eFoil in the USA

Water temperature and the riding months, region by region

Only Hawaii and Puerto Rico stay warm through the winter. Everywhere else the water sets the season, and from Lake Tahoe and Seattle to Chicago, New York and Cape Cod it runs about four months, June to September.

In the south, storms are the complication. The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to November 30 and covers Miami, the Gulf coast, the Carolinas and Puerto Rico; the Central Pacific season starts in June and its threat to Hawaii usually fades by early October.

Wind shapes the day more than the month does. Maui's lessons on Maalaea Bay run in the morning only, because the bay turns windy and choppy towards midday. In San Diego, Sendit calls its 7 am slot the best all round thanks to less wind and traffic, and Lake Tahoe is usually smoother early too.

Federal, state and local rules for an eFoil

The federal answer to the basic question came in 2022. The Coast Guard's policy letter CG-BSX 01-22 of August 26, 2022 says that “Mechanically Propelled Personal Hydrofoils (MPPH) and Motorized Surfboards (MSB) have been determined to be vessels and are therefore subject to all laws and regulations pertaining to recreational vessels propelled by machinery.” Paragraph 3.a adds that an MPPH is “also known as an eFoil”.

The letter then hands the paperwork to the states. Under paragraph 4.e, owners and operators follow their state's numbering rules, carry the Certificate of Number when underway, carry or wear a life jacket as state and federal rules require, and carry a whistle or another sound device.

Registration is where the states line up most closely. Florida, California, North Carolina, Texas, Michigan, Illinois, Utah and Washington all register motorized craft, and Hawaii does so from 5 hp. Boater education is far less uniform: some states set it by birth year and horsepower, California asks it of every motorized operator with a list of exemptions, and Massachusetts is phasing its new card in until 2028.

California's exemptions include a person operating a rental vessel, a resident of another state riding for less than 60 days and a resident of another country riding for less than 90 days who meets the rules at home. Whoever is exempt carries proof. Massachusetts exempts nonresidents who hold a certificate from another US state or an approved jurisdiction.

Local rules are the ones a rider meets on the water. Biscayne Bay has year round manatee slow speed zones. In Mission Bay, only Fiesta Bay goes without a daytime speed limit, and Newport Harbor is a 5 mph no wake zone. Hawaii has slow, no wake zones at Waikiki and within 500 ft of the shore in Hanalei Bay. Lake Tahoe requires every hand launched electric craft, eFoils included by name, to be inspected at least once a calendar year and to carry the free sticker. Austin bans motorized surfboards on Lake Austin over Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day, and in our reading an eFoil falls under that ban.

On a lesson you ride the school's board under the school's instruction, so most of this lands on owners. This summary is not legal advice; the eFoil rules guide compares how other countries handle the same board.

Hawaii and Puerto Rico, warm water in every month

Each island with a school teaches from one spot: the protected lagoon off Sand Island Access Road in Honolulu, Sugar Beach on Maalaea Bay in Kihei, and Hanalei Bay on Kauai's north shore. North shores take the winter swell, so we read Hanalei as a summer spot. The state boating division calls an eFoil a motorized vessel, not a thrill craft; eFoil in Hawaii goes island by island, whale distance rule included.

Puerto Rico is the warm water option on the Atlantic side, with lessons in San Juan Bay. Under Ley 430-2000 any craft with a motor installed is an embarcación (Art. 3(K)), and is kept out of areas reserved for bathers (Art. 7(1)). eFoil in Puerto Rico has the school and the hurricane months.

Cape Cod, New York and the Carolinas

Cape Cod lessons run from Barnstable and Provincetown, and riders new to eFoils book a lesson before they rent. The Massachusetts rule for jet skis, surf jets and wetbikes sets a minimum age of 16, headway speed within 150 ft of a swimmer, the shore or a moored vessel, and no riding between sunset and sunrise (M.G.L. c. 90B s. 9A). That it reaches an eFoil is our reading, because s. 1 defines a surf jet as a surfboard propelled by machinery. More on eFoil on Cape Cod.

New York sorts these craft into specialty prop-craft and personal watercraft by propeller or water jet. A specialty prop-craft stays off the water from sunset to sunrise (Navigation Law s. 73-a(1)(e)) and keeps 500 ft from a designated bathing area, with exceptions (s. 73-a(1)(f)), and every rider wears a Coast Guard approved life jacket (s. 73-a(1)(a)). See eFoil in New York for the summer water.

On the Outer Banks the schools are on the Pamlico Sound side of Hatteras Island, at Rodanthe and Waves, on flat sound water rather than ocean. Kitty Hawk Kites takes riders from 90 to 265 lb, recommends a wetsuit in spring and autumn and asks for early booking from June to September; eFoil on the Outer Banks has both schools. Inland, eFoil in Charlotte follows the Catawba River through its season. South Carolina defines both an outboard motor and a specialty propcraft (SC Code s. 50-21-10(17) and (23)), but where an eFoil falls is not settled; eFoil in South Carolina gives our reading.