THE YUJET SURFER IS THE JET SKI-SURFBOARD MASHUP WE DIDN’T KNOW WE NEEDED

Why should you have to choose between a jet skiing and a surfing? That’s the thinking behind a new must-have water toy: the Yujet Surfer.

Next time you’re moored at a marina, keep an eye out for this motorized mashup. The Surfer, which looks, appropriately enough, like a bulked-up surfboard, blends the best of the two water sports—with one crucial bonus. Its inventor guarantees anyone can master it immediately. “When people charter a yacht for a week, we want them happy on day one, not the last day, when they’ve finally figured it out,” inventor Jeremy Schneiderman tells Robb Report. “At any age, you can have a great time on it within 10 minutes.”

The secret, he explains, lies in the size of the carbon fiber board itself—92 inches long and 26 and a half inches wide. When prototyping the YuJet, the team trialed shorter versions, which were more aggressive and could ride faster, but they proved harder to grapple as a first timer. Not so with the final product. “You can stand on it even without it propelling you forward—that’s the key,” he continues, “Last week, we had one out in Hawaii, and it was nimble enough to surf big waves, like a regular surfboard, but it’s also stable enough that my nine-year old son can ride it without any help.”

Schneiderman actually likens the experience of using his jet-powered electric surfboard to a blend of three different sports. “You can lean left and right as it carves through the water, like a skateboarder, and it’s got the pickup of a jet ski—it’s really fast—and balancing is similar to a wakeboard, but a whole lot easier,” he continues. Max speed is an impressive 24 mph, and it can run on its rechargeable, waterproof lithium battery for up to 40 minutes. As YuJet builds out its range of motorized water toys, this battery will be crucial; Schneiderman hopes to roll out future products where the battery can easily be swapped in and out of different hulls. The modular design of YuJet means it’s easy to disassemble should, say, the motor malfunction, and only that piece need be returned for servicing.

The inventor is tight-lipped about details and launch dates on those new water toys but is primed to launch a custom configurator this summer on the firm’s website. It will allow buyers to pick different colors or even submit their own designs for a custom wrap; he’ll charge an extra $500 to $1,000 for the bespoke boards. Though the current design, he promises, is already attention-grabbing enough. “We’re in South Florida, and one of my favorite things is to ride out to the sandbars, where the boats are anchored, and you turn heads left and right,” Schneiderman says, “It’s a nice stamp of approval.”
 

©robbreport