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First Look: Mesa Arizona wavepool design and layout

The world got another glimpse of the new SwellMFG wave-making technology this week through just-released architectural drawings and an Instagram post. The new sketches are the first schematics of the tech which will power the Cannon Beach development east of central Phoenix.

Up to this point, we’ve only seen video clips of perfect little peelers from SwellMFG with no idea of what the outline of the pool or system will look like at scale. The new renderings show a handbag-shaped facility with a wall of either air chambers or levers (SwellMFG won’t say how their tech is powered) in the deep end to pump out the surf. Within the short, a rectangle-ish outline is a peak splitting left and right. It looks like bathymetry will play a big role in how waves break in the facility, and right now a split peak will be something unique in the realm of open-to-the-public wave pools.

Wavegarden’s Cove design has separate a left and a right. Kelly’s plow system only works in one direction at a time. BSR Surf Resort alternates between running lefts and rights during a single session. Only American Wave Machine’s indoor New Jersey facility, Whitewater’s new Endless Surf system and Surf Lakes, offer a split peak.

sketches of cannon beach surf park
Cole Cannon’s Instagram post of his sketched out design (left) and the architectural rendering of the Cannon Beach surf park development.

SwellMFG say their technology dishes a wider variety of wave options within the same session over current designs on the market. The wavemakers added that clients will be able to mix in a variety of waves during their paid water time.

Cannon Beach hopes to begin underground work before the year’s end. If all goes well they will begin the wave pool construction early 2021 and open to frothing surfers in 2022.

The surf park will feature a coastal theme and include a hotel, retail and office space on roughly 40 acres. The wave planned wave pool is two acres. The area around the pool at Cannon Beach will also have cabanas, beach volleyball, fire pits and a relaxed day-at-the-beach vibe. Cole Cannon said the idea is to create a welcoming space where people can try new sports and fitness ideas.

“I’m laser-focused on building that surf lagoon and making it perfect,” Cannon told AZCentral.com. “I have this kind of ‘Field of Dreams’ mentality of, ‘If you build it, they will come.’


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