Kelly Slater knows a thing or two about wavepools.
The 11x World Champion practically lit the match for the current artificial wave firestorm, way back in 2015 when he debuted the Surf Ranch in Lemoore, CA. Since then, wavepools have been all the rage, with all different types of technology, in all different locations across the globe.
And Slater’s not closed off when it comes to trying out different wavepool tech; like recently, when he tested out the new Wai Kai Lineup pool on Oahu.
In fact, it was a legend’s session at Wai Kai, featuring Slater, Ross Williams, Nathan Fletcher, and others.
Fletcher, who posted footage from the session, captioned the video:
“Got to hit @waikailineup some of my heroes!!!!”
For more on the specs of the Oahu’s new manmade wave, here’s a description from the Wai Kai website:
“A deep-water standing surf wave that spans 100-feet wide with perfect endless and adjustable glassy waves of 2-feet to head-high, for all skill levels using standard surf boards with fins allowing for carving turns and top-to-bottom surfing.
“10-12 surfers per channel at a time. Drop in when it’s your turn.
“The 100-foot-wide wave can operate with retractable pool dividers to create 1, 2 or 3 channels of surf action to run contests, create a variety of waves for varying skill levels and have over 30 people per hour surfing.”
So, it’s more of a standing wave versus other wavepool tech, which mimic ocean waves more closely – like Surf Ranch, the numerous WaveGarden locations, or Waco Surf.
Still, loads of surfers couldn’t resist sampling the goods in recent months since Wai Kai’s opening. And now, you can add Slater to that list of curious surfers, too.
Think it’ll be good practice for the upcoming Surf Ranch Pro at his home pool? We’ll see.
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