So, what if a bike, a pair of skis and a kangaroo mated? Well, apart from this being nothing short of a hideous abomination and a bizarre miracle, you’d get something like the Aquaskipper.
It’s a human-powered watercraft, which provides an enormous amount of fun and a great way to exercise as the rider needs to bounce up and down like an amphetamine-pumped wallaby to propel the Aquaskipper across the water at up to 27kph. So long as you weigh no less than 35kg and no more than 110kg, all you need is your swimsuit, a good sense of rhythm and a lot of patience, because it’s pretty difficult. As such, you’ll need to be a reasonably good swimmer because you’re guaranteed to sink at least a few times before you get the hang of it. But fear not, most folk do get the knack after about 15-30 minutes.
Gimme Techs ’n’ Specs!
The Aquaskipper is made from fibreglass and aircraft aluminium so it weighs just 12kg which is, of course, about the same weight as half an adult beaver. It’s 244cm long which any dolphin fan will tell you is about the same length of a bottle-nosed dolphin, and at 182cm wide, we’re talking the length of an adult male South American seal. And with a top speed of around 27kph you’d easily give a humpback whale a run for its money.
Gimme Background!
The Aquaskipper really started life back in 1989 as the 'Pogofoil' built by Parker McCready, and was a craft with flapping wings and a hydrofoil powered by propulsion. Almost a decade later, Swedish engineer Alexander Sahlin invented the 'Trampofoil' and this 'hopping-motion' propelled hydrofoil system was later patented by Shane Chen of Inventist in 2003 as the Aquaskipper.
Gimme More!
The Aquaskipper can be bought for as little as €700 and as much as €1,000 – we can’t think of any good reason why you would choose to pay the latter! However, we do recommend trying before buying with a taster lesson at around €36. For prices, places and further information, take a look through the following links
www.localmotion.at
www.trampofoil.info
www.aquaskipper.de
www.aqua-skipping.de
www.jumpusa.com
www.aquaskipperuk.com
www.water-bike.eu
www.aquaskipper.com.au
www.aquaskipper.cn
www.aqua-skipper.biz
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