Spanish artificial wave company Wavegarden has unveiled "The Cove," the surf pool that pumps barrels and 1,000 waves per hour.
The blue barrel is the Holy Grail of surfing, and Wavegarden's The Cove is already creating tube dreams that are similar to Kelly Slater's Surf Ranch.
Wavegarden stepped up their game because they had to. The man-made wave company headquartered in the Basque Country developed a second-generation surf pool that will produce 16.6 waves per minute, or nearly one wave every four seconds.
The surf scientists say that their new surf park is capable of delivering from mushy knee-high rollers to deep barrels in the 8-foot range.
"In October 2016, we built a demo model at our R&D center in Spain that measures just 50 meters by 80 meters, proving that it's possible to make a great surf spot in a small space," reveals Josema Odriozola, founder of Wavegarden.
The Cove can produce left and right-hand waves, and rides that last between 15 and 20 seconds. Twenty pro surfers have already tested the new surf pool system and, from a business point-of-view, the facility is economically viable.
"The machinery of the Cove is modular, eschewing complicated hydraulic or pneumatic systems for a smart and simple electro-mechanical design. Consequently, very little energy is lost in the transmission of forces, which keeps running costs at a minimum and makes the Cove the most energy-efficient technology on the market today," adds Odriozola.
The surf pool specialists led by Odriozola and Karin Frisch expect to install the first Wavegarden Cove structures in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Barcelona, Madrid, Costa del Sol, Edinburgh, Bristol, London, New York, Miami, Santiago, and Marrakesh.
One question remains unanswered: will Surf Snowdonia and NLand Surf Park - both equipped with the original Wavegarden systems - be able to update their artificial wave technology to start pumping barrels at their facilities?