Test riding Manta5: The unholy offspring of a boat, an airplane, and an e-bike

Suffice it to say that this is one of the most exciting new entrants into the rideables category in recent memory.

I’ve ridden a lot of weird things at CES: self-balancing unicycles, one-wheeled skateboards, and even a pair of rocket skates — but of all the wild and wonderful rideable contraptions iIve ever hopped on at this show, the Manta5 Hydrofoiler XE-1 might be the weirdest. It also might be the most fun.

In a nutshell, this thing is basically the answer to the question “what do you get when you cross a boat, an airplane, and an e-bike?” It’s a pedal-powered vehicle that lets you ride on water much like you’d ride a wheeled bicycle on land.