STATUS: Currently a scaled-down prototype but plans are to build one near Buenos Aires
WAVES: Split peak or lefts and rights pointbreak style
LOCATION: Buenos Aires
La Ola Group is an Argentinian company, formerly known as WaveSEG, with a fully-funded research warehouse developing the latest pneumatic approach to wave-making. The system is an air-compression-setup much like PerfectSwell, Endless Surf and Surf Loch, all of whom use a technique pushing out air from caissons to displace water and create waves. This system, at least the test models, looks very different because the air cannons are laid out horizontally rather than as vertical concrete chambers at the end of a pool. The company built a small four-cannon model prototype recently to test the theory. This was followed by a full-size air cannon to test the machinery at scale, and now there is a four-cannon full-scale model in the works. A 32-cannon small-scale model is also being developed in the laboratory to assess multi-cannon interaction as well as some other factors. La Ola Group adds that their design focuses on energy recuperation via a water return system and said they can recycle that initial energy into the production of the next wave. By varying the quantity or size of its modules, different products are obtained, resulting in different required investments, achieving a unique adaptability capacity in the market. They added that wave size, duration, frequency are all determined by the number and placement of compressors below the surface. The system uses pre-existing industry standard inputs, so that the basic working pieces are readily available on the market. The machine is free of moving parts.
