SEBASTIAN — Finally, there is an extreme sport that even non-extreme athletes can enjoy, and it just may be the best ever, according to a new dealer and instructor of the activity.
Sebastian FlyBoarding offers a boarding sport that lifts a rider high above the water with jets powered by a personal watercraft, allowing aerial flips and twirls, and can plunge the rider into the water to explore the underwater world and “porpoise” above the surface to catch breaths.
The sole Indian River County operator of the groundbreaking sport is available to give lessons and rides, but the goal is to market the contraptions that cost $6,500 and attach to the rider’s own water craft, or they are available for a package price with a water craft.
“We discovered it and we fell in love with it. We see this as the newest thing that everybody is going to want to do, because everyone can do it and it is a blast,” said Lyle Presse, who owns the business partnership with good pals Dave Starr and Cary Whitley.
“I have always loved the water and flying. With a FlyBoard, you do both,” he said, referring to the FlyBoard tagline: “Fly like a bird; Swim like a porpoise.” If Presse’s name sounds familiar, it is because he owns the pro shop at the Sky Dive Center, which launches flyers en masse into the air via airplanes that take off from Sebastian Airport.
Starr is his pro shop manager, while Presse is on and in the water, helping FlyBoard riders master the leading-edge sport.
Whitley sold out of his business in Deland that sells skydiving helmets to join the promising outfit.
The pro shop sells all things extreme sports, from parachutes to sky boards and any of the gear to strap riders aboard and keep them safe.
FlyBoards complete the pro shop paraphernalia in that riders will never have a reason to sit on the couch due to uncooperative weather.
“We’ve had people come from all over the world, and save their money all year for their skydiving vacation, only to literally burst into tears because they can’t go up at all if weather is bad all week,” Presse said.
High winds and rain grounds skydivers, paragilders and skyboarders pulled by power boats, and parasails and kiteboarders stall when there is no wind.
A FlyBoard goes up – or down – in any weather.
Additionally, the fun lasts for the entire 30-minute FlyBoard ride, while a parachuter’s thrill lasts only 3 to 45 seconds, with most of the time in the sport spent waiting to board a plane and getting into the drop position.
The biggest challenge is getting people into the water when it is cold, which will likely make for busy summer months.
While the sport is in its infancy locally – Presse has put only around 30 on a FlyBoard thus far – it is available only on the weekends until its popularity expands availability up to seven days a week.
Presse emigrated from New Brunswick, Canada, where he was no stranger to skiing, rugby, water sports and his beloved baseball.
He began skydiving at age 18, became a trophied pro, traveled the world coaching and putting together skydive groups, and is now a coach of all the water and air sports supported by the pro shop.
Along the way he dabbling in construction as a “day job,” but a voice inside him grew louder that said he could live his dreams.
“My parents led me to believe you could do whatever you wanted. I have enjoyed a great sense of freedom in pursuing all these passions,” he said, adding with a smile, “Plus, it helps that I probably have a pretty good case of attention deficit disorder.”
With his reputation as a fast, aggressive skydiver, he collected ideas on how to create the best equipment.
He began manufacturing and selling goggles to skydive shops. The design of parachutes evolved over those years from a clunky round shape into a rectangular “canopy” that can be more easily maneuvered, and can even allow the flyer to momentarily gain altitude if the winds are right.
Presse moved to Sebastian in 1994, started managing the pro shop in 1996, and purchased it in 1999. He also owns KiteBoard Sebastian, which may now takes a backseat to FlyBoarding.
Full Flight Sports sells skydiving equipment, FlyBoards and skating longboards.
For the more sedate rider, inflatable standup paddle boards and click-together paddles weigh 20 pounds and fit into a backpack. The boards are hand-pumped in three minutes.
On a glassy-water day, people do yoga on them.
Full Flight Sportswear offers screen printing, custom shirts and clothing, and embroidery services to personalize gear.
Presse plans to open a location in Stuart, but expects to see operators popping up wherever there is sufficiently deep water.
While the businesses are land-based, the FlyBoards operate off the middle of the 510 Causeway, at the end of the first portion of the causeway, south of the boat launch at the end of the bridge.
“These things are inexpensive enough to be affordable as a private toy. People with disposable income will buy it, and people who live on a lake or other body of water will have one in their toy collection,” Presse said.
The only requirement is that riders must take an operator’s course for safe operation.
Also, the personal watercraft must have 180 to 220 horse power. A 54-foot tube attaches to the water outflow, so that it sits motionless, with no rider, pulled along by the FlyBoarder.
Rather than pulling water through a propeller to forward the craft, the mechanism shoots water through the tube to propel the rider as high at 45 feet in the air, from board to water surface, giving the rider an eye level of 50 feet or more.
Plunging into the water, riders can travel 18 miles an hour, exploring the lake, river or ocean’s depths unlike any snorkeler and faster than any scuba diver, resurfacing only when they need a breath of air.
At the beginning of the learning curve, an instructor sits on the personal water craft to make sure the rider remains in deep enough water to safely land or submerge, and controls the strength of the jets while the learner gets their sea legs.
Riders typically master the required techniques in less than five minutes.
To maneuver, they press their toes forward and lean forward to propel forward, and dig in their heels and lean backward to travel backward.
The tube never kinks because the attached water craft simply twirls to accommodate the spin. A universal joint under the board allows unrestricted angling, with the rider’s feet strapped to the board as with similar sports.
The board is 2 ½ feet long, with the feet placed shoulder length apart perpendicular to the length of the board.
Average leg strength and good balance are the only requirements. The water does all the work. The cost for the 30 minutes is $149, discounted to $100 with groups of six.
After a few lessons, it makes more economic sense to purchase a system, especially if one already owns a water craft.
The water craft can be modified to fit the tube or returned to normal use in minutes. Maximum rider weight for a Fly-Board is 375 pounds, but Presse requires a limit of 275 pounds during training. The heavier the rider, the lower the jets can lift him or her.