Qingfeng Extreme Sports Center

The Qingfeng Extreme Sports Center Wave Pool in Henan Province, China, is a large wave pool that generates relatively small waves used exclusively for national and regional surf teams. It is not open to the public.l

The $26 million facility generates waves by dragging a large foil through the water like Kelly Slater Wave Co. technology. The machine runs on a combination of magnetic and electric power. The foil pushes a swell out to the side of a central pier, and when that swell reaches shallower water, it crests and breaks.

The wave size varies with the speed of the foil. Nik Zanella, Course Presenter at the ISA, told Surfline that the wave has been generated between belly and shoulder high. It can go bigger, but we yet to hear exactly how big.

Since it was revealed to the public in early 2019 and criticized as a small slow burger, the bottom contours have been modified for improvements. According to Nik, the wave has now has three sections: “The outside is the most hollow, with a little barrel that you can squeeze in. Then it morphs into a long, workable wall that goes on for about 200 meters. It then gets steeper and faster on the inside.”

The pool itself is 700m long and 15m wide, which is roughly the size of The Surf Ranch in Lemoore. The maximum depth of the water is 2m.

Unlike the Surf Ranch, the foil runs through the center of the pool rather than along one side. This may offer the potential generate two waves with each foil run, but so far they only use one side of the pool and only run in one direction. The pool has only generated right-hand waves.

Sources: Surfline, Nik Zanella