My Tow Boogie Build 2025

[chrisfoil]

Here is my dual motor tow boogie build which started in march 2025 until now.
The reason why I abandoned my e-foil assist was to foil purely withput the extra weight and also learn to pump foil more easily.

I heavily relied on my 3D printer thats why many parts beside the electronics stuff can be printable, even on a small printer like my A1 mini, but you will need a lot of filament

All my created files are located here:

https://makerworld.com/en/collections/6660539-e-tow-2025

Main Parts:

Bodyboard 105x51x6cm
2x VESC 75200
2x Flipsky 7070 Motor
Battery: 12S4P ~12Ah usable

Accessories:
Battery/ ESC Box: https://de.aliexpress.com/item/1005007922241712.html
380x310x115mm

Many M6 nuts, m6x35mm washers, M6x20/25/35/40mm screws and M6x90/100mm screws.

Remote: Custom with auto return to me/ follow me
Receiver: Custom
(just for completeness here, I don’t plan a release at the moment)

Build and first steps

I started with motor position in the middle and only got around 6~7kmh until the board made superman and came out of the water.
I put it on 2nd try 18cm more in front and got even worse results.

The best position is what you can see on the picture, at the very end of the board.

The next problem was the hook for the wakeboard rope. I started of course on top of the board but that pulled the board up. So I designed/ printed a hook underneath the board and voila I got good results, but less efficiency in terms of power consumption.

I started with a 28mm wide wood rod and attached my rope there. But the forces were concentrated mostly on the mast base plate and I think in the long term this would lead to a failure or worn out mast/ base plate board connection.

Thats why I chose an aluminum profile with a 25x25x2 mm size and 1m length. This suits perfectly to create a very stiff connection with the rope and also stabilizes the whole tow boogie itself.

Another major point was to add a 5 degree rotation to the motor pod holder, as this gives the board a slight pitch down when powering the motors and less moving up out of the water. Check out the available motor pods (0, 5, 8 degree).

Steering

This leads me to how to steer this thing. I found out that I can make relatively fast/ forced turns when I am high on mast and pull the rope towards me. This may be because the alu profile is controling the whole board.

One problem is to find the right balance on roll axis. As I only have 2 “small” 6S4P batteries in series, the weight is relatively low for a heavier rider with 80+ kg and therefore if the COG is slightly off you will see it especially in curves.

I added a fin to stabilize especially in turning.

Electronics

Fairly easy, as I already did a dual motor mountainboard build. Just setup each VESC with its motor and then setup communication via CAN.

Both VESC setup nearly identically:

Max Current: 100A
Max Battery Current: 40A

I should have put the batteries to the outside for more weight stability, but it is what it is now. My next battery pack will be 12S6P and will get put to the outside.

Current runtime is around 30 minutes with maybe 5 starts and continuous foiling.

Remote Control + Auto Follow/ Return To Me Mode:

I developed the remote/ receiver myself (actually a follow up of my e-foil remote) and wanted to have the tow boogie comeback to me automatically after pressing a button. This works really good and I am very satisfied.

Propeller

I wanted to use my e-foil propeller but it snapped in parts after one heavy superman/ touchdown of the board, so I designed new ones which are sturdy and hold until today, but less efficient. (also put some epoxy on them)

Next steps

• Build a bigger battery for more runtime and more weight
• go back to 0 degree motor pod for higher efficiency
• design more efficient propeller

First ride of me. This was without fin and only alu profile attached to the under mast section.

e-Tow 2025 first ride

[SoEFoil]

@chrisfoil

Both VESC setup nearly identically

Congratulations for this nice project.
The follow-me features: sthg I haven’t seen yet here. How did you implement it ?
Two 200A VESC: would you say they are overkill or just fine some using 2x120 ESCs ? Why didn’t you use a dual VESC with CAN intercommunication ?
Power draw: what are your takeoff and fly powers?

@chrisfoil

I should have put the batteries to the outside

I don’t understand what you mean by “put to the outside”

[Foiled1]

Awesome build! You might be the first DIY build to have GPS functionality in the remote - I’m very keen to see how you’ve done this and I’m sure plenty of the other DIYers are too.

[skud-surfboard]

hello chris can you share your follow and come back system you did with your custom remote this is the best tricks we are all looking for

[ang]

I wonder why you found motor position to be at the rear compared to most others suggesting motors around the midpoint.

And what was your experience with the long tow point boom? Build looks great!

And tilted thrust angle and looks like a long board too! Do you find it is strongly nose down now?

[chrisfoil]

Yes it works with both GPS module on the receiver and one in the remote. Communication via BLE to update coordinates. Logic etc is all done on receiver side.

By separating the batteries to the outside I meant to put them to the most outward point in the battery box and not centered like now.

Two Vescs: as the 75100 vesc are overheating very fast and the 75200 hold up nice without water cooling.

Takeoff power not measured yet, but fly power is around 29A per Motor and 29A battery amps, so more inefficient than an efoil setup.

[chrisfoil]

Not at all nose down, neither in auto mode nor when foiling behind. I started testing with 0 degree tilt and it is more efficient but tends to make the board fly up faster with heavier persons. I tried different positionsvof the wood/alu broom/ profile and my conclusion is the same as with motor pod. For lighter persons it will work on the top, but the more force you need to pull it is better to counter act it by putting it as low as possible. Maybe adding more weight on the board will help and it may be possible to attach it at the top again.

[SoEFoil]

Do you intent to install some kind of fairy/duct around the submerged pole ? There must be a lot of drag taking place there, especially at the front… which could be round or bevelled…

[Adri1]

Awesome build.
Thank you for sharing.
Follow me feature very interesting

[chrisfoil]

Well, it is open in the front I know its really inefficient and I want to get rid of the bottom mount. I hope a combination of more weight (battery) in front and maybe little shorter mast (50 instead of 100mm) will give the best results to allow a top mounted alu profilr again.

[chrisfoil]

Yeah thats the main feedback so far, but it is only a prototype and from a hardware perspective kind of messy. But it works

[Bzhwindtalker]

Really interested to follow/test/collaborate for this remote
I Can help on mechanical design and integration.
You already shared it on french DIY whatsapp group?

[ooregan]

Sweet build. Was about to start my own build, but have been debating on the motors and VESC’s I should use. I was thinking of going with two flipsky 6384’s paired with 75100 VESC’s, but now I am not sure. Would you recommend the 7070’s instead? Not really sure what the main differences are. Also, do you think 75200 VESC’s are needed over the 75100s?