BEDFORD – For the first time ever, an e-foil was used to navigate the longest underground cave system in the US. Brian Grubb, an athlete partnered with Redbull, undertook the 3-day expedition through Bluespring Caverns on an e-foil.
Brian Grubb, from Orlando, Florida, is on his 21st season with Redbull, and is a world champion wakeskater and professional athlete with more than 20 years of experience.
Grubb likes to “dream big” with his ideas, leading to past adventures including wakeskating in South Africa, the swamps of Louisiana, and even among the icebergs of Cape Cod.
“Coming up with crazy these crazy ideas” is what Brian loves. Opportunities where he can highlight the “smaller sports that no one knows about,” providing a spotlight for more people to find and enjoy them. Redbull is an integral part of this. “No other company in the world supports this many athletes in so many sports. Especially small ones.”
One of those “smaller sports” is e-foiling, which was only invented in 2017. An efoil is an electric-powered board equipped with a mast and wing. E-foils use the power from a battery and propeller to lift out of the water, whereas the traditional foil uses the force of waves. The rise creates a “levitating” effect.
To properly prepare for traversing the longest underground cave system in the US, Brian Grubb and his team first kayaked the route to mark shallow areas and familiarize himself with the area.
Before the project began, Brian Grubb made sure to spend a lot of time on his board, the smallest size offered, to make sure he was comfortable, and practiced navigating in shallow water and around trees.
The only hiccup Grubb experienced was the speed he gained on the e-foil, and a few times he “came in hot and splashed the cameras”, since it’s hard to slow down quickly when e-foils have no braking system.
With this novel underground exploration under his belt, and with Redbull to support him, Brian Grubb is sure to find even more new and innovative ways to experience the world.
