Press Release from Wavegarden:
A handful of the world´s best surfers – including Yago Dora, Leo Fioravanti, Luke Swanson, Reef Heazlewood, Dion Agius and Victor Bernardo – have been working with Wavegarden´s founder and CEO, Josema Odriozola, and his fluid dynamics team to design and refine 4 different air sections and a new barrel wave.
“Innovation has always characterized our company and we have a lot more in the pipeline this year, with some important business announcements coming in the third quarter. We will establish new industry precedents once again.” explained Odriozola.
During an intensive and intriguing design process, new waves have been added to the company’s ‘Wave Menu’, which presently boasts over 20 different waves for beginners through to elite athletes.
In recent months Odriozola and his engineering experts travelled to Wave Park in South Korea and URBNSURF Melbourne to customize the new waves using the surfer’s feedback, prior to exporting them to other Wavegarden facilities in Switzerland and Brazil.
A newly devised, vastly superior control software – capable of moving the wave-generating machinery with a greater level of flexibility and precision than previously versions – was used to perfect the new air waves that vary in their degree of difficulty, as well as a long, hollow barrel.
The state-of-the-art program proved highly successful in producing air waves every 50-60 seconds without using an underwater obstacle, as in former versions. The surfer’s feedback was instrumental in the wave design process. Their input allowed Wavegarden´s engineers to modify the software’s code in real-time, altering the steepness and peeling speed of the in-run, the angle of the oncoming section, the thickness and amount of pop in the lip, and the volume of foam in the landing area.
The improvements allowed the surfers – renowned globally for their progressive surfing talents – to execute a vast array of spectacular above-the-lip maneuvers.
During the month-long process, Odriozola and his fluid dynamics experts were able to customize the air sections to match particular tricks – straight airs, air reverses, ally oops, and even backflips. For professionals like Dora, Fioravanti, Swanson, Bernardo and Heazlewood, the advances the technology provide have far-reaching implications for training purposes and the future development of their careers.
Luke Swanson, a Rocky Point local on the North Shore of Hawaii, confessed that in terms of practice, a 1-hour session on the new air section was equivalent to 1 month in the ocean – a bold statement given his home break is recognized as one of the best performance training grounds on the planet.
“These new air waves will undoubtedly help raise the bar of what is achievable on a wave,” said Swanson, following a 5-day trip to Wave Park. “I never really considered it possible to attempt 540´s and 720´s, but these maneuvers are now on my radar.”
Reef Heazlewood put on a remarkable performance during his 3rd session at URBNSURF Melbourne, executing 14 different airs, all huge and all highly technical. Some of which included fully inverted and off-axis backflips – a maneuver considered as the most challenging by the world´s elite.
While the new waves were designed onsite at facilities in South Korea and Australia, Wavegarden´s fluid dynamics team calibrated the software remotely from their headquarters in Spain for the Wave Menu at Alaïa Bay in Switzerland and Praia da Grama in Brazil.
Italian professional Leo Fioravanti eagerly agreed to be the test pilot at Alaïa Bay. Odriozola´s team knew exactly what Fioravanti, a WSL world tour surfer, would want and wasted no time in programming a handful of sections for him to test, while receiving his input via a live video installed at the facility.
“If I can come back and keep practicing my airs, I know I can maybe pull off a back flip, which I was really close to making,” said an elated Fioravanti, immediately after his session.
At Praia da Grama, Brazil´s rising star Yago Dora shared his feedback with staff onsite, who relayed the specifications to Wavegarden´s team in Spain. Following several hours of wave testing and adjusting codes, a range of new air sections were perfected.
The surfers that took part were left speechless about the capability of the technology and what this represents for the future. And, although the average visitor to Wavegarden facilities may not be interested in flying above the lip, the technological advances made by Wavegarden has positioned the company as a driving force for professional athletes in moving the sport forward at an unprecedented rate.
ABOUT WAVEGARDEN COMPANY
Wavegarden is an innovative engineering company dedicated to the research, design, manufacture, installation, commissioning of wave generation systems, and the construction and operation of surf lagoons.
Wavegarden’s technology offers the greatest variety of waves and highest user capacity, with the lowest energy and water consumption in the market.
We remain true to our mission to share the incredible experience of surfing perfect waves with everyone around the world. The company has an extremely high growth potential in this emerging sector with more than 70 projects currently in development across the globe, 7 facilities operating successfully and 7 projects currently under construction across 4 continents.
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