Franck Zapata's Inaugural European Flyboard® Championships

The inaugural European Flyboard® Championships take place this weekend along the main beach at Cavalaire sur mer, right next to St Tropez in the south of France.

Flyboard® is the brainchild of Franck Zapata, the renowned French jet ski champion, who developed the engine which propels the rider as high as 10 meters out of the water.

The mechanism is high pressure sea water pumped through a pipe connected to a jet ski, and monitored by a remote control device. 

Franck Zapata himself is also the current Flyboard® Guiness World Record holder, having achieved a new benchmark distance earlier this year of 2,252 meters, far surpassing the previous record of 275.9 meters set by Canadian inventor Catalin Alexandru Duru.

Contestants this weekend must perform a series of compulsory moves with at least one back flip, and the rest is open to interpretation and nerve!

More recently, Franck has collaborated with Stéphane Denis, an expert in show choreography and artistic direction, to develop the Flyboard® Show, a series of spectacular events showcasing the incredible abilities of riders and the Flyboard® itself. The events attract Flyboard® riders from around the world, coming together to perform choreographed displays to a live audience.

Franky Zapata and Lindsay McQueen 

Here's a video from an event at Théoule sur mer to give you the gist:

The Flyboard Team works with the very best artistic specialists, creating custom made shows that continue to push the boundaries of sport and showmanship. 

For more information please call: +33 761 297 070. 

* Image Credit: Natashabelarus via creative commons CC BY-SA 4.0; Google maps