Wave Loch

Wave Loch Inc. is a surf ride manufacturing company responsible for such water rides as the FlowBarrel, Flying Reef, SurfPool, Wave House franchises, and, formerly, FlowRider.

History

During the 1980s, Tom Lochtefeld was a partner in the development of Raging Waters water parks in the United States. He created a water park attraction to simulate the riding of waves in the ocean. In 1988, a patent was taken out for "a wave-forming generator for generating inclined surfaces on a contained body of water". This was the concept of a sheet wave, the basis of most of Wave Loch's rides. Lochtefeld worked with Charles Sauerbier, Carl Ekstrom and others to model the wave using wave tanks at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla.

The first WaveLoch FlowRider opened at the Schlitterbahn in Texas in 1991. This was followed by the first FlowBarrel at the Summerland Resort in Norway two years later.

In 1999, Wave Loch built a portable FlowBarrel which was shipped around the world to support the SWATCH and Siemens Wave Tours, which visited Florence, Munich, Australia and other places. Wave House South Africa opened in 2001 with a double FlowBarrel called the D Rex, and two FlowRider Singles at the center of an entertainment, retail and food and beverage complex.

Flowriding

Flowriding (or Flowboarding) is a late-20th century alternative boardsport incorporating elements of surfing, bodyboarding, skateboarding, skimboarding, snowboarding and wakeboarding.

Flowriders ride on artificial waves that are technically called "sheet waves". Powerful pumps project a three-inch layer of water at speeds ranging from 20 MPH to 30 MPH. The water flows up and over surfaces engineered to replicate the shape of ocean waves. Sheet waves are stationary waves, in that the wave does not move forward, and the movement is derived from water flowing over a stationary surface. Flowriders get their speed from the energy of the water flowing at them, and can perform basic to sophisticated turns and tricks within a relatively small area.

Even though there are a number of different types of structures used for flowriding, the two which are recognized at a competitive level are the WhiteWater West Single, Double, and Triple FlowRiders and the Wave Loch FlowBarrel.

Two main divisions of the sport is divided by the type of board the rider chooses; the flowboard or bodyboard.

FlowRider (Dreamworld)

FlowRider is a sheet wave FlowRider attraction at the Dreamworld amusement park on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

History

In early 2006 construction began for the FlowRider. It was constructed on part of the site of the former Thunderbolt roller coaster which was removed in 2004. On 23 June 2006, the attraction had its soft opening which was attended by the attraction's designer Tom Lochtefeld as well as several surfers, snowboarders, wakeboarders and skateboarders. The next day, on 24 June 2006, the attraction officially opened to the public. The original Thunderbolt station was converted into a merchandise shop, changing rooms and toilets. It was later redeveloped to provide an internal gate through to WhiteWater World. At the time of opening, it was Australia's first and only FlowRider.

The FlowRider later formed part of the marketing initiative "Adrenalin Alley" which was launched in 2009. It incorporates the after-hours use of the FlowRider, AVPX and V8 Supercars RedLine.