Lake Annecy keeps motor boards off its water
Nobody teaches or rents eFoils on Lake Annecy, and bringing your own board gets you no further. The lake's navigation rules list motor boards and motorized hydrofoils among the activities banned outright. In July 2026 the Haute-Savoie préfecture said it again in plain words, naming motorized boards “including those fitted with a foil”.
That holds for a first lesson and for a board you own. The closest eFoil lessons are held on the French shore of Lake Geneva, at Thonon-les-Bains about 77 km by road from Annecy station and at Saint-Gingolph about 107 km away. On Annecy itself, a wing foil lesson at Sevrier stays inside the rules.
The lake supplies drinking water and has two national nature reserves on its banks. One prefectoral order from 2015 governs it, amended six times since, and article 2.2 in its 2023 wording still bans the board.
The ban in article 2.2, repeated by the préfecture in July 2026
The text that governs every craft on the lake is the règlement particulier de police, or RPP, set by arrêté préfectoral DDT-DIR-UL-2015-0142 of 10 June 2015. The latest of its six amendments is DDT-2024-1051 of 23 July 2024.
The ban itself is written into article 2.2. Amendment n°5 (DDT-2023-805 of 26 May 2023) rewrote it as a list of the activities banned on the lake, and two items on that list fit an eFoil: “les planches à moteur”, motor boards, and “les hydroptères motorisés ou à voiles”, motorized or sail-powered hydrofoils. The board falls under both, the way we read that list. Amendment n°6 of 2024 left article 2.2 as it stood.
Article 1.2 defines the hydroptère as a boat whose hull rises on submerged wings or foils above a certain speed. The term motor board goes undefined; we take it to mean what it says, electric or petrol.
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| Text | What it says |
|---|---|
| RPP art. 2.2 (amendment n°5, 26 May 2023) | Motor boards and motorized or sail-powered hydrofoils banned |
| RPP art. 1.2 | Hydrofoil defined as a hull lifted by submerged wings or foils |
| RPP art. 1.2 | Craft under 4.5 kW and 2.50 m count as beach craft |
| RPP art. 7 | Derogation only by arrêté préfectoral, on a reasoned request |
| RPP art. 2.9 | Nautical events need a prefectoral authorization, asked three months ahead |
| Préfecture, July 2026 | Motorized boards, including those with a foil, remain banned |
The préfecture's lake page, updated in July 2026, puts it in one sentence. “Le jet-ski, les engins tractés, les engins à sustentation hydropulsée et les planches motorisées (y compris celles équipées d'un foil) demeurent interdits”, meaning jet skis, towed craft, water-jet lift craft and motorized boards, foil boards included, remain banned.
Article 7 lets the préfet grant a derogation by arrêté, on a reasoned request, if it harms neither the safety of users and residents nor the environment. Nautical events have their own route under article 2.9, with the request filed three months ahead. Neither route is meant for a visitor planning a holiday.
This is our reading of the texts, not legal advice. For anything new on the lake the contact is the DDT de la Haute-Savoie, whose lake unit signs as Mission Lacs, Cellule lac d'Annecy, and the préfecture offers a summary of the rules in French and in English.
A drinking water lake with reserves on its shores
Taps around the basin run on this lake. SILA, the lake syndicate, says it supplies drinking water every day to more than 150,000 people and calls Annecy one of the purest lakes in Europe in an urban setting. It covers 27 km², runs 14.6 km long and 0.8 to 3.2 km wide, and drops to 78.7 m at the trou de Boubioz.
The water is State property, and the préfet of Haute-Savoie signs the rules. Pontoons, mooring buoys and slipways need a temporary occupation permit (AOT), and business AOTs go out after a competition. As we see it, an eFoil school would need a rule change or a derogation first, then an AOT won against other bidders.
Much of the shore is protected: the national nature reserves of the Bout du Lac at Doussard (84.53 ha) and the Roc de Chère at Talloires-Montmin (68.24 ha), marshes from Sevrier to Faverges-Seythenex, and the Bauges regional nature park along the west shore. In front of the Bout du Lac reserve no craft may stop or move (RPP art. 3.16), and nobody may come within 50 m of the front of the reed beds.
Some electric craft are allowed. Electric-assist pedal boats may ride when the assist works only while you pedal, and the State has asked boat-hire firms to run at least a third of their motor fleet on electric motors. The lake has nothing against electric motors as such. Its line runs at motor boards and at foils.
Own board, small motor, electric SUP: no way through
Article 2.2 bans an activity, not a commercial service. We take that to cover a school and a private rider alike, so a board bought in a local shop has nowhere on the lake to fly.
A small motor changes nothing. Article 1.2 counts boats under 4.5 kW and 2.50 m as beach craft, yet article 2.2 bans motor boards by name whatever their power, and since 14 December 2023 French national law (Division 240) no longer counts motor boards as beach craft.
