Solo SF150: The personal waterskiing machine

With the Solo SF150 Personal Ski Machine, you no longer need a towboat to waterski, wakeboard or barefoot behind

That looks like a high tech training shoe, what is it?

It’s the new SOLO SF 150 Personal Ski Machine.

Intriguing, what does it do?

Pop it on the water and you can water ski behind it.

But what’s wrong with a boat?

Nothing, provided you have two other people along – one to drive and a spotter to watch you and interpret your signals. This allows you to ski solo.

So this thing drives itself?

You drive it. A control panel clamps to your tow line and communicates wirelessly with the device, so you control its speed and direction.

Remarkable! What makes it go?

It’s fitted with a ROTAX 1.5 litre 150hp four stroke motor linked to a jet drive similar to a jet ski.

And how big is it?

It measures a little under 8ft and weighs about 300kg. It is a proper boat, albeit a tiny automatous one.

Will it pull up a deepwater mono?

Absolutely. And you can wakeboard or even barefoot behind it.

Does it not get pulled off line by the skier?

Apparently not. It uses something called MEMS technology to sense the torque of a skier pulling from one side and automatically adjusts the jet nozzle to compensate.

If I fall, is that the last I’ll see of it?

No, if you fall off, rather remarkably, it will come back to you. A small GPS transmitter attached to your usual personal flotation device links to the control unit on the handle.

If you let go, as soon as the handle is 40 inches away it realises you’re not there and cuts the power. The GPS signal from your transmitter lets it know where you are and the SOLO SF 150 returns to you at idle speed shutting down the engine when it’s 10ft away. Clever stuff…