A Big Winds eFoil lesson on the Columbia River, Hood River.

The eFoil Is Our Fast Track to Foiling. Here’s How to Ride One.

By T.J. Gulizia

Ask anyone who has learned to foil behind a wing, a kite or a boat: the hard part is getting enough time on the foil. You spend most of a session waiting for wind, relaunching, or swimming back to your gear.

An eFoil skips all of that. You bring the power, so every minute on the water is practice. No wind or waves needed. That’s why the eFoil has become our favorite way to fast-track foiling, and why every beginner eFoil lesson we ran in 2026 used the same setup: a Lift5 with a Blowfish.

Why an eFoil Speeds Up Everything

• More reps per hour. On a wing or kite, a beginner might get a handful of short flights in a session. On an eFoil you can get up, fly, touch down and go again over and over, without waiting on the conditions.
• You control the speed. The hand controller has speed settings. You start slow and add power only when you’re ready, so fear never gets ahead of skill.
• One thing to learn at a time. No sail or kite to manage. You can focus on what every foil sport has in common: stance, pitch control and feeling the foil under your feet.
• It carries over. The balance and foil feel you build on an eFoil carry straight into wing, surf, SUP, kite and windsurf foiling.

Our Lesson Setup: Lift5 + Blowfish

We teach on the Lift5 with the Lift Blowfish attached. The Blowfish is an inflatable collar that clips onto a LIFT5 and adds stability and buoyancy while you learn. You get earlier takeoffs, softer touchdowns and more room for mistakes. When you don’t need it anymore, it comes off and you’re riding a high-performance eFoil.

That’s the big idea: new riders can learn on the 4’9 or 5’4 they actually want to own, instead of a 100-liter-plus learner board they’ll outgrow in a few sessions. The Blowfish fits the LIFT5 4’4 Pro, 4’9 Sport and 5’4 Cruiser. It does not fit the LIFTX or the Laird 5’2.

See a Big Winds eFoil Lesson

Here’s what a lesson looks like with us on the Columbia: belly to knees, pop-ups, standing, controlling foil height, and graduating from the Blowfish.

How to Ride an eFoil, Step by Step

1. Prep at home

Read the manual. There’s a QR code in the battery compartment and on the propulsion case. Charge the battery and the hand controller. Then inspect: seals in good shape, no cracks in the board, and connectors clean and shiny with no sand, water or debris.

2. Pick your spot

Before you unload, find an easy, safe way in and out of the water with no rocks or debris. As a beginner, ride where there are no swimmers, little boat traffic and nothing that can hurt you or the board. Riding in Oregon? Read how to register your eFoil and the rules of the road first.

3. Assemble clean

Keep sand out of the connectors. If you’re on a beach, set the battery on the propulsion bag, not in the sand. Click the battery in, click on the mast and the foil, and make sure every connection is solid. Then pair the hand controller as the manual shows.

4. Respect the machine

A complete eFoil weighs 60 to 70 pounds and has a sharp propeller. Whenever the battery is on and the controller is paired, the trigger is live. Three habits keep you safe:

• Bail early. If you’re wobbling, don’t try to save it. Let go of the trigger and jump away, 5 to 10 feet from the board. Always bail to the side or the back, never in front of a moving board.
• Mind the trigger. Don’t squeeze it while you swim back. If the board is pointed at you or a dock, that’s where it goes.
• Feet up when you swim back. Keep your feet behind you near the surface so you don’t kick the sharp wings under the board.

Wear a PFD and a helmet. In our lessons we provide both, plus a wetsuit and booties.

5. Learn three positions on the surface first

You’ll ride on your belly, then your knees, then standing, all without leaving the water. There’s no need to go from zero to hero on day one. Set the controller to a low speed setting: as slow as possible, but fast enough to have control.

The key to all three: keep the board flat. When you squeeze the trigger, the nose wants to lift. Shift your weight forward to keep it flat. You want the thrust pointing forward, not up. Stay in each position until you’re bored, then move to the next. Once you’re moving, the only time you let go of the trigger is to bail.

Belly: lie centered, squeeze the trigger and keep the nose down with your weight.

Knees: look down toward your belly button to lift your hips, then walk your knees up gently. Kneel wherever the board stays flat with your hips forward and shoulders back. On a Lift5 4’9 that’s about at the top of the handles. Turning comes naturally: lean the way you want to go.

Standing: put both hands at the top of the pad (don’t bang the controller on the board). Slide your knees back for a wider base, step your front foot up, then bring your back foot to the middle of the handle with your heel and toes on the centerline. Stand up slowly in an offset stance. Inline stances and back-foot-behind-the-handle are for advanced riders only.

Where the Blowfish helps: this surface stage is where most first-timers fall. The extra float and stability of the Blowfish make the belly-to-knees-to-standing moves far more forgiving, so you spend your time riding instead of climbing back on.

6. Add speed, then find the foil

Once you’re cruising on the surface standing up and you’ve stopped falling, add a little speed. Keep the nose touching the water and the board flat. If the board starts lifting and you feel anxious, you’re going too fast. Drop a speed setting.

To start flying, shift your weight back a quarter to half an inch at a time. You’ll feel the foil start to lift. Get comfortable with that feeling before you move back again. Remember: you’re riding the foil, not the board. Gentle pumping, moving the foil up and down, helps you feel it through your legs.

7. Touch and goes

Lift just 1 to 2 inches off the water, then set back down. For a beginner, every inch higher gets riskier, so stay low and repeat. Keep your stance offset and near the handles. If you ever end up too far back and out of control, let go of the trigger and jump away.

Once your touch and goes are consistent, it’s time to try a session without the Blowfish. Same board, same stance, more performance.

8. After your session

Make sure the controller and battery are off. Unclip the battery, keeping sand out of the connectors, and set it somewhere shady and out of the sun. Here on the Columbia we ride fresh water, so there’s no salt to rinse off. Wipe away any sand or grit, dry the board and connectors, and let everything dry fully before you pack it away.

Ride With Us in 2027

Our eFoil lessons return in May 2027. A Beginner eFoil Private is 1.5 hours for $250: 30 minutes on land, then an hour on the water. Bring a partner for 2 hours at $300. Your instructor rides a second eFoil next to you, with two-way radios, and we provide the Lift eFoil, wetsuit, PFD, helmet and booties.

Ready for Your Own?

The setup we teach on, plus the safety gear we ride in. Questions? Text the shop at (541) 319-8702.

Choosing a battery? Read One Board, Three Batteries.