Other powered boards fare no better. An electric SUP, an electric surfboard or jetboard and a foil assist unit each put a motor under a board, and motor boards are banned on Annecy. A paddleboard without a motor is welcome.
The one foil craft project on the lake was an electric foil passenger shuttle, a pilot run with the local agglomeration that the préfecture listed under derogation. Public transport on trial looks like the case article 7 was written for.
Lake Bourget at Aix-les-Bains, about 34 km by road, offers no way out. Its order (arrêté 2014-695 of 18 May 2015, art. 3.11 as amended in 2023) bans “les planches à moteur” and “les vélos hydrofoils (à moteur électrique ou non)”, hydrofoil bikes electric or not.
Wing foil, kites and pedal boats on Annecy
The wing-foil schools work out of Sevrier, on the west shore. Wingfoil-Annecy teaches and rents wing foil there, with safety cover from an electric rowing boat or a motor boat. NCY SUP, also in Sevrier, rents board, wing and foil from €45 for an hour and keeps a safety boat close during lessons. Neither offers an eFoil. Our guide to wingfoil lessons describes what a first course teaches.
Kitesurfing has three zones, with bases at Saint-Jorioz and the Sevrier rowing club on the south of the grand lac, at Doussard on the petit lac and at Albigny in the north. Kites fly by day only, 50 m apart and 100 m from any other craft, and never without someone watching from the shore or from a boat.
Beach craft, inflatable paddleboards included, may not leave the shore band, and paddleboard, windsurf, canoe, kayak and kite riders must wear a life jacket (RPP art. 6.1). For a motor without a board, rent an electric boat or an electric-assist pedal boat.
Every craft keeps to 5 km/h in the shore band (art. 3.1), which yellow conical buoys mark. Yellow spherical buoys mark the bathing zones, closed to all navigation in season.
Thirteen beaches are on the tourist office list, from Albigny and the Marquisats in Annecy to Sevrier, Duingt, Talloires and Les Cassines, which is sheltered from the north wind.
The nearest eFoil lessons, at Thonon and Saint-Gingolph
Evolution 2 teaches eFoil at two beaches on the French shore of Lake Geneva. The Thonon-les-Bains base is on the Quai de Ripaille, with the municipal pool on one side and the Château de Ripaille on the other. The second base is at Saint-Gingolph, the French beach nearest the Swiss border.
Gliss Camp sells eFoil sessions at the Saint-Gingolph beach, which is the Evolution 2 base, for identical lesson prices, so the two names are two ways to book one base. Gliss Camp also rents the board to riders who pass a level check, and no other base on the lake hands a board over.
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| Offer | Seller | Price per rider |
|---|---|---|
| Group, about 30 min on the water | Evolution 2, Gliss Camp | €70 |
| Group, about 45 min on the water | Evolution 2, Gliss Camp | €100 |
| Group, about 1 h on the water | Evolution 2, Gliss Camp | €125 |
| Private, 45 min | Evolution 2, Gliss Camp | €130 |
| Private, 1 h | Evolution 2, Gliss Camp | €160 |
| Beginner or improver course, 3 x 45 min | Evolution 2 | €255 |
| Rental after a level check, 30 min | Gliss Camp | €60 |
| Rental after a level check, 45 min | Gliss Camp | €75 |
| Rental after a level check, 1 h | Gliss Camp | €90 |
Evolution 2 puts no more than three riders in a session, and every rider must be able to swim. Gliss Camp takes children from 11 and supplies wetsuit, helmet and vest. The Pays d'Évian tourist office, under its Leman Mountains Explore name, suggests Saint-Gingolph for a first try, lists Gliss Camp, and advises wearing a life jacket every time you ride.
The border runs through Saint-Gingolph along the Morge stream, and the water east of the stream is Swiss. Launch from the French side and stay on it; our page on eFoiling in Switzerland explains why the Swiss half of the lake is off limits.
eFoil schools on the French shore of Lake Geneva
Evolution 2 Thonon
Thonon-les-Bains, Lac Léman, France
Quai de Ripaille, 74200 Thonon-les-Bains
Gliss Camp
Saint-Gingolph, Lac Léman, France
- Lesson: €70, 30 min
- Lesson: €100, 45 min
- Lesson: €130, 45 min
- Lesson: €125, 1 h
- Lesson: €160, 1 h
- Rental: €60, 30 min
- Rental: €75, 45 min
- Rental: €90, 1 h
Rents only to riders who passed a course
Updated November 2, 2026
How a first session on Lake Geneva runs
Board, wetsuit, helmet and vest come with the booking. Beginners do not stand straight away. Evolution 2 starts them lying flat on the board, then has them kneel or sit, and only then stand, with the foil lifting the board once the speed builds. Its boards can fly at up to 50 km/h.
