Fliteboard ULTRA L2

The talented team at Fliteboard continue to pioneer design and innovation this year with the release of their much-anticipated 2024 range of products, which promise a new level of accessibility and performance, and a merger of foiling disciplines. In the arena of high octane eFoiling and wave riding, Flite has now revealed their latest board – the ULTRA L2. This is the lightest and most refined system we’ve seen from them so far and is the next design iteration in the ULTRA L series of lightweight boards intended to blur the line between surf foil and eFoil.

In simpler terms, it’s an electric-powered shred-weapon, and after finally taking one through its paces last week, it’s hard not to agree with Flite team member Adam Bennetts who, after riding it for the first time, said he was “blown away” by what this board has to offer.

Made for the riders out there who hunt for steeper sections and hard ripping turns, the ULTRA L2 has been pulled into a narrower, slightly longer shape to enhance agility and performance, and allow more rail-to-rail action. Similar in shape to a prone board at 4’4 x 21” x 49L, it comes in a sleek “Ultra Marine” blue color and is made with a premium carbon Innegra construction featuring a re-designed battery box centered over the mast to create a more balanced swing weight for pumping and control through turns.

Conditions for testing the UL2 were top notch at our local spot – clear sky, consistent overhead peeling rights and not even a breath of wind. Up on foil and flying out over crystal clear water to the reef, we were enjoying ourselves as soon as we squeezed the trigger on the new MN Flite Controller, which is more intuitively designed and functional than ever. Paired with the 2024 MN (short for Marc Newson) Wave eFoil system (ie. mast, fuselage, motor) and Flitecell Nano battery, it was clear straight away that the UL2 packs a powerfully good time into just 18.3kg of kit.

It should be mentioned that the MN Wave eFoil system is a masterpiece of its own, boasting Flite’s patented monobloc construction which weaves aerospace-grade Japanese carbon fiber into a seamlessly thin and streamlined mast/fuselage combination. Designed for low drag and high efficiency, its motor assembly is just 40mm in diameter and comes complete with Flite’s wave-refined folding propellor which has been designed in collaboration with the naval architects at Mercury Marine. The lack of drag through the water is immediately noticeable with this newly designed and refined gear, and along with the lack of weight, it feels close to riding a conventional foil board.

Made of all the right stuff, ULTRA L2 lives up to the hype, accelerating and maintaining speed effortlessly, giving one the feeling of absolute control while carving out the back and onto the wave of the day. All to do next is to simply drop the throttle and surf.

With the Flow 900 Conical front wing underfoot, the UL2 felt silky smooth from take-off all the way through to turns with enough bottom end glide so as to pump unpowered to the wave behind or surf a swell line 300 meters or more toward the shore. Honestly, with the right front wing, you could even connect bumps and downwind this setup easily, making it a great learning tool for someone looking to use it to progress into other unpowered forms of foiling.

The transition back to powered riding is smoother than ever, so smooth in fact that you can use it on the fly to out-run crashing sections of whitewash, gain a burst of speed to hit a section or simply pull off and fly out the back for another wave. All of the action is captured real time with new Wave Mode which is exclusive to the MN Flitecontroller. This tracks your wave distance while on the wave, waves surfed unpowered and for how long, so the froth can be shared with mates while you recharge batteries to go again.

Swapping out wings with the new Wave 850 C for speed and agility gains, we progressed through to harder cutbacks and turns looking for stronger sections to hit. Last to try was a prototype wing from the FLITELab* team, developed with Adam Bennetts. Hinting at what might be in store for the range of surf-focused wings Flite is continuing to add to their range.

Thanks to the lightest eFoil system in the world, riders can now connect waves and surf better than ever while still having at their disposal the power of electric propulsion. It’s clear from riding this highly refined craft and seeing the Flite build quality once again in person, that the new ULTRA L2 and MN60 Wave eFoil system is taking huge strides forward in this sector of the market.