Back in September, a group of Dutch scientists were triumphant in creating the world’s largest man made wave. But while they excelled in physics and other mathematical mumbo-jumbo, they struggled to make a simple video to display their achievement. The result was terrible. Luckily, however, the scientists appeared to have called in an expert and finally released a decent clip.
The footage is at once haunting and mesmerizing. At 16 feet wide and reportedly 30 feet deep, the wave machine (dubbed the “Delta Flume”) creates miniature versions of cinematic tsunamis, like the ones that destroy urban metropolises on the silver screen. Terrifying, yes. But at the same time it’s absolutely perfect. The face is clean; the pitch is ideal; it even barrels! And if you look closely, you can see the people in the crowd wearing water-resistant ponchos, like they’re in the splash zone at Sea World.
Spectating a perfect man made wave in a Shamu poncho would be enjoyable for a surfer, but what we really wanna know is: can you ride it? For now, that remains unknown. First off, they’d have to extend the width of the thing; right now, all you could do is go straight then attempt to survive a five meter airdrop of death. The real purpose of Delta Flume is to study storm mitigating techniques such as levees and dams.
But hopefully at some point, the guys over at Wavegarden will link up with these Dutch wave wizards and get the technology behind Delta Flume. They’ve been having quite a bit of trouble over at Surf Snowdonia.
