Every shore closed to the eFoil
Course pages that carry the lake's name in their title teach on other water. Lake Constance itself has no eFoil school and no eFoil rental, on the German, the Swiss or the Austrian side. The reason sits in a single article of the lake's navigation rules: a motor craft with a hull shorter than 2.50 m cannot be admitted, and every eFoil board is far shorter than that.
It is a big lake to lose. The water covers 536 km², is 63 km long and drops to 251 m between Friedrichshafen and Uttwil. Its 273 km of shoreline belong to three countries, and all three follow one text.
You can still foil here, behind a tow boat or under a wing. For an eFoil lesson you drive to the Neckar, to Munich or Ingolstadt, or over the Alps to Lake Maggiore.
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| Water | eFoil | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Constance with the Untersee | No admission | BSO Art. 14.01 para. 7 |
| Rhine from Konstanz to Schaffhausen, mouths of the Alter and Neuer Rhein | No admission | BSO Art. 0.01 with Art. 14.01 |
| Other Swiss lakes and rivers | Not allowed | BSV Art. 121 para. 5 |
| Bavarian state lakes | Not allowed, no exceptions | Bavarian palace administration |
| German federal waterways such as the Neckar | Allowed | Up to 7.5 kW without a licence, plate from 2.21 kW, age 16, daylight only |
The navigation order three countries share
Germany, Austria and Switzerland have never agreed where their borders run on the lake. They did agree on the traffic rules. The Bodensee-Schifffahrts-Ordnung, BSO for short, goes back to a decision of the International Navigation Commission for Lake Constance of 15 December 2021. Bavaria's version has been in force since 1 April 2022, and Switzerland publishes the same rules as SR 747.223.1. Where the border lies makes no difference to any rule below.
Art. 0.01 sets the area: the lake with the Untersee, the lower Alter and Neuer Rhein, and the Rhine from Konstanz down to the road bridge between Schaffhausen and Feuerthalen.
Art. 14.01: admission
A motor craft may only go on the water once the authority has admitted it. That admission, the Zulassung, can be refused for special designs such as hovercraft and hydrofoil boats on grounds of safety, traffic, environment or fisheries (para. 1 and 6). Para. 7 lists craft that are not admitted at all, and no. 3 settles the matter: no admission is given for “Fahrzeuge mit Maschinenantrieb mit einer Rumpflänge (EN ISO 8666:2002) von weniger als 2,50 m”, motor craft with a hull length under 2.50 m.
On our reading an eFoil is a motor craft far shorter than 2.50 m, so it cannot be admitted anywhere the BSO applies, on any shore, whoever stands on it.
Art. 6.15 and Art. 16.02
A second article points the same way. Art. 6.15 para. 7 says that “Das Fahren mit Aqua-Scootern und Wassermotorrädern oder ähnlichen Schwimmkörpern jeglicher Antriebsart [...] ist verboten”, riding aqua scooters, jet skis or similar floating devices with any kind of drive is banned. The word eFoil is not in it, so the board counts as a similar floating device only by our interpretation.
Exemptions reach only so far. Art. 16.02 para. 1 and 2 lets the authority waive only a closed list of articles, which includes 6.11 and 6.15 and leaves out 14.01, plus approved events and trials of technical developments. We take that to mean nobody can apply for a way round Art. 14.01.
The English renderings of the German quotes on this page are ours. The page explains the rules; it is not legal advice.
Why a boat licence does not help
The licence people ask about is the Schifferpatent, the lake's own boating licence. Art. 12.01 requires it for anyone steering a motor craft with more than 4.4 kW or a sailing craft with more than 12 m² of sail, and it makes no exception for electric motors. The minimum ages under Art. 12.03 para. 1 are 18 for category A (motor craft), 21 for B and C, and 14 for D (sail).
Neither document opens the lake to an eFoil. The patent is about the person, the Zulassung about the craft, so no licence at any age, as we see it, makes an eFoil legal here.
Where the patent does matter is the tow boat. A boat that pulls a foiler is a motor craft like any other, so over 4.4 kW its driver needs category A and must be at least 18, and the boat needs its own admission. It also keeps 300 m from the shore or the reed belt in front of it, except to moor or cast off by the shortest route at no more than 10 km/h (Art. 6.11 para. 1).
Baden-Württemberg and the Bavarian shore
Germany holds 173 km of the shoreline, 155 km in Baden-Württemberg and 18 km in Bavaria. The Bavarian stretch is short, from Lindau past Wasserburg to Nonnenhorn, and it has a second authority with its own written ban.
The Bavarian palace administration, the Schlösserverwaltung, runs the Bavarian part of Lake Constance along with Ammersee, Chiemsee, Starnberger See and Tegernsee. Motorized water sports devices such as e-surfboards, with or without a foil, “sind an den der Bayerischen Schlösserverwaltung unterstellten Seen ausnahmslos nicht gestattet”, not allowed on any of its lakes, without exception.
