STATUS: Out of commission
WAVES: Short, foil-generated lefts and rights
LOCATIONS: The Hague, Holland
The Dutch indoor wave pool project SurfPoel sputtered to life in a warehouse outside of The Hague. Originally conceived of in 2018, the project was severely hampered by COVID and then rising construction costs. When construction finally was completed, the tech was obsolete.
The design was a hull and foil type of wave generator created by Australian Steven Schmied. For 10 years Schmied developed a system which could be adjusted to produce a variety of waves. The pool itself was 72m long (230 feet) and 18m (60 feet) in width with a max depth of 2,5m (8 feet). The building housing the pool is a massive 2400 square meters (7,800 square feet) and used shipping containers and a timber beach to construct surrounding amenities.
A good chunk of SurfPoel and the 24/7 wave technology was backed by small investment crowdfunders. The Hague has a core surf scene west of the city on the shores of the North Sea with most of the focus in Scheveningen. Investors included locals and a few global wave pool enthusiasts, like self-professed Surf Nerd Mike Goldys.
It is not known if inventor Steven Schmied is continuing his pursuit of this, or other wave-generating designs.
 and 18m (60 feet) in width with a max depth of 2,5m (8 feet). The building housing the pool){kind=link}