Wavegarden, a leading manufacturer of artificial wave-generating systems, has released a new behind-the-scenes documentary, showcasing its collaboration with some of the world’s top professional surfers. The firm’s engineers have worked with surf pros in order to create new air and barrel waves at surf parks in South Korea, Australia, Brazil and Switzerland. These will soon be available in all Wavegarden locations.
Leading professional surfers Yago Dora, Leo Fioravanti, Luke Swanson, Reef Heazlewood, Dion Agius and Victor Bernardo have been working with Wavegarden’s founder and CEO, Josema Odriozola, and his fluid dynamics team to design and refine four different air sections as well as a new barrel wave.
“Innovation has always characterized our company and we have a lot more in the pipeline this year, with some important business announcements coming in the third quarter. We will establish new industry precedents once again,” says Odriozola.
New waves tailored to surfers’ needs
New waves have been introduced to the company’s Wave Menu through an intensive design process. The Wave Menu currently offers over 20 different waves for beginners through professional athletes.
Prior to exporting the new waves to other Wavegarden facilities in Switzerland and Brazil, Odriozola and his engineering specialists travelled to Wave Park in South Korea and URBNSURF Melbourne to tailor the new waves using the surfers’ comments.
The new air waves, which vary in their degree of difficulty, and a long, hollow barrel were perfected using a newly developed and more superior control software, capable of manipulating the wave-generating gear with a larger amount of flexibility and precision than prior versions.
Without using an underwater obstacle, as in earlier iterations, the cutting-edge programme produced air waves every 50–60 seconds. The feedback from the surfers was very helpful when designing the waves. With their help, Wavegarden’s software engineers were able to change the programme’s code in real-time and tweak things like the steepness and peeling speed of the in-run, the angle of the oncoming section, the thickness and amount of pop in the lip, and the volume of foam in the landing area.
The advancements made it possible for the surfers, who are known worldwide for their innovative surfing skills, to do a wide variety of breathtaking above-the-lip manoeuvres.
A month-long process
Odriozola and his fluid dynamics specialists were able to tailor the air portions to match specific tricks, including straight airs, air reverses, ally oops, and even backflips. The developments in technology will have a significant impact on the future professional development and training needs of professionals such as Dora, Fioravanti, Swanson, Bernardo, and Heazlewood.
After a five-day trip to Wave Park, Swanson reflected that a one-hour session on the new air section was equivalent to a whole month of practice in the sea:
“These new air waves will undoubtedly help raise the bar of what is achievable on a wave. I never really considered it possible to attempt 540s and 720s, but these manoeuvres are now on my radar.”
Meanwhile, in Heazlewood’s third session at URBNSURF, the surf pro was able to execute 14 different airs, all huge and highly technical, some of which included fully inverted and off-axis backflips. This is a manoeuvre that is thought to be the most challenging by elite surfers.
Driving the sport forward
The new waves were designed on-site at facilities in South Korea and Australia, while the fluid dynamics team at Wavegarden calibrated the programme remotely from their headquarters in Spain for the Wave Menu at Alaïa Bay in Switzerland and Praia da Grama in Brazil.
Fioravanti, an Italian professional and WSL world tour surfer, tested the new waves at Alaïa Bay. Odriozola’s team knew precisely what he would want and programmed a handful of sections for him to test while receiving his input through a live video feed.
“If I can come back and keep practising my airs, I know I can maybe pull off a back flip, which I was really close to making,” said Fioravanti following his session.
At Praia da Grama, Brazilian surf pro Dora shared his feedback with staff onsite and this was then relayed to Wavegarden’s team in Spain. After numerous hours of wave testing and adjusting codes, a range of new air sections was perfected.
The participating surfers were rendered speechless by the technology’s potential and what that means for the future. The technology advancements produced by Wavegarden have also positioned the company as a driving force for professional athletes in bringing the sport forward at an unprecedented rate.
Last year, Wavegarden announced that KSM Realty, the developers of Brazil’s first inland surfing destination and tropical beach, Praia da Grama, had begun work on a world-first Wavegarden project in São Paulo.
Top image: Luke Swanson surfing at Wave Park, South Korea. Credit Wavegarden
