The StarTribune notes that this "sport" is gaining in popularity on Minnesota lakes.
A jet pack mounts onto his feet in heavy bindings that look like massive snowboard boots. Water pressure from a hose hooked into a water scooter lifts him into the air, allowing him to hover over the water, then dive or do back flips overhead...
It doesn’t come cheap, though. With the jet ski and all the equipment, he said it can quickly add up to $20,000. In two years of owning flyboards, he’s run through 10 water scooter engines due to the extra wear it takes with the flyboards.He rents them out for $299 an hour. But more and more people are curious about the unusual sport, with Jansen doing 3,000 rentals last year.
I'm not thrilled by this development because I've never been a fan of the noise created by jet skis. And I notice that every video I've found replaces ambient sound with hard rock to mask that noise.
Unfortunately others are allowed to impinge on the collective desire to listen to the sounds of nature instead of combustible engines. I've hiked many times to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and from 8am until 5pm there is a steady reverberating echo from the sightseeing helicopters and small airplanes. Talk about ruining the experience!
ReplyDeleteI've seen one of them (a shoulder mounted water jet system) operating in the local Marina here. The guy flying the water jet was obviously experienced -- it was amazing to watch, and from a distance of 100 yards, not very noisy (less than jetskis in the same marina, and motorcycles on PCH a quarter mile away).
ReplyDeleteIn related news, Newport Beach California just put a 6 month ban on such businesses operating, while they look at the issue. Note that Newport Beach is a very large Marina and waterfront area with many tourist/ visitor businesses as well as very expensive waterfront homes. So its not a pristine natural area.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/jet-627059-harbor-city.html
One existing business has operated for a few years in the harbor, but two other jet pack businesses recently expressed an interest. The city council wants to decide where the devices could operate in the harbor and come up with safety guidelines. Part of this appears to be as the company, Jetpack America, recently settled a lawsuit for $100,000 regarding one of their customers who suffered a concussion and other injuries while flying one of the company’s jet packs in August 2012.