Give thanks for wavepools - video
Yesterday was Thanksgiving Day in the US, the origins of which appear hazy to us Australians though spruiking your business appears to be a large part of it. So it only made sense that Kelly Slater joined the chorus and lobbed a few of the world's best women surfers in his pool to give thanks to the triumph of man over nature.
Surfers are Malia Manuel, Sage Erickson, Lakey Peterson, and Coco Ho.
Comments
I thought it was winter in USA?
I'd be smiling too.
Doesn't make a good shoot with half a dozen young and beautiful ladies wrapped from neck to ankle in neoprene, and your forgetting thanks must be given to their sponsors and glossy publications; you'll wear what you are told.
I sound like a cynical old bastard. Those poor girls. With that said, isn't this thing in the middle of Texas somewhere? I'm sure they can still have averages around 20 degrees there.
This wave will be special - just look at how glassie it is. You can't get that in the ocean.
This is an interesting point. I surfed at the wavegarden in Snowdonia earlier this year and the first wave of the day was just as glassy as Kellys wave looks. So much so that the staff (who get to surf the first hour every day) would fight over who got the first wave of the day. Every wave thereafter was not a patch on that first one as it simply isn't possible to produce enough waves to make it financially viable but also to wait long enough for the pool to settle back to glass so you end up with a choppy wave face.
Kelly's pool is still at the marketing stage so I can only surmise that they only fire up a wave every five minutes (or whatever) instead of every ninety seconds like they do at the wavegarden. That way it looks good for their drones and cameras. I'd be amazed if this could be commercialised at the level of quality being shown in the videos. Maybe they'll prove me wrong but I doubt it. It does look awesome though.
The pool is a prototype and wave dampening is an afterthought rather than designed. According to this article, the wavepool is not unlike a backyard swimming pool and takes all night to settle to a completely still, glassy state. Kelly gets the first wave of the day, and then the guests have to wait 14 minutes between waves to get a relatively smooth surface. Four waves per hour. If you're happy with a choppy surface they can serve a wave up every 8 minutes. 7.5 waves per hour.
http://stabmag.com/news/who-were-the-most-recent-kelly-slater-wave-pool-...
Thanks Coaster, I hadn't read that before - although it backs up my point to an extent. Wavegarden does already drain the wave at the edge of the pool with a large grille so it's hard to see how they can dampen the wedging return wave too much more but who knows what's possible. There was some fairly impressive backwash still happening at Snowdonia - I saw an instructor in the beginners area ride the backwash back to the pier on a foam board a couple of times!
I'm just a little sceptical of the whole 'Kelly's wave pool craps on all the others' line that has been doing the rounds since he started releasing his videos. Maybe it is better than the others, the barrel sure looks better, but it seems to me that for the most part it's his marketing that's better as he has very tightly controlled the way that it's been presented to the public - ie always glassy, you almost never see the pier etc. I guess the difference is he's maybe aiming it at the pros and top level who will pay (and wait) whereas the wavegarden is aimed at all levels of ability.
I agree with your view on wavepools, gasman. I was trying to make the point that the turbulence in his pool, in its current form, makes it useless commercially or even as a training facility whilst conceding that it can be improved. At 7.5 waves per hour, you only need 4 people in the pool and they're waiting 30 minutes for their turn to ride on a choppy surface.
I also agree that it has been marketed cleverly: the clips rarely show the pier and the cameras are angled to limit the view of the backwash and turbulence.
In another article, a writer who had visited the pool said that his first impression was how narrow it was (40 metres). The clips give the impression that the rider is covering a large distance laterally, but that can't be the case. The angle of the wave to pier is the key.
It's good to hear feedback from someone who has used a wavepool. How big were the waves, did they feel different to an ocean wave, how frequent were the waves, how many other people were in the pool and how much did a session cost?
I really enjoyed surfing it, but I suspect a lot of that was the novelty factor to be honest. Don't get me wrong, if I lived nearby I'd be using it all the time as it's a great facility, but after a few decent visits I probably wouldn't be rushing back to use it if it was more than an hour away. One of the plus points of the Snowdonia facility is the scenery which is outstanding - the pool sits in a valley at the base of the mountains and you can climb the mountain behind to get a brilliant view of the wave pool and the surrounding area. The region is stunning to visit and the facility has embraced this with their timber camping pods and sustainability-focused approach. I'm guessing if they put one in at Tullamarine it's not quite going to have the same eco-vibe as the A380s roar overhead...
The wave itself felt 2 to maybe 3 foot and basically allowed for 3-4 good smacks off the lip which was a lot shorter than I expected. I say the lip but the turbulence in the pool meant that the lip looked pretty crumbly and it often felt quite hard work getting off the top. I think you can often see this in the videos where even some of the really good guys get bogged down a bit. You also surf really close to the pier which is a bit confronting at first but you soon get used to it. I tried to hit the pier a few times by pumping for speed towards it but you never quite touch it!
All that said I definitely felt I was learning more about the wave each time I rode it. I went twice whilst I was over in the UK and contrary to what you might think of a metronomic wave like that it is definitely a learning process because it has a different feel to a wave in the ocean. It cost about 35 quid for an hour and with three of you on the expert wave you end up with 13-14 waves for your money. On my second visit there were just two of us so it was more like 20 waves which is pretty good value. There's a lot of beginners and intermediates floating around in various areas of the pool too so there are plenty of points on offer at the start and end of your ride...
