Greg Webber Wave Pool

Greg Webber Wave Pool

Every surfer dreams of waking up, downing some raisin bran, and leisurely stepping out into their backyard to see empty, piping barrels.  At one point, before surfing became a mainstream sport, that dream was a reality in many places in the world.  With countless numbers of surfers vying for waves around the world, one of the only places that you'll find empty barrels today is in your mind.

Greg Webber

Greg Webber, an Australian surfer, wants to change that with his Wave Machines.  There are unsophisticated (and incredibly expensive) artificial wave pools that exist, but Greg Webber has come up with a formula that looks to blow these machines out of the water.  Apart from being a 'wave scientist,' Greg is an internationally recognized board shaper, and makes a huge number of different board styles.  I'm sure most people have seen the Webber logo floating around their local breaks.

Greg Webber Logo

Greg Webber's unique idea for a wave pool goes something like this: there is an island surrounded by a ring of water which is surrounded by land.  The wave pool looks a bit like a target.  Moving hulls on the outside of the water ring spin in a circle, as a boat would, and create swell.  Greg Webber has had a lot of experience creating perfect wakes with boats for films (see video at the bottom of this post), and he has translated that knowledge into making the perfect bottom conditions to create beautiful, steep, surfable waves.  These waves can last indefinitely, as long as the hulls keep moving, because they break in a circle.  Part of Greg's ideas for his wave machines is a nightlife experience surround the pools, so people can watch amazing surfing while sipping on a pina colada (or two).

So... the obvious question is how much it would cost for one of these wave pools.  The short answer is, most people won't be buying one of these.  To build one, Greg estimates the cost of the wave pools will be between $750,000-$1,000,000.  If I had the cash, it would certainly be tempting.  However, in an interview with Surfing Life Magazine, Greg said: "We hope to charge about $1.25 to $1.50 for a ten second, 1.25m wave, $2.50 for a fifteen second 1.6m wave, and about $5 for an eighteen second 1.9m barrel."

Have I had this idea? Yes.  Is Greg Webber going to actually pull it off? I hope so. This looks sick.  Enjoy the artistic renderings of his ideas below...

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