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Photo: Wavegarden
Photo: Wavegarden
Wavegarden R&D Center
Wavegarden R&D Center
Photo: Wavegarden
Wavegarden R&D Center
Photo: Wavegarden
Wavegarden R&D Center
Photo: Wavegarden
Wavegarden R&D
Birthplace for Wavegarden TechnologyAverage Reviews
Description
The Wavegarden Research and Development center is the grandfather of many man-made waves. Its at this facility that the Wavegarden Lagoon and Wavegarden Cove technologies were born and fine-tuned into the wave machines we see in videos today.
The main attraction at the R&D center is the Wavegarden Cove installation that serves as a demo pool and a test facility. It’s not open to the public, but the Wavegarden team routinely hosts potential customers, professional surfers, press and other partners for dreamy sessions set in a Basque Country valley.
The Wavegarden Cove demo pool is 50m x 80m, and produces right-hand waves up to 6 feet (1.95m) high on the face of the wave that can be ridden for 10-15 seconds. Thanks to the flexibility of the Wavegarden Cove technology, the wave can offer barrels, ripable walls and air sections. It can also produce smaller waves that are perfect for beginners.
The demo model is intentionally scaled down to show that the Cove technology can provide quality surfing experiences in tight spaces. Its about 1/3 the length and 1/2 the width of a full size cove installation. As demonstrated by The Wave in Bristol and other Wavegarden Cove pools, the Cove technology scales up nicely.
History
In 2005, engineer Jose Odriozola and sports scientist Karin Frisch decided to direct their expertise in sport facilities (e.g. skate parks) toward their passion for surfing. Their goal was to try and reproduce the sensations and experiences of surfing an ocean wave under ideal conditions.
They explored every wave making strategy they could think of using boat wakes, underwater foils pulled by tractors, and rotating circular islands.
In 2009, they created the their first rideable waves on a demo model that was a very early iteration on the Wavegarden Lagoon technology. The technique, based on dragging a foil through the water, created 3 foot (1m) waves with an attractive open face for turns. In 2010 Wavegarden released footage of Fanning, Nic Von Rupp, Bobby Martinez, Owen Wright and others surfing the prototype and the internet blew up.
In 2012, Wavegarden released a larger, bi-directional version of their technology that created lefts and rights at the same time by dragging a foil under a pier that runs down the middle of a lagoon. The foil then gets dragged in the reverse direction to create another set of waves.
In 2013, after additional testing and tuning of their Lagoon technology, Wavegarden announced “Wavegarden 2.0” and demonstrated the improvements to the pool at their R&D center. The updated Lagoon was 220m long and at the time that was the longest in the world. It produced 120 waves per hour that were 1.2m (4.25 feet) high on the face of the wave. Generating waves consumed 270kW of power.
Their success resulted in their first customers and the Wavegarden Lagoon technology was put into commercial use at Snowdonia and NLand.
In 2016, Wavegarden rocked the world once again with a new wave pool technology called the Wavegarden Cove. The Cove prototype replaced the XX the Lagoon at the R&D facility and continues to be the centerpiece of the facility today.
Sources: Wavegarden, Magic Seaweed
