Kelly Slater's emotional ride to the Future Classic - video
Like all successful inventors - or successful athletes for that matter - Kelly Slater never allows doubt to enter his head. So while online commenters voiced their philosophical reservations to his wavepool, Slater was already teleporting himself into the future.
"In my mind I'm already, like, three, four or five versions ahead in my mind," says Slater in this video. And with a succesful proof of concept and a billionaire backer it won't be long till those versions also become reality.
This three minute clip gives a cursory glance into Slater's headspace leading up to the event.
Comments
Epic, unique, inspirational genius!
Does anyone know when this event happened? Has this been reported on anywhere? Have I been under a rock?
Two weeks ago. Reported on every surf site I know of.
Well done for logging right off.
Thanks Stu. Was in Fiji and confused 'water resistant' with 'water proof', and cooked my iPhone. Will trawl the archives
Amazing feat from the Old Goat and his team
At 14 - 15 waves per minute its a shame it its not commercially viable just yet but im sure in another 5 years the wave numbers will double or more and the Mega power draw to run the Train can be sorted.
[just presuming its Elec powered]
Exciting times. Can't wait to see what the next versions can do.
This is the future, there is no denying it....
Yep, not as ridiculous as a ski slope in the desert. Would be weird when public like waiting your turn to jump off the high diving board at Harold Holt Pool. Line would go back away. Would be a large exchange in water for health reasons as well. Hydraulic engineering would be really interesting to see.
Have you ever been to watch a surfing competition where there was very fun waves ?
I have a couple of times . Both times I lasted about an hour before I HAD to go surfing myself.
As amazing a spectacle as that day would have been , I would have lost my mind not being allowed to surf it.
Anyway Kelly , you're getting your dream. Good on you.
So true.
Some dreamers can only dream;);)
To make a dream a reality is mastery...
The future looks bright if you can see it!
Kelly, it is not rocket science, anyone with half a brain knows that it will take lots of money to "displace" the right amount of water to produce a, "double over heavy", wave in a pool. i think Kelly is hands down, the best surfer to walk this planet...... so far. but mate , don't pretend that you are a rocket scientist , your set up just needs a bigger train/ boat. a bigger solar powered train.. with a hull type of front.... & a very large pool that will always require maintenance. i have a way better idea than that obvious stuff....... it will be shit loads cheaper & way better.... i will not be giving you, or anyone else this idea cheap, cause you will claim it as your own idea. now ... lets watch the comment section go... like crazy......
i was taught at a young age... that, if ya want something done, & done properly, go straight to the top. Kelly i am not shittin ya.
Just a detail, nothing to really worry about mate: ks doing it, you’re still dreaming it.
the beard has misthepoint... oh well. how about ya continue to hide in that ..... beard. you are not even a dreamer........... are ya.
probably missed it, because there really wasn’t one. But keep dreaming, might as well hope that some day I will join you and the world will live as one. And while you’re at it colour in some rainbows, preferably outside of the lines because that really shows you can think outside of the box ....
yer ya missed it, but that's ok, i will draw up a big picture of rainbow's & stuff, just for you & ya mates, i'm thinkin outside the box.......... mmmmm, can i tick some boxes too ? is that cool?
Not else to do lukas on a Saturday night other then posting absolute dribble? Pull yourself together man and stop smoking whatever it is ...
dear Bearded clam, dribble/drip, some more fluid... drippin there yet, sniff, mmmm. beared clam, straight up, "only clean air goes into my lovely set of lungs". thats a full stop, beardy, how about alittle rub, mmmm, ya would like that ,i'm sure. he he he.
i forgot to mention...... yes bearded clam, i stayed home last night.... multi taskin..... watchin the girl's rip over in France, whilst throwin out some lines.......... oh that remind's me, when i said the Prom, last night, i actually mean't the cape, & trust me, the boyz have it fully sussed, & don't like folk that dribble. drippin will be accepted, but dribble is quite nasty & will not be taken nicely. ( thanks swell net ).
You're an ideas man Lukas. I can tell.
this one , i have personally tested. this is more than an .....idea, it all comes down to hydrodynamics. like Kelly mentioned, it takes money. with council approval, the sky is the limit. time will tell, i am no rocket scientist, but i know a fair bit about water, & the ocean. because.............. i love it.
Lukas I think your idea of dropping a Southern Right Whale into a specially contoured dam is absolute genius. So much cheaper and far less maintenance, the whale would probably enjoy the splash too.
you would just love more details ............ would you like my bank details ?
