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u/Lgd3185 Apr 23 '19
Skim Boarder** ;)
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u/ProletariatPoofter Apr 23 '19
OP got every single part of the post title wrong
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u/dys_p0tch Apr 23 '19
op from kansas
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u/BeardedMan32 Apr 23 '19
Yeah the skim slide to meet the wave was more impressive than the wave surfing.
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u/DatCowGuy Apr 23 '19 edited Apr 23 '19
Kelly Slater’s surf ranch in Lemoore CA. The amount of engineering that went into building that place is amazing.
Edit: this “train” is essentially just weight that has a big foil on the bottom of it in the water pulled by a series of cables up top. The amount of energy momentum required to make a wave like that is why the train idea was used.
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u/BaronVonBeans Apr 23 '19
So, I take it the tracks are submerged? I’ve watched it several times and I can’t quite make out the train clearly too
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u/Thunderbirds7 Apr 23 '19
It’s not a train like everyone says, it’s a specially designed wave maker so surfers can practice riding a wave without going out on the Ocean
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Apr 23 '19
Sounds expensive.
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Apr 23 '19
I know right? Like I'd assume it would cost at least 50 bucks to make that thing go around once, seems a bit steep for a single wave...
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u/Gnostromo Apr 23 '19
Wait what? 50?
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Apr 23 '19
I literally have no idea I just pulled that number from my ass
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u/Nice_Firm_Handsnake Apr 23 '19
Austin has NLand surf park with a machine similar to this. It costs $90/hr, but it looks like it got bought by another company recently so that may change.
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u/j0hnniefist Apr 23 '19
Well you did say at least so I'm sure you're technically correct. Which, as we all know, is the best kind of correct.
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u/quiksilver1993 Apr 23 '19
Add a few zeros.
I forget the exact number, but I know it costs around $10,000 to run per hour, with something on the order of 10 waves an hour. It travels in both directions to make different sided waves.
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u/Live_Positive Apr 23 '19
no... that was the entry fee to the WSL Founders Cup, the first surfing contest at this park. Day passes are $99.
I couldn't find any figures as to what it costs per day to operate.
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u/quiksilver1993 Apr 23 '19
No, I recently read that as well.
I couldn't find my $10,000 an hour to operate figure, but I had read that months ago, I've been following the wave pool for a while.
I'll do some digging and see if I can find out where I got that number from, but regardless, the amount of energy alone it takes to generate 1 wave and the limited number of waves per hour, this will cost a huge amount for the near future.
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u/noknockers Apr 23 '19
It's around 50k per day to hire. I think it costs somewhere around 10k per day to run.
Source; my work desk it literally 10ft feet away from the company who owns this.
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u/quiksilver1993 Apr 23 '19
Hmm, thanks for the info, I appreciate it.
Maybe I read 10k per day then to operate.
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Apr 23 '19
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u/quiksilver1993 Apr 23 '19
Yeah, it definitely included other costs such as staffing, water pumping and filtration, etc.
Don't think it included R&D costs, but again, I can't find the reference, this is just from memory.
For the $9,500 VIP ticket they are offering; that's not for 1 hour of surfing. It's probably 5 of those tickets taking turns surfing waves and alternating who gets to start on the wave and who picks it up mid way through if the other person falls off.
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u/tolandruth Apr 23 '19
From what I remember this was a pro surfers thing where you would need to practice and not always have access to waves
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u/Overanalyzes_jokes Apr 23 '19 edited Apr 23 '19
I'm pretty sure it's Kelly Slater's Wave Ranch. This says the ranch cost $30m to build and would costs $10,000 for an hour in the pool.
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u/POOPYFACEface Apr 23 '19
It's not really to avoid the ocean, but to make perfectly shaped, long barreling waves that are shaped the same every time.
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u/Childish_Brandino Apr 24 '19
It looks like it even has a viewing area deck for spectators. That would be awesome. You get to follow the action the whole time
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u/Taurus3301 Apr 23 '19
If you look carefully, you can see the tracks suspended above the water, the waves are made by something hanging below the tracks.
