As far as hoverboards go, the promise hasn’t yet matched the reality in terms of how these levitating boards can change our lives, but it would seem they’re inching closer to becoming a viable mode of transportation. The latest piece of evidence: a new world record for a hoverboard journey.
As you can see in the video above, Canadian Catalin Alexandru Duru managed to travel 275.9 meters (905 feet, 2 inches) over Lake Ouareau in Quebec, and he used his own homemade contraption to do it. That effort obliterates the previous record, which stood at 50 meters.
“I will showcase that stable flight can be achieved with a machine one can stand on and control with their feet, just like in the movie Back to the Future Part II,” says Duru. “In our case, the machine is propeller-based. The prototype can be used anywhere, but is usually tested over water because of how dangerously high it can fly (which is ironic considering that the movie joked that it can’t).”
The record was apparently broken in August last year, though the footage has only just been uploaded to the Guinness World Records YouTube channel. How Duru’s invention has developed since, and what he plans to do with it, aren’t quite clear — we’re hoping that someone manages to catch up with him soon to get a more detailed story on the technology behind is hoverboard.
Hendo Hover is the latest startup to have a crack at making hoverboards a reality, running a successful Kickstarter campaign for their own device last year. The company hopes to get prototype development kits out to backers at some point during 2015, but Duru’s invention looks a lot more ambitious.
