The ZEROTOW Boogie

Foils and Boards - Gear Talk
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Hey everyone, im Mark, a Kiwi living in Australia.

I’ve spent the last year or so developing a Boogie for tow foiling. It’s epic. I always had dreams of riding glassy non breaking swell, so I built a diy foil drive a few years ago, after using it a few times i wanted something a bit more versatile, longer battery life, and lighter weight when you on the wave.

So then built a tow boogie using a bodyboard and a pelican case and instantly fell in love i with it. Getting whipped into waves silently is amazing and when you let go of the rope it’s just you, your foil and the wave. A few friends tried it, and even learnt to foil behind the Boogie. Some of them wanted me to make them one. The problem is with the bodyboard version is you are forever battling water ingress into the pelican case due to the heating and subsequent cooling when the board flips. I knew i would be on permanent tech support and almost dismissed the idea.

Then one night i was looking at DIY packrafts and other inflatable sups and thought that the combination of the two could be the perfect platform for a Tow Boogie. Light, transportable, durable, safe and 100% waterproof. I got a couple of damaged inflatable sups, cut them open to see how they were made, then got to work on a design. 10 months and three trips to China later the production version of the Boogie is almost ready.

The first Boogies i made. I went through 4 old boards from market place before i figured out where to put everything for the right combination of balance and steerability.

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Got a couple of leaking SUPs and cut them open to see how they were manufactured. My final iteration bodyboard boogie before moving to the inflatable version.

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Random late night scribbles - the final Boogie design came out quite close to this.

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The production version of the Boogie, complete with GPS based autosteer and summon. Also doubles as a beach trolley for my daughter - like a rolling moon hopper. She loves it.

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It’s been pretty fun and rewarding to develop a product which solves so many problems that i’ve experienced with jetskis, boats, as well as with other versions of electric assists. It’s great being able to go out, away from crowds, and know you are going to get a couple of hour foil time with zero compromise.

A few specs -

  • Boogie weight 14kg
  • Battery 15kg. 52V, 60Ah, 3024Wh
  • Remote range is about 50-150m depending on conditions. Less when in the water, more when on the foil with line of sight.
  • Manual and GPS based Autosteering.
  • 2h/ 20km+ range depending on lots of factors. I’m 95kg and on a 34L board and get those numbers. smoother water helps extend run time.
  • In a group also works great, even with just one remote, you can tow up other people then drive the Boogie back to you.

Let me know if you have any questions, happy to get geeky.

Cheers,

Mark
www.zerotow.com.au

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Saw it in action at Merimbula! Looks awesome. I’m calling it the Aqua-Roomba though.

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Congrats on all the work you have done. Looks great in the videos.

I would just prefer a longer range on the remote. 100-150 meters is not that much. In my primary location that I like to ride my rides are much longer than that. Planning on a FD also to double the distance.

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When you catch a wave you can put the Boogie into autosteer mode, and pull the throttle. The Boogie will follow you maintaining a distance of about 20m behind you. You can offset either left or right in 5m increments as well so the boogie will follow but on the outside of the peak.

Visually seeing much more than 150m while low in the water (not on foil) is pretty difficult especially in short period swell so there are safety risks with driving the boogie blind.

When regulations eventually catch up I think a line of site control range and user always in control of throttle will be important.

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This is very impressive. The follow idea is great.

I will shoot you a contact through your site. I would love to discuss the path to ownership in the United States.

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This is so cool, great work getting this to market. It might be a good idea to have a little bike flag on a fiberglass rod or similar so you can see it from farther away and so others can see it as well.

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Thanks, I had thought about a helium ballon on a string tied to the back would be great to increase visibility. But after spending 100s of hours behind it in lots of different conditions a flag or balloon
hasn’t been needed and a clean tangle free hull I think is preferred.

Because you can get inside the top dome via the zip, you can magnetically mount things to it. A magnetic GoPro mount is included, and if your state requires registration numbers you can attach the numbers this way too, or for fun you could attach goggly eyes or a shark fin….

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What about instead of built in battery, you have a way to put like 10 power tool batteries. so it would be easier to ship internationally with no battery. Not saying this is a better idea than what you’ve done already.

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I’ve tried to use industry standard connectors, and there is no trickery with the battery system so people are free to power it how they would like. I haven’t tested yet, but the large Fliteboard battery + magnet to enable should work with the Boogie.

The battery that comes with the Boogie is a beast, it’s 3024Wh. A typical 18V 5Ah power tool battery is only about 90Wh. So you would need over 30 power tool batteries to give the same energy which I don’t think is practical.

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@Kurtis @beavis here’s is a video I took this morning showing the Autosteer function.

Whip on to the wave. Press the Auto button, pull trigger fully. The Boogie will steer and limit speed so its behind you the whole time.

I just got a 360 cam so still figuring out how to use it properly. There’s a bit going on with the controller, tow handle and camera stick!

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@Boogie

That video is impressive.

I sent an email via the website.

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Pretty sic! Great designing.

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These are currently banned in NSW

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What Rubbish!

Mext thing you know, efoils and assist units will be outlawed as well. Must be a pWC lobbyist involved.

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It’s was pretty disappointing to see this pop up on the NSW maritime website a couple months ago. Up until mid November searching for “Emerging Technologies” on the transport NSW site didn’t return any results. I had been trying to keep on top of any new regulations in different locations that may pop up so had routinely been searching various government websites.

I have been in contact with Maritime NSW and they do seem to be quite reasonable so far. After the holidays we plan is to set up a demonstration meeting with them to show the ease of control and other safety features.

From what I understand NSW wanted to get in front of this type of device (they mentioned the Takuma eTow) and the easiest way was to put a ban in place using unsafe vessel act which can be all encompassing. The unsafe reasons given for a Boogie would also cover all other types of efoiling/ assists etc so it’s doesn’t make too much sense.

My thoughts for legislation is that Tow Boogies should be treated like an efoil or failing that at worse a PWC. Stay 1-200m away from people, and stay out of exclusion zones.

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yes all very sticky in NSW. Currently efoils including foil drives are PWCs with exemptions, read the emerging technologies , efoils, for details. Boogie you should contact the early developers of fliteboard as they went through the same with Maritime NSW when they started and maybe able to give you some clues.

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Australian over-regulation strikes again…

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oh wow - got a quick go on your ‘Tow boogie’ today - inwas blown away by its torque and easy manouverability… Man what a game changer…
i didnt want to give the controller back… 3 guys lining up for tow ins…12 scratching in to a chip in on the point with 1 wave sets…
we were sitting way wide on an outside bank - no bother to anyone - the bank is impossible to paddle into - its just too deep…
‘tow boogie just created a new spot’
thank you Mark for the awesome design…
im saving pennies
will pm you

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Thats awesome! Your right, it opens up so many great spots where you would never think to foil and are otherwise unusable.

Where in the world are you?

Mark

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Yeah hi Mark its Mark from Melbourne - weve chatted heaps in the past …