Surfer Kai Lenny reinvents the boogie board by adding a hydrofoil to it

By Garrett Hulfish Published April 30, 2017

hydrofoil boogie board h — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Water and Kai Lenny go hand in hand, so when the 24-year-old surfer injures his ankle, he finds a way to keep going. Since surfing could worsen the injury, Lenny has turned to the good, old-fashioned boogie board. To spice it up a little, his version happens to have a hydrofoil attached to it.

Lenny injured his ankle while windsurfing a few weeks ago. Itching to get back in the water, he used his down time to create what he is calling the Boogie Foil. Like hydrofoils found on boats, the Boogie Foil lifts the board out of the water to reduce drag and increase speed. It also has the added benefit of working on smaller swells than a standard boogie board would.

As he explains in the video, “I broke my ankle, and now I’m on the mend. And the only way to get on the water and do something that is fresh, fast, and exciting, I figured why not put a foil on a boogie board?”

After giving the Boogie Foil a test run, the experiment looks to be a success. “It turns out to be something I might do when my ankle’s fine,” says Lenny with a chuckle.

Last month, as part of a statewide cleanup of every Hawaiian island, Lenny completed his longest hydrofoil ride yet. With one attached to his surfboard, he traversed the Alenuihāhā channel between the big island of Hawaii and Maui. The channel is regarded as an extremely dangerous stretch of water, yet Lenny rode an impressive 50 miles between the islands. While the islands are only 30 miles apart, his actual trajectory wasn’t a straight line.

Whether the Boogie Foil catches on or not is anyone’s guess, but, at the least, Lenny has found a way to stay in the water despite his injury.

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Garrett Hulfish

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