Several guys at the LLSC have Lifts and I've ridden a friend's. They are good but not cheap, as you know. Bunch of FoilDrive fans here, too. I'm sure they'll chime in.

Past threads:
https://windsportatlanta.com/content/foil-drive-plus-72023
https://windsportatlanta.com/content/st-patrick-day-vp-31624

Here are few facebook links that might be helpful.

Foil Drive for Sale By Owner North America:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1067760270888993

Listings including at least one down in Florida if not more. Gen 1+ Foil Drive like mine (FD Assist Plus or FDA+) are a bargain now because lots owners went for Gen 2 (such as JB and Barrett have) and are selling their Gen 1+.

Foil Drive Owners Group

https://www.facebook.com/groups/188161666588165

This group is a good place to learn about the devices and the various uses applications and comments. I found it very helpful when I was shopping.

Jetsurfing Nation on youtube has reviews of most every e-foil and this video compares foil drive (Gen 1) to e-foil.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSVIAxuOZxo

Here is another video where he reviews Gen 2 foil Drive.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hra9sTKKW7k

My comments are limited to Gen 1 (FDA+). Some of my comments may be applicable to Gen 2, but not necessarily all. They both use a similar controller which is a factor for wind related applications.

Using it for e-foil is a lot of fun, and easy depending on your weight you might want 2 batteries. For me worth the price of purchase for e foil and that's mainly what I'm using it for. I've e-foiled more than 30 times now and could get up to 30 minuts on the foil per battery. (I now have 2.) Battery charge management is an issue, and it's not advised to have your battery fully charged all the time. So you can't just wake up in the morning and say "I think I will go efoiling before i go to work" because it can take a while to charge the battery. Minor point, but worth keeping in mind.

For wind related sports it's worth remembering it was not really designed for that. The primary purpose was for sup or surf foiling in waves and from all indications it's a huge success for that.

For assisting with Wingfoil - it's a plus and I've done it. I've found it useful and never used the full charge on my battery. I've been able to use it with wings as small as 3m which makes it pretty fun. Does it help the learning curve? Some but I got nowhere until i learned to e foil the FD+ first. It was also necessary to have learned the basics of wingfoiling (take-off, landing, etc). I don't see that many people using these devices for wingfoil. It's a bit awkward to use the controller on a wing, but not too difficult.

For assisting Windfoil - the controller makes it awkward and just not that easy. I've used it that way, but don't think it's enough help to bother with most of the time. If you have decent pumping skills, it's just a labor saving device and adds a layer of complexity to the mix. There are very few people (if any) using it with Windfoil from what I can tell.

If you buy used, I'd avoid a unit used primarily in salt water - it's very corrosive and the unit could be in really bad shape. I'd only buy one I could inspect in person (after watching all of FD's maitenance vids.) I'd ask for pictures of the motor taken apart to make sure it is not corroded. There are some bargains out there now for FD+ so that may be worth looking into.

I've had no problems with my unit. I did have a minor vibration in my motor once and sent an emial to FD (on a Sunday everning.) I got an answer back in 30 minutes with the solution from one of their founders.

i can't say much about Gen2 but it has a better mounting system, and longer battery life. It seems well loved. Others have a Gen2 and can relay their experiences.

Now Foil Drive has a competitor. This just came out today. Manta is an e-foil manufacturer based in Dubai and has made various foil for Wind and Wing foil, surf as well (I think.).

Happy to have you test Foil Drive Max Hamdi!
It would be the best way to understand its benefits.
It can be used for e-foil (long motor) or low e-foil/pumping mode (short motor) (great workout) - no complaints after 3 sessions with the Max - have 2 batteries and each last over 45mn
Use it with 75L board or 38L
The trickiest part is the connection to the mast - can explain in more details but overall with my F-One mast and North board it takes me 5mn - other mast system could take a very long time
Do not buy anything until you try FD - so light, easy to transport, over half price of e-foil and with a fast charger a max battery kept around40/50% gets fully charged in about 90mn
Great distribution system in US, really an amazing toy on no wind day

BTW Hamdi - with your love for heavy duty exercise pump foiling with FD would probably be right up your alley.

As for the dedicated e-foil v. FD the Jet Surfing Nation comparison video is pretty good. I'd take jb up on his offer for sure to see what you can do with Foil Drive. There is a Lift Dealer locally.

https://kayaklanier.com/494-2/

He seems to have a tent SUP/Kayak rentals at Mary Alice Park on weekends and offers e-foil lessons. .

Hamdi,

Check with FD, but their products are intended to be used with a wide variety of foil brands. Moses is listed as one of the compatible brands, but check your specific mast to be sure, or send them an email. They are very good about answering.

https://help.foildrive.com/en-US/choosing-correct-custom-mast-adaptor-177177

TBH - I don't think you need wingboard to use FD at least initially. If you have a regular windfoil board with a 4 bolt foil mast system (90 mm width) it should work fine. I use the FD with my f-one Rocket Air which is a wind/wing foil board and with Gene's old Dialer which was a dedicated windfoil board. Those were Tuttle box boards so I needed a power plate* (which I already had anyway). Power plates are about $200 (though sometimes cheaper on ebay or used) , Normally, the FD people say the longer the board the less power is needed from the FD. That said, lots of guys want to go with much smaller board for the manuverablilty and pump foil you might end up wanting one anyway after using FD a while. Not necessarily best way to start out. BTW - if you really want a wingboard, let me know, I might sell my takuma.

