Surfing pools are a different monster altogether.
In a strategic partnership with Surfparks, LLC, both Dr. Black and his ASR partner, Dr. Shaw Mead, have been instrumental in developing the technologies known as the adjustable “Versa-reef” and “wedge pool” design. These cutting-edge innovations, founded on ASR’s precise understanding in the dynamics of breaking waves, have been blended with the "Groundswell Wave System", developed by the WaveTek/Aquatic Development Group, which combines vacuum and pneumatic technologies to create multi-wave sets with 8-12 second intervals.
The "Pro Pool" at the facility in Orlando works like this: as the groundswell moves forward and hits the Versareef, it stands up in a narrowing, wedging pool that works to compound the wave energy and produce the kind of power and clean perfection that will allow you tuck-in and get absolutely shacked out of your gourd. With a decent crowd and one wave every 10 seconds, your moment of glory in the stoke-machine should repeat every 6-8 minutes.
Exhausted of burly barrels for the day? No problem - with a few strokes of a keyboard, the Versareef can go from one extreme to the other in an astounding 15 minutes. That's like heaving Teahupo’o to classic Trestles in a shorter time interval than what was probably between your last two waves back home.
Whether they are collaborating on surfing pools or orchestrating the construction of massive multi-purpose reef projects, it is ASR’s methods, reputation, and level of understanding around surfing reefs that has allowed the company to hold a virtual monopoly on the business of artificial surfing reef design. However, maintaining this position and protecting their intellectual property does not appear to be on anyone's mind in Raglan.
Specifically, there is a much greater concern with organizations or individuals involved in coastal engineering that lack the proper credentials when it comes to understanding the multi-purpose reefs and how they behave under the wide range of natural conditions.
“Our greatest fear is that you have someone out there with the intention to build surfing reefs, but don’t have the research or the science backing their methods."
With each coastal project, ASR is conducting full feasibility studies that take into account everything from sediment transport, to wave dynamics, to storm and meteorological patterns, the ecological environment, and the local economy most affected by a new reef.
With the inevitable competition in the artificial surfing reef industry, Black and his team are taking steps to reduce the potential for a poorly designed and constructed reef. Such a reef could damage the environment, hurt the local economy, produce poor surfing waves, and potentially serve a harsh blow to the image of a fledgling industry.