Magic Carpet Ride

Chad McShane, The eFoil
Action shot takes a top spot in photo contest.

Lake Minnetonka provides year-around opportunities for great photos, and Chad McShane shared his perspective with The eFoil, which earned first place in the Activities and Events category of Lens on Lake Minnetonka, our annual photo contest.

A self-professed GoPro action camera fanatic, McShane used a GoPro Max 360 camera for this shot on Crystal Bay. He says, “These new 360 cameras capture a full 360 [degree] view of the action ..., which opens up the ability to get that full immersive shot that helps give people the feeling of actually being there.”

What’s better than combining two things you enjoy—using a GoPro and foil surfing? The sport utilizes a hydrofoil, a long hydrodynamically-designed fin/strut with a wing at the bottom connected to a surfboard that allows the foiler to ride above the water on the wing.

“On Lake Minnetonka, you are seeing foils being used behind boats for wakefoiling, kiteboarders are using foils and one of the most exciting new options for foiling is the Lift eFoil,” McShane says of the original electric powered, self-propelled hydrofoil surfboard controlled by a Bluetooth hand controller.

“The best part of eFoiling is that sense of flying above the water,” he says. “Once you are standing up on the board and the board starts to [lift] out of the water … [it’s] is one of the coolest sensations you can get out on the lake. It is literally like a magic carpet ride.”

“[It] is also the ultimate exploration tool and allows you to discover all kinds of little nooks and crannies around the lake,” he says.