Time on the water runs from about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the slot. The courses spread the learning over three 45 minute sessions, one for beginners and one for improvers.
Riders who already fly can skip the lesson at Saint-Gingolph and rent once the base has checked their level. The price table for both beaches, with franc estimates alongside, is on our Lake Geneva page, and the eFoil rental guide explains why so few operators hand the board over.
Annecy and Lake Geneva, side by side
About 77 km of road separate a closed lake from a partly open one. Annecy has one order and one answer. Lake Geneva has a treaty over all of it, a prefectoral order on the French part and a federal ban on the Swiss part, and the three do not line up, so which one applies turns on where you launch.
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| Point | Lake Annecy | Lake Geneva, French water | Lake Geneva, Swiss water |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main text | RPP art. 2.2: motor boards banned | RPP art. 6.5: allowed outside the shore band | Federal ban |
| Shore band | 5 km/h | 300 m, 10 km/h | - |
| Treaty, art. 78d | - | Applies | Applies |
| Court ruling | None | None | Federal Court, 2022: banned |
| Schools | None | Thonon, Saint-Gingolph | None |
| Rental | None | Saint-Gingolph | None |
| Our reading | Banned | Unsettled | Banned |
The French order for the Léman, arrêté DDT/STC/PLL/2015-0202 of 23 June 2015, allows foils on electric motor boards outside the shore band under article 6.5, added by arrêté DDT-2020-0989. The rider stays within 3.7 km (2 nautical miles) of shelter, keeps off the water once a storm warning is out, starts from the bank and carries a helmet, a buoyancy aid and a waterproof light.
The Franco-Swiss treaty regulation covers both shores. Its article 78d, in force since 1 June 2019, bans motor water vehicles “et tout engin similaire quel qu'en soit le mode de propulsion”, any similar craft whatever drives it. In decision 6B_315/2022 of 29 September 2022 the Swiss Federal Court upheld a fine for an eFoil ridden off a landing stage in the canton of Geneva. No French court has ruled.
As we understand the texts, the Swiss side is closed and the French side, where the schools work under the prefectoral order, is unsettled. Our eFoil Lake Geneva page takes both shores in turn.
An Annecy week with one day on Lake Geneva
Trains do the job for Annecy itself. A direct TGV runs from Paris, regional trains connect the town with Lyon, Chambéry, Grenoble, Valence and Chamonix, and the town lies 50 km from Geneva International Airport and 125 km from Lyon Saint-Exupéry.
From Annecy the eFoil is a day trip. Thonon-les-Bains is the nearer beach, Saint-Gingolph the one with rental.
From Geneva the order flips. The Léman Express L1 runs from Cornavin to Thonon-les-Bains, about 34 km by road, so the beach where the board is allowed is the closer trip, and Annecy is the place for a swim, a wing or a boat.
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| To | Distance |
|---|---|
| Aix-les-Bains (Lake Bourget) | about 34 km |
| Geneva Cornavin | about 45 km |
| Geneva airport | about 50 km |
| Thonon-les-Bains | about 77 km |
| Saint-Gingolph | about 107 km |
At sea in France the board is legal by day within 2 nautical miles of shelter, at 5 knots inside the 300 m band. Our French Riviera page runs along the bases from Hyères to Menton, and the rest of the country is on the eFoil France hub.
Summer-only bases and a lake that stays cold
The Lake Geneva bases open in summer only, which is also when Annecy is at its warmest. In 2021 SILA and INRAE found the whole water column of the grand lac at 6.5 °C on 19 January and the warm upper layer at 22.3 °C in August. The Cercle de Voile de Sevrier gives 20 to 26 °C as the usual summer range and says the water can drop below 10 °C in winter.
A hot afternoon on the shore says nothing about the water itself. The préfecture warns of cold water even on hot days, with a risk of thermal shock. The surface layers are warming by about 0.25 °C per decade, according to a 2024 INRAE study for SILA.
On Lake Geneva, CIPEL measured the top 10 m in mid-lake at 21.1 °C on 6 August 2024 and 16.75 °C on 8 October 2025.
The bise, the north wind, is the learning wind for wing foil at 8 to 12 knots, and thermal breezes come up in the afternoon. A south wind brings choppier water, and a west wind often rises at the end of summer days. An eFoil needs no wind, and on this lake the flat water is in the morning.
Watch the shore lights. Above 50 km/h of wind an orange light flashing about 40 times a minute signals an avis de prudence, and beach craft and swimming are then banned. Above 70 km/h it flashes about 90 times a minute, the avis de danger, and every craft heads for shelter (RPP arts 2.5.1 and 2.5.2).
