"A US company supervised by famous surfer has founded a Japanese corporation and started preliminary work."
In wonderful news for anyone who appreciates the superiority of wave pools over most city beach breaks, a Japanese website has reported plans to build a Surf Ranch in Kisarazu City, Chiba, a dozen clicks from the Tokyo Dome.
Two days ago, a residents “briefing session” was held with no objections.
According to the story prosaically titled, Artificial wave pool for surfing competition scheduled to open just before the Olympics in Kisarazu/Chiba,
“When completed it will be able to do a full-scale surfing competition and will host a pro surfer world competition and so on. According to officials, a US company supervised by a famous surfer founded a Japanese corporation (Minato-ku, Tokyo) last March and started preliminary work.
‘The planned construction site is on 57 hectares near the Tisayama Expressway. Land acquisition was completed by March this year. The size of the wave pool is 580 metres in length and 150 metres in width and equipped with a device that generates artificial waves by electronic control and generates waves up to about two metres in height.”
“Construction is planned to start in September and be finished by December. The company aims to open for biz between January and March.”
Two three-day blocks of exclusive “training sessions” at Surf Ranch. With coaches, shapers, surfers. The whole entourage is over there. And it poses one really fucking big question. Why the fuck is Australia’s Olympic squad training for a contest that’s going to be held in two year’s time in a two-foot Japanese beachbreak at a long, slow wave-pool point?
Are they trying to put pressure on the ISA and IOC to use that pool for the Olympics? Why else would you be training in a pool? It’s the worst training you could do for Chiba. For fuck’s sake, send ’em to Chiba and train over there. It’s a lot cheaper and a lot more relevant to go to Chiba and surf two-to-three-foot beachbreaks and work on their technique there instead of in long lefts and rights.
Surfing Australia’s decision to throw a couple of hundred gees, or whatever it was, at pool training is starting to look eerily prophetic.
(Thanks to DrunkenAngel for the link and tip.)
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American Wave Machines, Surf Lakes and WaveGarden should all build pools there as well just for shits & giggles, Webber can concentrate on the 2024 games.
Is there a link we can check out ?
https://mainichi.jp/article… Click on the “english” button, obviously, unless you can read Japanese. If so, I am impressed. IOC and Tokyo Organizing Committee require any Olympic sport venue be completed by July 2019 for testing and approval by the International Sport Federation, in this case the ISA. WSL has just put the parcel of land together large enough for the Kelly pool (quite a feat!) And a bold purchase with no approvals or permits in hand! IF the neighbors approve, and IF the environmental and land use is approved, and IF building permits are issued, and IF construction starts as planned in September, and IF construction is completed by Jan – March 2020, and IF it’s running by the Olympics, WSL may try to upstage the Olympics by hosting and event in their pool. It WON’T be the Olympic Pool and the Japanese Government and Tokyo Organizing Committee WON’T allow a private event take place anywhere near the Olympic Games. In Japan, the nail that sticks out, gets HAMMERED. The WSL campaign for this wave pool in Tokyo has essentially been a smear campaign against the Japanese surf and beaches. The Japanese hoped the Olympics would highlight their beaches and vibrant surf community. Try forcing something down the throats of the already insulted and aggrieved Japanese.
Arigato mr. roboto
I smell corruption from Surfing Australia, and it smells worse than the cow stink of Lemoore. Maurice needs to do more digging!
I feel like Kelly’s pool is like Kelly’s career. It’s obvious to everyone else that better things have come along but he just keeps doubling down and refuses to stop beating that poor dead horse.
More importantly, what does this mean for the special Olympics?
I may yet have my day in the Sun!
My air game is retarded.
Then you’ll be a winner!
If only there was a Special Social Olympics.
Eerily prophetic? Mmmh…
Do you believe in prophecies and coincidences, Derek?
I believe in the cosmos and I believe in no harm to animals. That’s about it.
Cosmos magazine?
I’m planning on spending my pocket money on 57 hectares in Chiba. Should I go formal, spice things up with some funky accessories, or just go all-out casual?
konichi wa san kelly, arigatou for calling ME!!!
This is a plague!
Kelly is evolllllll !!!
That doll is evil i tells ya, evil,EEEVVILL!
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
The Olympics is boring, surfing in the Olympics will be boring. Pool or no pool.
Japanese building their own. Fuck you, Slater! Ocean Dome 2.0 will be fully fucking sick.
I’m really at a loss for any feeling or words about the Olympics or the tanks. I thought I might care one iota but alas, nothin’. Just overwhelming indifference.
And emptiness
This is what surfing has become. Lame pool dorks.
lame pool dorks have always been there, its just now they are getting their 15 minutes of fame. if cats with bread their head can get followers so can lame pool dorks. https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
I LOVE THIS GUY