And you thought it was bullshit, right?
I’ve always assumed that the Kelly Slater Wave Company was more or less bullshit. Like, a tax dodge, or some deal where a dude offered Kelly bunch of equity in exchange for his name, and used that name to slide through re-zoning deals.
Guess not, though. Kelly dropped the bomb this morning on Instagram:
Now that the world title has been decided and events for the year have finished, I’m excited to show you what I’ve been sitting on for the past couple of weeks. For nearly ten years, my team and I have been working on creating the first truly world-class, high-performance, human-made waves. This is something I dreamt about as a kid. Through rigorous science and technology, we’ve been able to design and build what some said was impossible, and many very understandably never thought would actually happen. I’m proud to say we took our time to get it right, and the first fully-working prototype of the wave now exists (a huge personal thank you to everyone in our lab and on our team for seeing this through!). I’ll be sharing more details in the coming weeks and months but I can’t wait any longer to share a film of my experience surfing the wave for the first time, almost two weeks ago. It was an insane day. I’m still a little in disbelief, and trying to process how much fun this wave is, but it certainly feels like this is going to change a lot of perceptions about human-made waves. There’s a direct link in my bio to kswaveco.com to view the short film. Can’t wait to see other people surf it soon and show what is possible on this thing. #KSWaveCo #FreakOfTechnology#LooksLikeSuperbank but#NotCrowded!
Hot damn! Thing shits all over the Wave Garden, huh?
Which is, at first glance, what this looks like. A much bigger, far better, many times more powerful, version of the Wave Garden. Which isn’t to say they stole ideas or anything…
But let’s keep our expectations realistic. The limited footage doesn’t address numerous factors- most importantly, is it a viable business? Costs an awful lot to generate that much power, so unless the KSWC also came up with cold fusion, sending those bombs down the line all day long is going to be unreal expensive to run.
Then there’s the more mundane problems WG’s already run into.
Water is heavy, will moving that much constantly break components? Where does the energy go? Is it going to be a half hour between waves as it settles, or be a choppy soupy mess as it runs? Why not the circle pool idea? That one was always my fave.
Slater’s face lighting up at the beginning of the clip is totes adorbs, the wave looks like a surf-starved teenager’s wet dream, and I’d bet dollars to donuts KS and Co is already working to figure out freshwater surfboards. Kelly Slater brand boards on Kelly Slater Brand waves.
Post-sesh Purps for power while wrapped in Outerknown’s latest. The potential for synergy is endless!
Someone might need to explain to me what “rigorous science and technology” is.
that looks to me like sewerage water. I’m worried he might get sick?
I see that the wave garden had an exact same design, wonder if one of the other founders ran off to beat kelly to the money
I will buy one of those $500 Outerknown jackets.
Sorry guys, It’s Floridians only.
Ow man, I have been waiting on this write up all day! I don’t care what the cost or no tail rocker board I have to ride, I want this, and want it bad! I never doubted the king would deliver on his promise, where do I fax the check to?
I love the wave and all, but I couldn’t help but think that if you are going to that extent to make the perfect man made wave why do it with water that you need to wear a wetsuit in? How about some crystal clear blue warm water so you only have to wear trunks? Or is the KS wetsuit factory being announced next?
prototype, lands cheap in the desert, and Its winter there right?
the slater giggles slayed me. slayed. totes adorbs. totes.
Mesmerizing. Even more than power costs I think you’re right about the settling time, looked pretty chewed up behind that first wave. No matter what it’s quite a feat though.
The wavegarden always has looked fun, like “oh I’d check it out if I was in the neighborhood” but this is something else. How much would the longest barrel of your life be worth?
My heart just sank for everybody else who’s poured money into making a wave pool happen. Maybe I’m a prisoner of the moment, but were they all just rendered useless? Y’all could have saved some folks some cash with a “Guys, I’ve got this…”
I KNOW!!!
I wonder if its too late for the one currently being built in Austin to switch from wave garden to KS?!
FUCK! Sign me up you bald bastard.
If there’s no risk of dolphin rape I’m not interested.
Mick will win his next title in that sucker with fear of shark attacks.
Been warning people for years that sharks aren’t the real threat in the ocean….
Making the wave and creating a profitable business model with it are two very different things. I’d love to surf it but was bored watching it.
it’d be even more boring watching you surf it.
I can guarantee not. My style makes ADS look like, well, ADS.
That is our World Champion you’re talking about. Have some respect for his unique style. John John and Parko have the worst styles on tour.
A perfect antidote to a Adriano World title… And did I really just count out a 17 second tube ride??