Post your bank account details here Lukas and watch the money roll in. I can guarantee it. With you're ideas and my street-cred we could go places man.
i have alot of respect, for street cred's, i tell ya what spud, tell me ya real name, & some street cred's ( of yours ). just alittle history about yourself, & no dramas, i will but those details up, no worries. we can sort it all out through swell net, & perhaps paypal.
Great idea!
Real name: Mr. Spud Dups
Address: 69 Awesome St, Shredville, New Australialand.
Some history: I was awarded the Nobel Prize for Street Cred in 2007, and again in 2012. I have been the Chief Street Cred advisor for the New Australialand government for the last twenty years.
I have to be careful where I walk: for example, the other day I walked through a nature reserve and some road workers built a street there the next day. Evidently they were compelled to do so as a result of my immense street-cred.
I reckon we need a re-think on the whole Pay-Pal thing though. I generally only deal in gold bullion.
I tell you Lukas, we're going places man!
excellent stuff, how about some gold nuggets, personally found ? i generally only accept cash but for you my good mate....... bullion will be fine, as long as it is not stolen. that street cred is fantastic.
Sweet man, Street cred has always been important to me. It's good to see someone who appreciates it.
I don't have a lot of bullion at the moment; i.e. none, but I'm working on it. I think I may have some lead bullion somewhere, but I guess it's probably not worth as much as the gold stuff.
Anyway, as I mentioned earlier my street cred is the main thing I bring to the table in regards to our proposed business partnership. Anyway, when do we start surfing the wave pool? I guess it's a matter of getting hold of some whales and a crane or something. Should be pretty simple I reckon.
BTW, I was down at the local pool today and they had to close the kids' pool since someone's kid took a crap in the water. I was thinking that if one of the whales took a crap in the wave pool we might be in a bit of difficulty. What's your thinking on the matter?
classic.
After so many years of watching surf companies throwing money to wind like there's no tomorrow (and in their case it seems there wasn't a tomorrow) it's amazing to see that Kelly Slater has put his money on the table over ten years ago to realise a dream and invest in a technology that will eventually dominate the future of the sport. A vision that's been made real by taking a huge punt. There's a lot of negativity towards this development but haters can't deny his vision has been realised successfully and will change everything over time. Good luck to him. Hopefully I'm still surfing by the time these pools are available to the average schmuck like myself.
nor/east...... devil winds................ not one of us "real surfers", are negative, nor like to use the hate word, unless needed. we are all for " this , um.....development". hopefully, you can become more than an .......... in your words, " a average schmuck". (shit this is just to easy), buddy you are not a schmuck, ya just need to spend more time in the water. it's just that simple, (not rocket science). lets not confuse the average... joe blow. hydrodynamics!!!!! i will show ya the way..............................just need Kelly & another, bloke with millions.
Not his money , it's the rich people around him that are investing , he's too smart to use his own money , same with Firewire !
Opening sales? Factory seconds? Discount packages? Business class... economy?
We can only hope that there will be a need (or twenty) for a forecast down at slattsey's (offshore) sales/ticketing office.
I'm sure that deals can be done... for a price of course.
Randy Rarick, who was there on the day and talking to the engineers, estimated each wave cost $12 in electricity. That's just the pure energy cost and doesn't include build cost, labour, machinery costs, R&D, real estate, or the $25 million licensing charge.
Gonna be a loooooong time before the proletariat ride one of Kelly's creations.
I wonder how the economics compare with a ski resort in OZ? Capital investment and operating cost for Perisher, running lifts, snow guns , etc
We are prepared to pay $120 for a day on man made snow, would that be comparable with a day on a man made wave?
Dunno if the comparison is the same.
Snowmaking is essentially a safeguard to protect a ski resort's existing capital investment against lack of natural snow.
If natural snow ceased to exist - and this may very well be the case in Australia the next hundred years - I don't know if anyone would travel to the Alps and pay to solely ski on man-made snow.
But I can see a lot of people paying to surf a wave pool like this. How much? I dunno.
Snow resorts are massive companies with expensive, complex operations across hospitality, accomodation, events, services, etc etc - and they need to build this from the ground up in Alpine regions. Whereas a wave pool is (at the moment) a singular entity, that supplements existing infrastructure or services, just about anywhere - it's essentially an add-on to a hotel, casino, school, shopping centre, etc.
