| People have
traveled to different parts of the world such as beautiful Ragland,
New Zealand to find the perfect fast-moving steep breaking wave. Thanks
to the efforts of Kerry Black, a 35-year surfer veteran, in the early
part of 2005 these waves will be found in abundance at the Ron Jon
surf park in Orlando, Florida.
After word got out about the indoor surf pool, Black has received
calls from developers across the world who expressed interest in
his artificial surf concept.
The reproduction of great surf areas such as Ragland under the
glass of suburban American malls could be the answer to the sport’s
constant dilemma--too many surfers and a limited number of good
places to surf, which has hindered the ability for the sport to
grow.
Professional surfers have searched for more ways to earn prize
money and promoters want to market them however, the only way that
could happen is through expanding the sport beyond coastal areas.
Professional surfers stated that a good pool would open new doors
to the sport and introduce it to people who never had the opportunity
to surf because of where they live.
Black’s biggest dilemma was finding out how to create the
perfect synthetic wave for coastal surfing as well as indoor pools.
Components of Black’s research included:
- He identified seven geological components that appeared in some
combination in every major reef.
- He figured out how to predict the breaking intensity of waves
and the speed at which the wave broke across its face.
- He calculated the maximum speed a rider could surf.
When Black was asked to design an indoor surfing pool in Sydney,
he went back to his computers to come up with a 1:15-scale model.
The result was a swimming pool that produced the most consistent
surfing waves, one right after another, at any time and any month
of the year.
Wired
May 10, 2004
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