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Safety & weather

The boring page. Read it anyway.

An eFoil has a powered propeller under a carbon wing. Run properly it is one of the gentlest ways to get on the water. Run badly it is not. Here is exactly how we run it.

Always supervised

You are never alone on the water with our equipment. An instructor is alongside for the whole session — for coaching, and because Portuguese maritime rules treat a powered board like any other motorised craft. Supervised sessions are how this is done legally here, which is also why we do not do unsupervised hire.

A propeller guard, every session

The propeller is the real hazard on any eFoil. Both our boards run a guard fitted over it for every lesson, without exception. It costs a little top speed and removes the one injury that actually matters.

Kit that is not optional

Impact vest and helmet on every rider, every time. The vest matters most — it keeps you at the surface if a fall winds you. Wetsuit thickness is matched to the water, which runs about 15°C in February and 22°C in September.

A kill switch on your wrist

The throttle is a handheld trigger. Let go and the motor stops. If you and the remote part company, the board stops too. There is no scenario where it keeps going without you.

Away from swimmers

We ride on a reservoir with no beach crowd at all, and on the coast we stay well outside the swimming zones. Portuguese rules keep powered craft clear of bathing areas during the season and we plan around them rather than near them.

Our weather policy

Almost nobody in this industry publishes one. It is the single most common thing people worry about when booking a water activity abroad, so here is ours in full.

  1. First, the other water

    We run two very different waters precisely so that wind does not cancel a session. A breeze that puts a chop on the sea usually leaves the reservoir glassy, so that is what we suggest first.

  2. Then, another time

    Mornings are almost always calmer than afternoons here. If your afternoon looks rough we will offer you dawn instead.

  3. Then, another day

    If you are in the Algarve for a week we will find you the best morning in it. That is usually a better session than the one you originally asked for.

  4. Otherwise, you pay nothing

    If we cannot make any of that work, there is nothing to refund because we never took your money. We do not hold deposits against the weather.

  5. The call is ours, not yours

    If conditions are not safe we will not run, even if you want to. That decision is never influenced by whether you have already travelled to meet us.