secondly, just because we like to have fun doesn't mean we aren't a part of the adult world. I have a motherfucking 4.0 gpa and work hard for that shit. Also to m1977 I do shape my own surfboards and glass them myself but leashes and wetsuits do not give anyone an unfair advantage at catching all the waves they want. They are completely different conveniences.

Jon E T, you obviously know everything about surfing with your life behind a desk selling your old crap out of your garage on ebay, I mean running your own small business. Andy Irons was an amazing human being who had been prescribed medications that interacted badly with him and he was battling Dengue Fever at the time as well.
As surfers, we wake our asses up at the crack of dawn. We know about our communities and are usually active in trying to preserve what natural beauty we have left in our areas. We aren't a bunch of Spicoli's who contribute nothing. We are active and healthy people. So when this product comes out, we are a little skeptical. We don't want to have to deal with a new guy who can make it out to the big waves but isn't capable of paddling in that situation. It's dangerous, to them and to us. Struggling in surfing is how you prove yourself, and how you learn more about the system in the water that has been around for centuries.

I'm not a dickhead, and I don't think that I'm "the coolest thing around." I just don't appreciate people stereotyping us based on a movie from the 80s, much like you probably didn't appreciate me belittling your small business and saying that it's just you selling "old crap out of your garage on ebay".

So don't be a dickhead. You aren't the shit either. And don't assume you know anything about a community and the culture that has developed within it if you aren't a part of it.

And Jon E T, we pretty regularly put ourselves in life threatening situations that require a calm, cool head. We aren't a bunch of pussies. Desk jockey.

Hey gang -- don't even respond to Jonny-boy ET creep -- it's not worth the effort. His ignorance paints a perfect profile. A fat 35-year old male with a beard full of rotten leftover food and his zipper open most of the time. No doubt his fat belly hangs over his size 56 belt. A former bully to kids half his size and a man with no real friends. I knew Andy and his family. Your comment about him and the surfing community sums up your identity as a human being – “insignificant”. This is what happens when we allow uneducated trash to participate in what could have been a worthwhile debate. Now we are stuck with a loser that gets-off on crashing discussion threads. And you call surfers pussies? What a joke.

Where to start. Things change. That is the only thing that is constant. You need to get used to it. Sometimes the change is good, sometimes bad. Sometimes its a long time before you can decide one way or another. Wait and see.

Belittling others is no way to discuss anything. It usually means that you have nothing of substance to say. If you have a point, try and make it without abusing others. Once you start insulting each other you are just arguing. And no one wins an argument, they just get to say things that make themselves feel better.

Finally, where is all this anger coming from? On BOTH sides!
Why so angry? I suspect all of you who are casting aspersions at each other have other issues that have nothing to do with the subject at hand.

Seriously, we don't have to start a flame war here. -_-

Jon E T, you're a jerk. You're saying EVERYONE who ever decided to get on an oblong piece of material and to try riding a wave with it is inherently "the worthless trash that is sucking this nation dry" and I really think- WAAAAIIIT, you're trolling aren't you?
Looks like you're doing a great job. Keep it up! :D

Doods calm down. This innovation in surfing is awesome if used without snaking any waves. This would help out with peeps like me that have a bum shoulder and can't paddle as well as they used to. And, who care if you're sitting outside and dropping in on waves noone else can get. The battery only lasts 39 minutes which means rich D-bags using this thing will have to get out of the water eventually.

When I was a young asshole in So Ca I would have, with the help of other asshole friends, beat up the guy who brought this thing to the beach. But now that I'm over 60 years of age and living on an unexplored, wild, and scary coastline with huge winter swells and 35 degree water, this little machine seems kind of sweet. And I wouldn't be hogging waves because there are not many of us in the water. I agree, it would be a mistake to take this into a regular line-up, even at my age. But there's a time and place for everything, gentlemen.