Pular para o conteúdo principal

Ka'ana Wave Co: the bathymetry-agnostic wave pool

Ka'ana Wave Co: the technology features three interchangeable wave-shaping heads | Photo: Ka'ana Wave Co

Ka'ana Wave Co. is an innovative wave pool concept with interchangeable wave-shaping heads.

Created in North Vancouver, Canada, Ka'ana Wave Co. started like many other wave-generation dreams - with trial, error, and improvements.

The artificial standing wave market is highly competitive. Companies like Flowrider and citywave have dominated the scene with several installations worldwide.

Nevertheless, there's always room for groundbreaking innovations and increments of value here and there.

Ka'ana Wave Co. wants a share of this ever-growing market. It took a decade to get from the early tests to the final product.

Around 2022/2023, the Canadian startup launched CM7, a wave machine that can be deployed or integrated into an existing pool, lake, or lagoon.

Also, it does require a specific pool floor, slope, or contour to generate rideable waves.

So, how does Ka'ana Wave Co. create the artificial wave and its shape?

The secret lies in the device that pumps water into the water basin.

Ka'ana Wave Co: the wave pool technology can be deployed or integrated into an existing pool, lake, or lagoon | Photo: Ka'ana Wave Co

The Interchangeable Wave Shaping Heads

According to the patent submitted in 2021 and granted in 2023, Ka'ana Wave Co. provides a method and device for making waves in water by changing the water flow as it moves through an inlet, shaped passage, and outlet.

For example, the main flow of water is changed so that one or more smaller flows are created at different angles to the main flow direction.

The outcome is a stationary, deep-water barreling wave coming out in three different shapes.

Thanks to the three shaping heads, which can be changed quickly and easily.

The first is the river jump wave, the most common type of stationary wave for surfing. It's designed for all ages and experience levels.

Then, there's the classic wake wave, which resembles the ripples generated by wakeboarding boats. It's a left and right wave that is harder to master and can be adjusted while the rider is surfing.

Finally, there's the right-breaking barrel that is challenging enough for advanced surfers and also provides a simple entry for beginners.

Ka'ana Wave Co: the pool or water basin does not require special contours or slopes | Photo: Ka'ana Wave Co

Customize Your Wave and Press "Save"

The wipeouts are low impact and safe and there's even a side channel with a current for a paddle back experience.

The riding times are adjustable, and the waiting times are kept short.

The size of the waves can also be adjusted in real time.

For instance, it's possible to customize a ride by setting different wave face height and pitch preferences.

By controlling the flow volumes across the width of a wave, users can shape asymmetric waves to match a surfer's session choices.

The central computer saves custom wave shapes with timed transitions to create repeatable dynamic waves, control ride duration, guarantee throughput, and reduce power consumption.

Drainage, Laird Hamilton, and Einstein

The history of Ka'ana Wave Co. goes back to 2012 when its founder, James Alexander Watson, noticed water forming a barrel in a dogleg gearbox-like drain in Peru during a rainstorm.

Two years later, the entrepreneur, inspired by Laird Hamilton's Millennium Wave shot by Tim McKenna and a story about Albert Einstein and relativity, wondered whether a continuous, barreling, bathymetry-agnostic, stationary wave could be a reality.

So, in 2016, the first model scale version of CM7 saw the light of day.

By 2019, the theoretical design becomes a reality and is validated through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tests.

In 2021, Ka'ana Wave Co. sets up a wave pool for a two-week pilot on its smallest surfable model scale.

One year later, the first pop-up surf park using the Canadian technology is successfully tested over two months at Britannia Beach, British Columbia.

The company's inaugural surf park and Nordic Spa opens in 2025 in Bridal Falls, British Columbia.


Words by Luís MP | Founder of SurferToday.com



por Surf News | Headlines and Top Stories https://ift.tt/icXBTH5

Postagens mais visitadas deste blog

Duke Kahanamoku reflects on surfing, Olympics, and old Hawaii in 1966 interview

Duke Kahanamoku is the most influential surfer of all time and is often hailed as the father of modern surfing. There is nearly no one questioning these titles. Recently, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Hawaii unveiled a never-before-seen interview with the legendary surfer and Olympic swimmer. In the 1966 episode of Pau Hana Years, a seminal Hawaii television program that aired on KHET-TV (now PBS Hawaii) for 16 years, running from 1966 until 1982, Bob Barker chats with Duke Kahanamoku, then 76. The conversation drifts from royal ancestry to Olympic lanes, from Hollywood sets to a surfboard shaped by hand, tracing the outline of a life that helped define modern surfing and Hawaii's public image in the 20th century. And if you know little about the man who dreamed of getting surfing into the Olympic Games, this is a precious piece of history. A name with history, worn casually The interview starts with Kahanamoku explaining that "Duke" is not a title but his giv...
Leia mais

The hydrodynamics of surfboard fins

Have you ever wondered why a surfboard fin looks like that? It is a single or a set of fixed blades or keels located under a board, near the tail, often no bigger than a hand. Yet that small surface is where much of the surfboard's behavior takes place. Speed, hold, looseness, and the feeling of control all trace back to how water moves around fins. The physics of surfboard fins falls under hydrodynamics, the study of how fluids behave in motion. So, according to science, they feature a shape designed to turn flowing water into several forces. Let's take a look at what's at stake when fins and water interact. Lift and the feeling of control One of the key variables in hydrodynamic terms involving surfboard fins is lift. When a surfer leans into a turn, the board tilts and the fins meet the water at an angle. The angle is enough to create a pressure difference between the two sides of the fin. Water speeds up on one side and slows on the other. The result is a sidewa...
Leia mais

How paddleboarding transforms your body and mind

Adventure is on our doorstep. With so many different bodies of water available to paddleboarders, from city canals to coastal routes, we can find adventure in places much closer to home than people might initially expect. According to the Canal and River Trust, 50 percent of people in England and Wales live within just eight kilometers of a canal or river, and eight million people live less than one kilometer away. I had lived within just a few kilometers of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal for years and never really explored it before stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) came into my life . The challenge created both a new perspective and a deeper love for where I lived and the areas which I passed through. On my coast-to-coast journey, I slept in my own bed for two nights as the route passed through my then hometown of Skipton, yet I felt I was on a grand journey of discovery. We are braver, stronger, and more resilient than we think. SUP not only helps us feel more connected to our va...
Leia mais