I reckon the business model will end up being more like a gym than anything else. Price wise, a gym membership is probably a good example of the upper end of how much disposable cash someone might be willing to spend - the local gym here is just under a grand a year (!). I reckon you'd get quite a few people willing to hand over $40 a fornight for a membership.
But... the problem is that the gym can handle multiple users much more easily, whereas the wave pool is restricted in this sense.
Any news on Greg Webbers wave pool? Was there a confrontation at Pat Morton lookout....FR hasn't posted for a while....is he alive...is GW alive .......so many questions so little info...
it's all bout the money, simba, money, money, money, & the brain's to drive it...... foward.
I hope there was no confrontation.
We should keep all the crap on the forum where it belongs
Greg mentioned that his and Freerides schedule wouldnt allow the meet to happen
I would have loved to have been there.
I'm never imagining or wanting any physical or emotional fireworks . It would have been an exceptional opportunity to enjoy a spontaneous , piss fuelled celebration of the common ground that surfing provides.
The differences between the two would've evaporated within a heartfelt six pack and wound up with around an open fire with a prolonged man hug and the slurred affirmation of the mutual love of what we do.
I feel like I've been denied an invite to an epic party that never happened.
blowin, blowin blowin, that's because your not invited.... kido, & the party is still goin. ya just havta be an adult to get in, & blowin, quote me........ your not invited anymore..... i might throw a dry hook..... let it sink ta the bottom..... ( eh herc i bet ya, i still hook up )...........
'I reckon the business model will end up being more like a gym than anything else. Price wise, a gym membership is probably a good example of the upper end of how much disposable cash someone might be willing to spend - the local gym here is just under a grand a year (!). I reckon you'd get quite a few people willing to hand over $40 a fornight for a membership.'
Actually, the direction, the business model, that the world's most successful 'gyms' have adopted, is around $40 monthly. Which includes unlimited 24 hour access in any and all of the ever exploding, fully equipped number of centres, in every state and country right around the globe.
If surfers want ride a quality 'artificial' wave in the 1st world.... we would need to provide....
1. Proven R&D;
2. Suitable location; with community and govt support / approval; then,
3. Crowd source funding and/or lottery funding or be
4. Profitable ( dreamworld) ....difficult to be affordable using grid electricity
5.Actively support building more Reefs .....that also protect property & sandunes on the EC (see above 1-3)
"Greg mentioned that his and Freerides schedule wouldnt allow the meet to happen"
Any confirmation from FR?
$12 a wave??? greg said his would be like $1. big difference.
And you could assume Kelly pool is $12 USD and Gregs $1 AUD so Kellys is actually $15 AUD per wave.
And power in Lemoore could be up to 2 times cheaper per KWh than S.E. Queensland
Yeah totally quick google and it seems the average price of electricity in USA is about half what it is here and one of the lowest in the western world, while we are towards the most expensive in the world.
In South Australia, wavepool rides you!
I bet my left nut that freerides schedule was flexible enough to have this meet...he was itching to do it and have it recorded..
They are/were only an hour half away from each other ?
A dollar a wave; $40 a fortnight? Think about the cost of any regular amusement park or Easter Show ride. Doesn’t it cost about $4 or $5 just to ride something basic like the giant yellow slide, and that thing requires very little maintenance, a couple of attendants and about 50 hession sacks to be operational.
Has Greg ever mentioned a price? He once answered a question from someone who wanted to know if the next wave was free if they fell off. He said it was like dropping your coffee as you walked out of the shop, so the price is going to be more than a dollar.
Someone referring to themselves as an investor in Greg’s wavepool business suggested a price of $300 a month. That would be closer to the mark.
Greg has been trying to sell the idea of a wave pool centrepiece around which hotels, shopping malls, bars and other entertainment venues will be built. But according to the feedback that Greg has reported himself, the people he’s selling to want to see a revenue model where the pool supports itself and isn’t reliant on the surrounding sites. That’s the reason why he has designed a pool with a theoretical quantity of 2000+ waves per hour.
I hope he’s successful in building a wave pool. He’s been at it for so long, it would be sad if he didn’t see at least one built.
But be prepared to pay amusement park rates for a premium ride if you want to ride a wave like Kelly’s or what Greg is promising.The investors will want a return for their money.
I hope Gregs wave pool is better than Guns and Roses Chinese Democracy, waited ten plus years for that and it promised to be amazing and it ended up being garbage.
Since Slater dropped that very first vid........ theres been some major cleansing go on to get that water clarity up from chocolate brown to how it is now.
Id still ride dirty dam water for waves like that.
In fact newy harbor water used to be black.