Theresa Chong/MEDILL
Expert flyboarders from Chicago Jet Ski Rentals demonstrate how to fly on Lake Michigan. Animation by Next Media, produced from a script by Theresa Chong.
BY THERESA CHONG
NOV 19, 2013
“I’ve always been into kind of adrenaline things,” said Taylor Calacci, a flyboard instructor at Chicago Jet Ski Rentals. “But, I never thought I would be flying. It’s a whole new thing.”
Calacci is among the new surge of adrenaline junkies riding the wave of flyboarding, the newest extreme water sport to hit the global waterfronts from Florida to Hawaii to, yes, Chicago.
Flyboarding allows the jet-propelled rider to fly like Iron Man and swim like a dolphin. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be in shape to do it either.
Theresa Chong/MEDILL
Flyboarding, an extreme water sport, is making a big splash in Chicago and around the world.
“We’ve gotten people out in their sixties out here,” Calacci said. He also said flyboarding is an intuitive sport that appeals to all ages.
According to John Gibbs, owner of Chicago Jet Ski Rentals, the new water sport has several applications. “It can be a sport for fun and acrobatics,” Gibbs said. “It can also be used for search and rescue. And the surface of that hasn’t even be scratched yet.”
Gibbs recalled an event where his flyboarding team performed for the troops at the Leon’s Triathlon in Chicago. Due to cold weather, Gibbs said his team helped patrol the waters.
“So our flyboarders, because they had a different perspective on watching them, were able to save three swimmers and bring them back to shore,” he says.
Frankie Zapata, a professional jet ski racer in France, developed the flyboarding technology over the past three years. “Last summer was its first full summer as a global water sports phenomenon,” Gibbs said.
Although Calacci just became a flyboard instructor, he is already itching to perfect his skills. “I would love to do competitions for flyboarding,” he said.
“I feel like it’s just going to get better and better as time and technology comes,” said flyboard instructor Matthew Small.
Chicago Jet Ski Rentals is located at 31st Street Harbour. Flyboarding costs $195 for 40 minutes, and you can add 20-minute increments for around $45. Try flying for winter on a tropical beach and get ready for the Chicago season on Lake Michigan.