FEATURE TOY
FLYBOARD If you had told Franky Zapata at a young age that he would use his experience from racing jet skis to develop the FlyBoard, a “water sports apparatus that allows propulsion underwater and in the air,” he would have laughed at you. But that’s exactly what he did in 2011, creating prototypes that were able to lift out of water and hover in the air. Zapata Racing filmed these prototypes and uploaded a video online, which received an astounding 2.5 million viewers in 15 days. Resembling something from the Matrix Trilogy, the FlyBoard is connected to a jet ski, and rises up out of the water shooting water downward. Learning to operate one is “very intuitive,” according to Flyboard.com. It’s “similar to learning to ride a bike, waterski, surfing, skating or any other activity that requires a little balance.” Zapata was able to take all of his passions – skiing, using a jet ski, snowboarding and acrobatic diving – and merge them into one machine.
FlyBoard Tester: Noah Flegel Photo: Leon Legot