Seems like the hype of wave pools ebbs and flows every few years. We got a taste of a small closeout in 1969 at Big Tempe in Arizona, then the 'epic' clash of the ASP's 1985 contest in Allentown, PA.
And who can forget young Jedi Slater ripping apart the PSAA event at Irvine's Raging Waters in the late 80's? Most everyone I guess. But anyway, the list of 'real waves' in wave pools goes on and on and on:
(Myazaki Ocean Dome, Siam Park in Bangkok aka the Rip Curl Ad Campaign, Typhoon Lagoon, Wavegarden, Lochtfeld's Flowrider, Ron Jon's underfunded country club Wave Park, blah blah blah). But recently it seems like a couple companies have figured out how to make a real wave, plenty of them, pointbreak style and maybe cost effective as one of the biggest problems is the money it takes to run wave pools. So the battle of the wave pools for the 21st century has begun.
In one corner is Webber's Wave Pools. Yes, that Webber. Like Greg Webber the guy who shaped boards for Shane Herring, Barton Lynch, and Taj. And in the other corner is the Kelly Slater Wave Company. Yes, that Kelly Sla.. oh never mind. Even though there's been a lot of hype lately with the Wave Garden in Spain and their technology, the shortcomings on that wave seem to be it's only one wave at a time and not much funding behind it.
With the Webber and Slater wave pools though, it's a circular design so multiple waves can be generated to go round and round and round- which equals a long pointbreak type ride. And it's a simple design- basically 'hulls' of boats drive around the circle and push out boat big wakes.
Both of these companies also have designs drawn up for parks which seem to be geared toward getting funding in the near future. Parks with beaches, retail facilities, restaraunts, etc. etc. etc. I think the real roadblock is that the promise of 'real waves' were never delivered to the surf population so they never made money and investors never believed in them. If Webber and Slater's models are correct, we may actually have a shot this time to ride 8' tubes in the middle of the desert.
Like Portland. Ok, Portland's not in the middle of the desert- but it's not exactly a surf mecca either. Seems a bunch of developers are trying to turn the old Porland Memorial Coliseum (i.e. the NBA's Trailblazer's original home) into the Portland Action Sports Complex with the first Kelly Slater Wave Park and action sports hub. Still lots of work to be done, especially in this economy, but it's a start. I do know this though, if they pull it off, there will be a lot more made in the near future and maybe we'll finally get surfing in the Olympics!
