Patented use of underwater jets!
In the almost two years since Kelly Slater revealed his wave pool, barely a critical word has been said or written.
A heady mix of mystery (invite-only, use of non-disclosure agreements) and drip-fed video clips has brought the desire to see, to surf, Slater’s pool to a fever pitch.
One man who has maintained a constant attack is the Australian shaper Greg Webber, whose own design he claims is vastly superior not just to Kelly’s tank but also to the Spanish-made Wavegarden, the only company to have commercially operating pools.
Greg says that once the curtain pulls back on his pool, Wavegarden will be destroyed (their design will be “redundant”, their response to his pool “fucking horrified) and people will become bored by the unchangeability of Slater’s “stunningly perfect tube”.
So, and drum roll here, the secret to Webber’s pool?
As revealed on the forum boards of the Australian surf forecast site Swellnet, and forwarded to BeachGrit‘s attention by reader William Healy Strömgren, Greg is going to use a series of underwater jets to create reverse thrust.
Which means.
A rip bowl!
“A reverse current is induced by water jets throughout the pool basin to either negate the current or provide a reverse current to enhance the wave steepness,” says Greg. “It becomes a tool for wave shaping. Any wave pool with a high wave rate will either have to stretch out their waves like the cove does (which then decreases wave height quickly) or they’ll have to use a reverse current. Only one wave pool maker has the patent on that.”
Sexy enough for you?
Of course, not everyone is convinced.
Steve Shearer aka Longtom, famous here for his peerless contest reports, writes:
Hopefully, these things will turn out to be the white elephants they always have been and will die a slow and painful death so that they never rear their ugly, concrete filled heads again.
To which Greg replied:
Are you too scared to say all this to my face. My name is there and I have the guts to put my name behind my words. You bitch on like a chick and hide at the same time. That’s the flaw in all these forums. Virtually none of the whinging and slagging would happen face to face.
Longtom:
Oh christ, you honestly believe I am scared to say that to your face. Be at Lennox Point top carpark tomorrow at midday and I’ll say exactly the same thing. Steve Shearer is the name. Used to deliver organic fruit and veg to your old man at Angas.Let me know if that time doesn’t suit and we can make another. ps, you might want to have a look at your attitude towards women mate, they could be half of your customer base.
Greg:
Good on you steve. I’m in Sydney but up that way soon, like within a week, so great we will meet up.
A fight!
At Lennox Head! Between your fav surf writer and maybe your fav shaper, wavepool designer.
And both like to get punchy, too.
More as it comes.