On the Baden-Württemberg side the BSO is the text that applies, and the Bodenseekreis district office names one case outright. “SUPs mit Elektroantrieb sind am Bodensee nicht erlaubt”, it writes. Electric SUPs are not allowed on Lake Constance.
Kitesurfing is banned along the whole German shore. The district offices grant special permits, for a fee, only in selected zones, a few on the Baden-Württemberg shore and none on the Bavarian one. Whatever you ride, stands of water plants such as reed, rushes and water lilies are off limits, and where the shore allows it you keep at least 25 m from them (BSO Art. 6.11 para. 3).
Thurgau, St. Gallen and Schaffhausen
Switzerland has 72 km of the shore, split between the cantons of Thurgau, St. Gallen and Schaffhausen, and its government has answered the eFoil question by name. On 1 February 2023, replying to interpellation 22.4313, the Federal Council wrote, “E-Foils und E-Surfbretter sind in der Schweiz und auf den Grenzgewässern gemäss den rechtlichen Grundlagen nicht zugelassen.” eFoils and electric surfboards are not admitted in Switzerland or on its border waters. The French text adds that this holds whatever their length and with or without hydrofoils.
For the rest of the country the source is Art. 121 para. 5 of the Inland Navigation Ordinance (BSV): craft shorter than 2.50 m, paddle boats, racing rowing boats, sailboards and kiteboards may not be fitted with a motor, with an exception for diving scooters. On the lake itself, the Federal Office of Transport notes, the BSO governs. Our eFoil Switzerland page has the full Swiss picture.
Motion 24.4515 of 19 December 2024 asks for these boards to be admitted. On 19 February 2025 the Federal Council recommended its rejection and pointed to the total revision of the BSV. A new BSV, we think, would not touch Lake Constance, which stays under the BSO.
Thurgau decided on 3 February 2020 that kites may fly only in released areas and only from 15 March to 15 November. One area lies on the Untersee between Berlingen and Ermatingen, with start points at Eschlibach and Mannenbach, the other on the Obersee between Güttingen, Kesswil and Romanshorn. The rest of Thurgau's part of the lake is closed to kites, and St. Gallen bans kitesurfing on its part outright. A hand-held wing is on no line, so we do not think the kite rules reach it. Our wing foil Switzerland page lists the Swiss lakes with wing schools.
Bregenz, Hard and the Rhine mouths
Austria's share is the shortest, 28 km of Vorarlberg shore around Bregenz, Hard and Fussach. The federal inland navigation ordinance, the SFVO, does not apply to the lake. The BSO does, and the way we read Art. 14.01 it keeps an eFoil off this end of the lake just as it does at Konstanz.
Slipping into one of the Rhine mouths changes nothing. The BSO reaches up the Neuer Rhein to the bridge between Hard and Fussach and up the Alter Rhein to the bridge between Rheineck and Gaissau. Further inland, the lakes of Vorarlberg and Tyrol are closed to eFoils.
The nearest Austrian water where you can ride is at the other end of the country. On the Neusiedlersee the Burgenland ban covers combustion engines only, so on our reading an electric board is not caught by it, and Kite2Fly in Podersdorf sells an eFoil experience for €199 per person, about two hours with one hour on the board. Our eFoil Austria page takes the rules province by province.
Tow foiling at Kressbronn and Allensbach
The closest thing to an eFoil on the lake is a foilboard behind a boat, the rope doing the motor's work.
Seasports Bodensee in Kressbronn sells wake foiling behind its boat. Thirty minutes cost €80 per person with the foilboard, a briefing and pictures, and a wetsuit if you ask for one. The hour starts at €180 and adds some theory, a soft drink, and video on top of the pictures.
Treibgutsurf works from a campsite in Allensbach on the Untersee and pulls foilers behind a 15 PS motorboat. The basic course runs 1.5 hours for two people or 2 hours for three, which gives each rider 35 to 40 minutes of foil time, and it needs at least two participants. An adult pays €100, two people €180. A further session is €80, or €150 for two. Board, foil, wetsuit, helmet and vest are included.
What the BSO asks of a tow
Art. 6.15 para. 1 to 5 deals with “Wasserski oder ähnlichen Geräten”, water skis and similar devices, and names wakesurf boards riding a boat's stern wave as one of them; that a towed foilboard counts is our reading. Towing is allowed by day and in clear visibility only, never in the 300 m shore zone outside authorized start lanes, with a second person watching rope and rider, 50 m from other craft and swimmers, a rope that is not elastic, and at most two people on it.
