Shark free surfing: How is it real? by Eng. (Dr.) Manasi Wijerathna
An artificial wave pool is an inland water pool especially designed for surfing. In modern world, a water pool is a no brainer to anyone. Nevertheless, a wave pool should be carefully crafted to meet specific requirements for surfing.
The waves in the pool are generated by dragging a hydrofoil, a metallic wing of specific shape, along a track, at a certain speed. To craft the machine generated pulse into a perfect surf wave, the pool itself must be adequately intelligent. The right combination of the height, the barrel and the speed of a wave brings the character to the wave and the best experience to the surfer. The secret lays in the well-engineered contour patterns of the pool basin. It is an amazing example for coordination of physics and nature, at its best.
The YouTube video below by Science Magazine, shows how the recreation of ocean surf waves in an inland pool has become a reality. It is three minutes of adventure for the ones with an inner athlete and a great dose of satisfaction for engineering minds. Ultimately, whether this is comparable with the real ocean experience or not, is up for individuals’ judgement.