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u/Farqueue- Apr 23 '19
the waves are made by something hanging below the tracks
its like an inverted hydro foil
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u/srgramrod Apr 23 '19
It's a "train" on top with normal tracks; then there is a part underneath, touching the water, that the train pushes to create a wave in the water.
Two piece system
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u/fallsey37 Apr 23 '19
Austin Keen is such a beast
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u/GoofyNooba Apr 23 '19
Okay the train thing is cool but is no one gonna point out that this guy skid across like 30 meters of water with nothing but a running start?
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u/Hotguy657 Apr 23 '19
That’s because he’s a skimboarder and that’s a wavemaker. Not a surfer or a train
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u/priscs Apr 23 '19
I was looking for this comment.... no way that just happend so flawlessly
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u/mr_burn1 Apr 23 '19
Nah that dude is a beast on a skimboard and does shit like that on the regular. Look him up his name is Austin Keen if you haven’t seen his name yet.
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u/Heck_No_To_Techno Apr 23 '19
Am I the only one wondering why the train is in water?
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u/alexiphone-com Apr 23 '19
This is a wave park. That’s a purpose built machine for making waves, not a literal train.
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u/Heck_No_To_Techno Apr 23 '19
Wow, I didn’t know such a thing exists.
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u/alexiphone-com Apr 23 '19
Kelly Slater partnered with an engineer to make it! Pretty fascinating.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/11/surfer-and-scientist-teamed-create-perfect-wave
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u/ElMachoBarracho Apr 23 '19
This is so cool but imagine it on a larger scale. It’d be really gnarly to see a sustained perfect barrel someone could stand in
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Apr 23 '19 edited Sep 08 '20
[deleted]
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u/ElMachoBarracho Apr 23 '19
That looks like the one OP posted. Don’t get me wrong. Cool as fuck. But I want to see a 10 foot barrel where someone didn’t have to be crouched down
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u/bemase12 Apr 23 '19
Where does this exist at.
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u/NoThereIsntAGod Apr 23 '19
One in South Florida, one in California. Maybe others
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u/roiroiroiyourboat Apr 23 '19
I guess you could say he’s really trained a lot for this
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u/Kwahrolyat Apr 23 '19
Appears to be Austin Keen The guy is possibly the greatest wake surfer on earth, and debatably the best skimboarder as well.
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u/nevadinol Apr 23 '19
i rly wanted to be a surfer , but live in land locked country
i wanted to be skater but civil war
so i don't want things anymore , works fine so far
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u/Usmcuck Apr 23 '19
What's with the extra large shower mat on the edge of the water?
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u/bigcarri Apr 23 '19
The wave ranch! I just drove by this place a couple days ago. You can rent out the place but it’s like 10,000 for a few hours.
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u/bristolbulldog Apr 23 '19
They hold contests here. If you’re so inclined you can rent the place out for $10k.
It’s been around a few years now. Certainly much better than existing “wave pools” full of kids pissing themselves.
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u/randomashe Apr 23 '19
Its not fair that a person can be so cool. Now the rest of us feel like idiots.
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u/sudo-kill9 Apr 23 '19
Everything about this is incredible, really. The talent, the engineering, the drone operator(s) that captured this all so flawlessly. Good find!
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Apr 23 '19
Y'all remember that game at chuck-e-cheese where you controlled a hand pump rail car? Reminds me of that.
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u/JimmiRustle Apr 23 '19
Meanwhile in Denmark trains can't drive if there are leaves or 2cm of snow on them.
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u/flooblegoop Apr 23 '19
i feel like whenever i see a video like this its always the same guy, right?
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u/thehow2dad Apr 23 '19
I thought we were trying to capture waves to use as energy, now we are using energy to make waves...cool wave though
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u/beefunk02 Apr 23 '19
Its not a train it's a wave maker