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| School and shore | Offer | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Seasports Bodensee, Kressbronn | Wake foil behind the boat, 30 min | €80 per person |
| Seasports Bodensee, Kressbronn | Wake foil behind the boat, 60 min | from €180 per person |
| Treibgutsurf, Allensbach (Untersee) | Tow foil basic course | €100 per adult, €180 for two |
| Treibgutsurf, Allensbach (Untersee) | Further tow foil session | €80, €150 for two |
| Treibgutsurf, Allensbach (Untersee) | Wing beginner course, 2 h | €140, €210 with the Wingschein |
| Surfschule Wasserburg (Bavarian shore) | Wing with school board and daggerboard | €17 for 1 h, €30 for 2 h |
| Surfschule Wasserburg (Bavarian shore) | Wing with foilboard | €30 for 1 h, €50 for 2 h |
Wing foil on Lake Constance
Neither eFoil barrier, as we understand the text, touches a wing foil. Admission under Art. 14.01 para. 1 is for motor craft, cargo ships, floating equipment and sailing craft with a motor or with living, cooking or sanitary facilities, and a wing board is none of those. Nor is a board pushed by the wind anything like an aqua scooter. The BSO never names it, so the rules for sailboards, kiteboards and SUPs are the safest guide.
Sailboards, kiteboards and SUPs without a motor need no registration mark, though they must carry the owner's name and address whatever their length (Art. 2.01 para. 1). Sailboards and kiteboards give way to all other craft (Art. 6.05 lit. f). Kiteboards, sailboards, SUPs and similar devices without splash-proof stowage carry a buoyancy aid to EN ISO 12402-5, level 50 (Art. 13.20 para. 5). The wing board is not on that list; wear a vest on it regardless.
Where to start
Treibgutsurf in Allensbach teaches the wing from scratch. The beginner course starts without a foil on flat water, lasts 2 hours (3 to 4 with the optional Wingschein), keeps to five students per instructor and includes board, wing and wetsuit. A follow-up wing foil course and rental gear are also on offer, and dates are set at short notice once wind is forecast.
Surfschule Wasserburg, on the Bavarian shore, has no scheduled wing courses. It rents the wing with a school board and daggerboard or with a foilboard, for a self-guided start by riders who already know wind from windsurfing, kiting or sailing.
When to come depends on the wind. For strong-wind riders the lake is at its best in spring and autumn, while summer suits trying and practicing. Mornings tend to be lighter and afternoons often stronger. Föhn winds blow often in the east of the lake and can get intense, and the flashing lights around the shore warn of strong wind and storms. How the sport works, from the wing to the first flight, is in our wing foil guide.
Where the nearest eFoil lessons are
North of the lake, Germany's federal waterways run on other rules. The inland sport boat rules, § 5 para. 1 no. 1 of the SpFV, let you steer a sport boat with an electric motor of up to 7.5 kW continuous output without a licence. From 2.21 kW the boat needs a registration mark (the official small craft mark costs €29.70), the minimum age is 16, and you ride by daylight only. That they cover an eFoil is our own conclusion. The Neckar is one of those waterways, and in Bavaria so are the Main and the Danube below Kelheim.
On the Neckar, eFoil Masters works at Heidelberg, Ladenburg, Mannheim, Ilvesheim and Edingen, with a €199 introduction of one battery charge, about two hours.
Bavaria's lakes are no way out. Starnberger See, Ammersee, Chiemsee and Tegernsee fall under the palace administration ban that covers Lindau. EFOIL BASE teaches on the Olympic rowing course at Oberschleißheim, north of Munich, with a course of 70 to 90 minutes for €145 at every level. Riding there outside course times is expressly forbidden. eFoil Riders works at the Wake & Groove cable park in Geisenfeld near Ingolstadt, where a beginner lesson costs €99 and a rental €89, with up to three riders per slot. Both are covered in more detail on our eFoil Munich page.
Shar-e-foil rents boards for self pickup in Mering near Augsburg from €180, with no lessons. Our eFoil Germany page fills in the rest of the German map.
From the Swiss shore every Swiss lake is closed, and the nearest lessons are in Italy, at Cannobio on Lake Maggiore. The Lakeview eFoil Center works at the Lakeview Cannobio Camping & Resort, and Follow Me Adventures sells “Let's TRY”, 1 h 30 for about €170. The town and its water are on our Lake Maggiore eFoil page.
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| Water | Operator | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Neckar, Heidelberg and Mannheim | eFoil Masters | €199 introduction |
| Olympia-Regattastrecke, Munich | EFOIL BASE | €145 course |
| Lorenzisee, Geisenfeld | eFoil Riders | €99 lesson |
| Mering near Augsburg | Shar-e-foil | from €180 rental, no lessons |
| Lake Maggiore, Cannobio (Italy) | Follow Me Adventures | about €170 |
| Neusiedlersee, Podersdorf (Austria) | Kite2Fly | €199 |
