26 Oct: From the Mantra5 Blog - What initially began as a six month project has turned into a life changing experience for all involved. The Hydrofoil Bike was nominated, and won, Gold in the ‘Concept’ category at the 2017 New Zealand Best Design Awards.   The win was great piece of validation for our design team. The whirlwind of attention we have had as a result of the awards has been all the more encouraging – especially given that was only our most recent prototype. Rest assured we will be entering the new and improved model into the 2018 Best Awards’ Consumer Product category.

For us, the awards ceremony was us a chance to take a step back from the pressures of finalising our pilot production model – to take a moment and reflect on the last six years. Over that time we’ve made some groundbreaking accomplishments, such as waterproofing electric bike motors and batteries, achieving hydroplaning efficiencies at high and low speed, and successfully performing the world’s first underwater submerged launch. It’s also a testament to a diehard Kiwi resilience and innovation.

“So many times we’ve had people tell us what we we’re trying to achieve couldn’t be done. That kind of feedback can really hit you hard…especially when it’s coming from an hydrodynamic expert.”Guy Howard-Willis | Co-Founder.

Now, with all the positive interest we’re really excited to begin our pre-sales and development of future models and components. But, we know we have to continue to be laser focused on production and commercialisation – to make this dream a reality.

The next step for us is revealing the pilot production model, the Hydrofoiler XE-1 at Big Boys Toys on November 10-12th, at Auckland Domain.

A final thank you to the Designers Institute of New Zealand for giving us a reason to reflect, and celebrate our successes to date.

| A Mantra5 Blog  ||  October 26  2017   |||