Overall I'd recommend it to anyone. It really was great fun but if you go with the idea of comparing it to the ocean you're going to be disappointed. As an activity in it's own right it is very entertaining and well worth the money. And I'd already spent a week in Tiree in a campervan surfing crystal clear water in the Western Isles the week before so I was coming from a pretty high base!
There are are totally 'glassy mornings' now and then in the ocean. The wind eventually comes up everywhere and turns the glass to ripples
Yes that is of course true freerider but the point is that in a wavepool the ripples are coming from all directions since the waves are wedging back on all sides of the pool from a very short distance (rather than just moving in the direction of the wind). In my pretty limited experience this makes it a hell of a lot more bumpy in the wavepool than your standard breeze does in the ocean.
Don't get me wrong, I love the idea of the wavepool, I'm just sceptical that it can ever achieve the heights that Kelly's videos suggest at a commercial scale that is accessible to the average punter.
I don't know--the whole idea of a wave pool doesn't do anything for me. Your still missing all the natural elements that make surfing so special. Its way more than just riding a wave..
Totally Freerider. The wave is the icing on the cake of an otherwise glorious experience. Happy for everyone else to get out on these though.
Tight marketing obviously but would love to see a slightly wider shot of this wave. I'm also guessing as perfect as it is people do actually fall off and not make the barrel ?
Coco seems to be the most natural tube rider on the unnatural wave...
But one thing is for certain their smiles and stoke are the real deal...i want a go.
Takes a good long look dudes and dudettes--cause that's all your gonna get--just a look--while the WSL, Slater and buds get their fill.......If you haven't got it figured out by now--the WSL--Slater--and the so called pros--don't really seem to give a hoot about 'you' (the everyday surfer). Maybe this would be a good time to boycott the WSL--Slater--and company....
freerider gotta take it for what it is entertainment. Doubt ill ever get the chance to surf it or any built in populated areas doesn't bother me and I wouldn't expect the pros to care about me nor do I have much adulation for them apart from enjoying the show from time to time.
That's crap freerider, if there was a dollar in it the would be very caring.
Let them keep their toy--stoked that we've got the 'real thing' and all the good free beach vibes that go with it....
At least one average Aussie surfer had the chance. It is easy, just make some sick-arse tunes and wait for Kelly's invitation....
Thank you, Oh Lord, for bringing us the bikini. Thou has made wavepools so much more special with thy gift.
I'd rather do shooeys with the hueys
More Sage!
A thought: If Kelly's wave pool remains an R&D project, I wonder whether videos from it will garner much interest in a year, or a couple of years time?
This is the first video that hasn't really excited me that much.
Mainly because as each wave stood up, I knew exactly what was going to happen, and how the wave would be surfed. The initial wow factor seems to be lost (at least on me) now that I know it's a perfect, mechanical wave with zero surprise sections to negotiate. Has anyone ever fallen off there?
I'm not purposefully being negative - I'd love to have one of these in my backyard and will certainly give it a crack when they're eventually opened to the public in Australia - but from a video point of view, it feels like we're seeing more o' the same.
Or, maybe I need some more coffee this Monday morning, after a hectic weekend.
Yes, now that the shock value is over we can conclude:-
It is a beautiful small wave and a great proof of concept and it would be a lot of fun to surf, but it is too small and unchanging a canvas to produce surfing that has much drama, variety and surprise. Which are the qualities that make sport entertaining to watch.
Slater said on Occy's Occ-cast that the next design phase was to build in sections. He also indicated in that interview, they are a long way from producing a commercial design. They seem to have enough money not to be in a hurry.
I agree Ben. The videos have done their job and it is probably time to hold off. Though I think they have only dropped a couple of vids in the last 6 months, so I reckon Kelly and Co agree with you as well.
So many pretty girls around me and they waking up the rocket
Be cool to see a completely zoomed out shot, straight on of a single entire wave. Otherwise yeah it's pretty boring to watch now. Or a diversity of craft. Love to see some of the top bodyboarders out there. Mike Stewart on the lid or just a handplane would be awesome.
the wave does look a little small for stand-ups -- some pretty ungainly crouching to fit in the barrel. but it seems like the perfect size for kneeboards, lids and body boarders.
Hi Kelly,
I would like to try your wave pool just 3 or 4 waves that's all.
P.S. I promise not to peee
If it is 14 minutes between waves, why do they need a legrope??? It's not like you need to quickly retreive your board & get out the back before the next set hits. And they have jet ski assist.....what's with that???
Good point. We can only surmise that after decades of wearing leashes--everyone, even the so called pros are 'psychology addicted' to their leg ropes--and would feel totally uncomfortable and out of their element surfing without one. I personally on smaller days, enjoy taking off the kook cord..
give me wind tides & whatever swell any day
Couldn't agree more,, paddled out this evening into some kind of junky waves just to get wet and wash the crud I went though today off me. Felt totally great to feel the salt water, sand and see the horizon over the ocean. Not gonna get that from a wave tank....