Man isn’t meant to stay indoors — our weekly “Trekking” column can attest to that. It’s a column dedicated to the adventurer inside of all of us, the one pining to ditch the office humdrum for a quick surf session or seven-week jaunt in the Grand Tetons. One day we may highlight an ultra-light stove and the next a set of handmade canoe paddles. Life doesn’t just happen inside the workplace, so get outside and live it.
Related: The Manual’s stand up paddle board guide | Three Brother’s Paddle Boards
These days, the term “smart” is thrown around rather loosely. Everything from our washing machine to our tennis racket is now considered a piece of smart technology, typically owing to little more than a few built-in sensors designed to provide us with additional functionality in the form of remote controls and in-depth analytics. However, the SipaBoard Smart Paddle Board ($1,530) offers more than just wireless functionality and a rock-hard, floating platform to stand on while skirting the lake.
The SipaBoard isn’t your average SUP. First off, the self-inflating board uses a brushless electric jet motor to inflate to the self-regulated pressure in under 5 minutes. It’s made of durable, double-layered PVC that’s incredibly rigid when inflated, too, yet it remains flimsy enough for you to fold up and stow in a backpack when need be. The aforementioned jet-propulsion system — which neatly rests in the center of the board and showcases a mesh bottom for preventing unwanted debris from getting sucked in — also helps it achieve 3.5 knots of assistance when needed, providing power for up to an hour under the weight of your average male boarder or three when cruising at 2 knots.
However, the SipaBoard wouldn’t be considered smart if it didn’t pack in some form of additional tech. The watercraft features built-in controls in the handle of the paddle for increasing and decreasing speed, along with a button that essentially functions as a kill switch for the motor. An accompanying mobile app for Android and iOS devices even takes the Bluetooth-enabled controls one step further, pairing them with real-time metrics about the battery level, range, and speed of the board for a better look. Now, if only we didn’t have to wait until the beginning of fall to pick one up for ourselves…
Check out SipaBoard online for more information, or to pre-order one of several board packages before they begin shipping in September.