As for mast/motor placement, it seems to me moving it as far back as possible works best, but that may be a personnal preference issue. The Dialer 130 had the mast mount very far back, it worked really well with FD.

* I strongly suspect that power plate would not work with Gen 2, though it worked fine with my Gen 1 (FD Assist Plus).

Motor placement depends on what you want to do. For e-foil lower (closer to the wing) is best. For assisting with winging then higher allows you to avoid the motor pod drag when winging (or pumping etc.) However, FD has a folding prop so some of the drag gets mitigated in e-foil mode. I've also at times turned the motor off in gusts and kept flying, even though it was submerged. You can also run the motor at very low speed to further minimize ther drag, although in my experience it does tend to put a "speed limit" on the system.

You can also run the motor in e foil mode to keep you flying even when there would not enough wind otherwise. I've done it that way a few times. Some users do that practice jibes and tacks on light wind days by "powering through" the turns. I ran it that way on light wind days to extend the battery chage. So you can run the motor to help the wing, or use the wing to help the motor. Sometimes both on the same day. Of course, if there is not enough to provide some lift in the wing, you are just dragging around a heavy balloon.

Better check with jb, or FD on this, but I thought FD Max can be used with either setup, but you do need to buy an additional cable. My Gen 1 FD came with a cable long enough to do either method and I just coil up the extra cable that's not being used.

From Jonathan the owner of Epic shop in Cocoa Beach:
“Yes, it would work on any foil board. You’ve likely seen some of the videos lately on different sizes and how they impact the FD. But, we teach with it on a 7’4 140l board. Probably most important is to verify a track mount for the foil. Some windsurf foil still use tuttle.”

Feel free to call him on his cell 205.276.4228, he has your best interests in mind and a one man shop with his wife.
He is the best and was introduced to me by Neil
Have bought all my gear from him, except FD as he just started it. But I can tell you FD screws did not work for my F-One 75L board, a bit too long but he came up with the solution and cut the screws for me - truly going above & beyond for the customers - the other shop I bought it from didn’t offer a solution.

With Gen2, the cable is not adjustable, you get 1 size of your choice or you can add 1 extra for $750

I should be at the lake Saturday if you want to try it!
Until you try it, you can’t appreciate it - a game changer for me, and doesn’t take much extra space

I met Eric and Laura Foht whose son Finn is at sailing camp this week at LLSC. They own Smile Surf & Sail in Naples, FL and are camping at the club. They would love to hook up with local wingers, kiters and efoilers while here. They have some efoils that my be available to demo. Eric said they had to leave some damaged wings at home, so they might like to borrow/share with locals. My gate code: #2839

https://foilnaples.com/

Axis FoilDrive board now available: https://www.mackiteboarding.com/axis-foil-drive-board/

"When we started designing our AXIS dedicated Foil Drive boards with Dom and Jamie (Foil Drive specialists and AXIS Foils Global Ambassadors), we knew that the outcome would be spectacular. Dominic Hoskyns and Jamie Wise from Foil Drive, together with Adrian Roper from AXIS have indeed created the perfect Foil Drive board, in 3 unique sizes, addressing all levels, conditions and styles or riding.

The AXIS Foil Drive boards are based on a longer and narrower shape, with a very flat section in the rocker to allow the Foil Drive Gen2 to fit nicely. They run with less drag than a shorter wider board and make it very easy to get up on foil. They have been extensively tested to have a solid signal through the board, so no cutouts between the Foil Drive remote control and controller."

My totally uneducated take: they are comparatively low volume compared to normal wingboards so probably not a good light air alternative to a regular wingboard presently. But, compared to Lifts, etc, much more compelling price if you already own a foil.

I bought the Foil Drive Gen 2 from Real Watersports when in the Outer Banks. I've used it once, and JB was a huge help in assembling it.

First, although the unit worked as advertised, attaching it to my North foil-board was far more difficult than I expected. The reason is the thickness of the battery mounted between the bottom of the board and the top of the foil mast, adds several inches of height. This makes it difficult to line up the four long attachment screws with nuts that are inserted into tracks in the board.

Second, I bought a medium-aspect, Armstrong MA front foil wing. I believe it would be far easier to learn with a more forgiving, lower-aspect front foil such as the Armstrong S1. This new foil came out just after I purchased my Foil Drive, so I plan to order a beginner-friendly S1 front foil.

Hopefully assembly will get easier, but I’ll find out with future sessions.

I chose a long cable for E-foiling with the 72cm Armstrong mast. I have an existing Deep-Tuttle, Moses foil with a that is not compatible.

HamdiD wrote:

Thanks William Frankly I am still unclear on a few things 1. How well would FD (gen1 or 2) work with my fanatic windfoil board plus Moses windfoil setup? In efoil mode snd/or pumping mode?

2. If FD gen1 or 2 would not work well with my fanatic windfoil board plus Moses as described above in 1, what’s the next most likely step? Namely, am I likely to see better success with changing the board to a different one (like a wingboard or this axis board) and still use the Moses OR use the fanatic board with a different foil set like a windfoil set OR am I likely to need a new board and a new foil?

If I need a new board or worse new foil set, the FD price becomes quite high and similar to lower price versions of good efoil brands like Lift. This is especially true if you get Gen2 FD plus 2nd battery and 2nd cable, maybe new or lightly used good board and foil…

All inputs welcome Hamdi

Also, be aware that earlier Lifts and some other efoils didn't have folding props. The prop turns into a sea anchor when the power is off. That's the attraction of the newer generation of drives is turning off the motor and being able to glide on swell. You can retrofit Lifts, afaik, but that adds to the cost.