Kelly Slater, tractor owner/wave pool creator/etc. Photo: Instagram
When Kelly Slater released the first footage of his wave pool in Lemoore, California, the surfing world talked of almost nothing else for a little while. Love it or hate it, no one could deny that Kelly and his team of engineers created something that had never been created before: a near-perfect, barreling wave. It sucked for a few people: everyone who hates wavepools and the guy who won the now-forgotten world championship just the day before. But holy shit, that wave.
Since then, other wave pools around the world have run into a few problems. NLand shut down and flooded a neighbor’s property and Surf Snowdonia broke a few times. Still, though, that’s kind of to be expected. Wave pools, after all, are a relatively new phenomenon, and to they’re not exactly easy to build. A couple of hiccups aren’t the end of the world, especially in these early days. Kelly has managed to keep away from those hiccups, at least publicly–mainly because he’s kept his wave under tight wraps. It’s still very much in the testing phase. He recently took to Instagram to let the world know exactly what was happening. Too lazy to read all of it? Here’s the part you’re looking for:
… “a few months ago we did what obsessive people do: we took something great and took it apart to create something even better. This will mean more waves, more sections and the goofy footers might be pretty excited too.”
And here’s the rest of it.
“Checkout my tractor at the #SurfRanch. It came with the property and actually drives pretty well. I’ve been reminiscing about everything happening at @KSWaveCo and Surf Ranch over the last year and a half. 110 miles from the coast, who would have thought we’d have the wave we have? It’s been such a humbling and exciting experience bringing this wave to life with my team and receiving the overwhelming support from the surf community all over the world.
The sheer number of people I talk to about it on a daily basis is unbelievable. I know everyone is wondering what’s next for the Surf Ranch, and there’s been a few rumors floating around, so I thought I would send out an update. This prototype system in Lemoore was created to prove out the fundamental concept of the design and technology, our version 1.0. That wave blew my mind, but I also immediately saw ways we could improve it. We got right to work in the lab.
The feedback we received from dozens of surfers (not only CT level) was incredibly helpful. And a few months ago we did what obsessive people do: we took something great and took it apart to create something even better. This will mean more waves, more sections and the goofy footers might be pretty excited too. Also, I can’t say officially, but there’s some exciting projects on the horizon and I look forward to sharing more with you as the year unfolds.[sic]”
