Surfboard

​Hear that? Nope? Me neither, but the silent, high-speed electric surfboard is now most definitely a thing, coming soon to a reasonably smooth set of swells near you. The latest to hit the waves is the Awake Rävik, a 35-mph, full carbon stand-up beast with a wireless hand-held throttle.

​Elon Musk isn’t averse to thinking outside the square when it comes to branded merchandise. The latest example? A limited edition Tesla surfboard crafted, in part, with the same materials used in its cars. ​​

​Interfering with a shark's sensory system is one of the ways scientists believe we may be able to keep beachgoers safe. Now researchers in Australia (where else?) are exploring a new way of deterring these apex predators, by fixing lights to surfboards to obscure their view.

​If an ongoing crowdfunding campaign is successful, the likes of Lampuga, Radinn and Aquila could be in for some competition. Blea Surf recently hit Kickstarter, with its relatively low-priced Blea Shark electric surfboard.

One company to make a few waves when it comes to powered surfboards is Germany's Lampuga. A new-look Lampugna has just launched a refreshed line of jet-driven boards, which offer faster carving through the water and a handy battery swapping system to keep riders on the move. ​

Puerto Rican-based Lift Foils is set to launch a 25 mph electric hydrofoil surfboard in September. The US$12,000 eFoil can be recharged from a household power outlet in 2.5 hours, or the $3,000 Lithium Ion battery can be swapped for continuous usage.

While some surfers might trundle down to the beach in an old VW bus, some prefer a two-wheeled approach. Custom motorbike brand Deus ex Machine is clearly in the latter camp, having recently transformed a 1970s Honda Super Cub into a board-carrying commuter called the Sea Sider.

Lampuga, the maker of one of the world's fastest electric surfboards, now makes it easier to get out onto the water and motor your way to fast-paced thrills. Its Air board is an inflatable jet-drive surfboard designed to pack small and ride fast.

Born in the electric surfboard-crazed nation of Germany, the J-Force eBoard is one of the fastest electric-propelled boards on the market, reaching 34 mph (55 km/h). In place of the usual handheld controller, the eBoard uses a wearable glove.

Once the domain of a select few products like the Powerski Jetboard, the powered surfboard market has really grown over the past year. The German-designed Lampuga joins the crowd, bringing with it speeds up to 34 mph (55 km/h) and claims of being the world's fastest e-surfboard.

The year in water toys kicked off in a big way at Boot Düsseldorf 2014 in January and it ran strong the year through. In fact, we'd say the past year saw reveals and market launches of some of the coolest water toys in recent history.

Wakeboarding sure looks like a lot of fun, but it does have at least one limiting factor – you need to find someone else to go out on the water with you, to pilot the boat. Alexander Lind and Philip Werner decided to do something about that, and created the Radinn electric wakeboard.