Go behind the scenes as elite pro surfers assist our CEO and Fluid Dynamics team to create new air waves at Wavegarden facilities worldwide.
As world leading pro surfers Yago Dora, Leo Fioravanti, Luke Swanson, Reef Heazlewood, Victor Bernardo and Dion Agius, Wavegarden´s process of designing new waves is as intense as it is intriguing. Our ‘Wave Menu’, which presently boasts over 20 different waves, just received 4 new air sections and one barrel wave.
These new waves are a result of the work of our Founder and CEO Josema Odriozola and our team of Spanish Fluid Dynamic experts who travelled to Wave Park, South Korea and URBNSURF Melbourne, Australia to implement and refine the new waves, prior to exporting them to other Wavegarden facilities across the globe.
The first stop was Wave Park in South Korea. When Hawaiian Swanson stepped off the plane in Seoul, he had no idea what he was in for. His sponsor Rip Curl organized the trip on his behalf and he figured all he needed to do was surf a few waves and sign an autograph or two. Following a briefing with Odriozola, he realized that there would be more to it than that.
Our team was keen to use their newly devised and vastly superior software program that is able to move the wave-generating machinery with a greater level of flexibility and precision than previously attainable. For the air wave, this meant a new wave could be produced every 50-60 seconds without using an underwater obstacle, as in former versions. In fact, this state-of-the-art software is capable of modifying and refining the in-run, launch pad and landing in any way possible. We just needed some good surfers like Hawaiian Swanson, who was handpicked for his impressive air game, to articulate the exact requirements.
After each wave, Swanson relayed feedback to our staff who eagerly modified the software’s code in real-time, altering the steepness and peeling speed of the pumping section, the angle of the oncoming section, the thickness and amount of pop in the lip, and the volume of foam in the landing area.
At one stage Swanson appeared to be dazzled. The in-run was super-fast and the lip was providing tons of pop. “I was getting launched so high that it became kind of dangerous,” explained Swanson,” so, I got them to tone it down a little.”
While Swanson was in awe of the technology’s infinite capabilities, Odriozola was impressed by his exigence, attention to detail and tenacity. Fine tuning the waves was held after trading hours, which implied starting at 10 pm and working through the night, sometimes until sunrise. Swanson stayed in the water for 5 hours at a time and soon air sections were being customized to match particular tricks – straight airs, air reverses, ally oops, and even backflips.
A few days later Brazilian aerialist Victor Bernardo joined Swanson in the line-up and the two surfers pushed each other to go higher and attempt new tricks. And when they were tired or sore of doing airs, they enjoyed a few deep barrels instead.
The learnings for our team were profound. They had unlimited access to the mindset and talent of 2 epic aerialists, guys who were able to break down and analyze every aspect of each section with precision and clarity. This enabled them to not only perfect the sections for elite aerialists, but also softer versions for warming up or for those surfers who had never tried aerials before.
This knowledge and experience proved invaluable when our team touched down at URBNSURF Melbourne, where Reef Heazlewood and Dion Agius were anxiously waiting to rack up some air time. Agius, who has long been at the forefront of aerial surfing, admitted to being a little nervous about being alongside the likes of Heazlewood – a guy capable of throwing down a wide variety of huge tricks with apparent ease and raising the bar to unprecedented levels.
Similar to Korea, after each wave Agius, Heazlewood and Bernardo transmitted their insights to our team who adjusted the code accordingly. Although Agius and Bernardo didn´t disappoint, it was Heazlewood who stole the show, particularly on the 3rd evening when he unleashed 14 different airs, all huge and all highly technical. He was landing just about everything and, astonishingly, was executing fully inverted and off-axis backflips at will.
With the waves at Wave Park and URBNSURF dialled, it was now time for our Fluid Dynamics team to drop their new creations into the Wave Menu at Alaïa Bay in Switzerland and Praia da Grama in Brazil. To avoid further travel, they performed this remotely from our HQs in Spain.
Italian pro surfer Leo Fioravanti needed no persuading to be our air section test pilot at Alaia Bay. Fioravanti was keen to train his above-the-lip repertoire and try a few boards. Our team knew exactly what Fioravanti would want and wasted no time in programming a handful of sections for him to test.
“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 Fioravanti, immediately after his session.
At Praia da Grama, Brazilian rookie Yago Dora shared his feedback with staff on the wall, who relayed the specifications to
The remarkable thing about the entire process is that within a matter of weeks, a handful of new waves had been tested and installed at 4 Wavegarden facilities across the globe. And, the surfers that took part were left speechless about the capability of our technology and what this represents for the future.
During an interview a few weeks after returning from Korea, Swanson, a Rocky Point local on the North Shore of Hawaii, confessed that in terms of training a 1-hour session on the new air section was equivalent to 1 month in the ocean – a bold statement given his ‘go to’ wave is recognized as one of the best performance training grounds on the planet. He also hinted at taking up gymnastics as the possibility of landing 540´s and 720´s was now on his radar, given these new waves were available for training.
For professionals like Dora, Fioravanti, Swanson, Bernardo, and Heazlewood, the advances in our technology have far-reaching implications for the development of their careers. However, true to our vision of creating great waves for everyone, there are also air waves for those starting out. In fact, we created 4 different sections that vary according to their degree of difficulty.
We understand that the average visitor to Wavegarden facilities may not be interested in flying above the lip, and maybe these waves will be reserved for training sessions and competitions only. Nonetheless, when it comes to the technological advances that we have been able to make, it gives us the impression that the sky is the limit.
