eFoil regulations & spots in Belgium

Belgium has no eFoil-specific rule and no published federal guidance, so an electric hydrofoil is handled as a motorised pleasure craft. Competence is split: the Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport (DG Scheepvaart) handles registration, the stuurbrevet and the territorial sea; the regions run inland waterways (De Vlaamse Waterweg in Flanders); and each coastal municipality issues police ordinances for its beach. On the coast the Police and Shipping Regulation for the Belgian territorial sea, coastal harbours and beaches (Royal Decree of 4 August 1981) applies to any 'vaartuig'.

A stuurbrevet is legally required to steer a pleasure craft of 15 m or more, or one that can go faster than 20 km/h whatever its length, and since 1 January 2022 that applies at sea as well as inland; the minimum age for the certificate is 16. An eFoil capable of more than 20 km/h falls within that wording, and no authority has published an exemption, so riders should hold a brevet or get FPS Mobility's written confirmation. Whether a board must be entered in the pleasure-craft register is not clearly stated; check with FPS Mobility. At sea a lifejacket is compulsory when wave height is 1 m or more, between sunset and sunrise, from 16 October to 15 May, for children under 12 and on vessels of 6.5 m or less, which covers a board in practically every case; in the coastal surf-sport launch zones created under the Royal Decree of 22 June 2016 an isothermal wetsuit and lifejacket are mandatory.

On the coast, article 39 of the 1981 decree bars any craft from putting to sea from the beaches except at places designated by the waterways administration, and elsewhere no craft may approach within 200 m of the beach or permanent harbour works, measured from the low-water line, except in force majeure. Water-skiing and windsurfing are banned inside coastal harbours (article 38). Municipal ordinances - Koksijde and Brugge/Zeebrugge, for instance - define seasonal launch and jet-ski zones. Inland, De Vlaamse Waterweg's rules cap speed at 20 km/h outside the designated snelvaartvakken (10 km/h when passing other vessels); up to 60 km/h is allowed only inside fast-boating zones 1-27, and standing water scooters may run fast only in the sections reserved for water scooters (APSB art. 6.35 and 6.35/1). Small recreational craft are excluded from the Gent-Terneuzen canal and the Beneden-Zeeschelde.

Enforcement is by the shipping police, coastal police zones and waterway inspectors; no eFoil-specific penalty figures are published. Wallonia manages its own waterways under separate rules. The practical route is to ride at a commercial eFoil centre or inside a marked fast-boating zone, carry a stuurbrevet, and ask the municipality before launching on any beach.