Surf Cat

Kelly Slater unveiled the Surf Ranch in December, 2015, ostensibly breaking the internet and blowing the surf world’s collective mind in the process. The 2,000-foot long, 500-foot wide basin in Lemoore, California had been in the works for nearly a decade, and despite the ongoing wavepool space race over the past four years, it remains the best mechanically produced wave in the world. And the only wavepool deemed worthy of a CT event. (This Friday and Saturday.)

“There’s a couple times a year the waves are better on the coast than the Surf Ranch, but that’s about it.”

Read More: How to Win at the Surf Ranch

And while Kelly spent years helping with the pool’s design and buffing out his onsite Airstream and getting shacked for minutes (hours?), he’s not there much these days — a total of four days in 2019, to be exact. But still, he’s the expert on the place, and so we called him as he was driving up the I-5 today on his way to the Freshwater Pro to gain some insight.

Best Conditions

Photo: Jeremiah Klein

“Calm winds would be best. Or even west winds. The typical wind is northwest, which is blowing offshore on the rights and onshore on the lefts. A west wind, in theory, would be offshore on both, based on the angle of the body of water.

“As for the actual surf, there’s an infinite numbers of possible waves you could create. You could change the speed of the foil as it’s going. You could change the water depth and you can also change the angle of the foil, which changes the angle the swell peels at — you can change all those variables.”

Photo: Cestari/WSL

“That said, water volume is not something you can change easily. We do get evaporation. Sometimes it can get lower and sometimes it can get overfilled. When that happens, you’ll see on the end barrel will cave in on itself a little bit. We suspect that’s what happens when the water’s a couple inches too high, based off the way the swell pushes off the foil — but nobody’s really figured out exactly why that is.

“We do have about five set, programmed waves. I personally like ‘CT 3 — that’s the one we’re using for the event. In theory, though, I’d like to see there be five waves everyone could choose from — if they’ve tested all those waves and they know which one suits their surfing best. Play to your own strength.

“The last two events, we used ‘CT 3 on the left, which is a slightly slower wave, and a ‘CT 2 on the right, which is faster. ‘CT 2 is faster, stronger and barrels more in the center. ‘CT 3 is a little more unpredictable in that some waves do and some waves don’t barrel in the middle section. So you have to read it yourself and decide if it’s going to do that for you.”

Jordy Smith exploring the middle barrel section last week. Photo: Pat Nolan/Red Bull

“A couple programmed waves are beginner, slower waves — much smaller and don’t barrel. They just peel off and multiple people can ride ’em at once. They do that for certain groups.

“Also, the foil is set at a certain angle, but you can change that angle. After a wave runs the foil actuates, it turns and resets itself for the next wave. That can be changed — I think seven or ten degrees going one way or the other. So if you’re running the foil at a slower speed, you can change the angle to be steeper, so it keeps the down-the-line speed — even though the swell is a slower swell with less energy. Or you could under-rotate it and get more of a pushy wave, as opposed to a down-the-line wave.”

Crowd Factor

Photo: Jeremiah Klein

“In the pool at one time? You only need one person on a wave and one person backing ’em up on the ski, if they know what they’re doing. Otherwise, I’d say three to four people, total, in case someone falls, and there’s someone there to back ’em up at 20-pole intervals or something like that.”

Boards

2018 winner, Gabriel Medina. Photo: Jeremiah Klein

“I always tell people their favorite board in the ocean will be their favorite one at the pool. Because for the most part, you’re dealing with a wave that’s pretty fast. Anything you’d like at a nice, three- to four-foot day at Lowers you’ll probably like at Surf Ranch. I don’t know if there’s a board that’s better for the wavepool. I think people sorta think that — it’s an idea in some people’s minds, like ‘you could design something just for that’ or ‘anyone who surfs there a lot has a board that’s better than everyone else’ — but that’s just not true. It’s not like you can make a board this week and try it next week — nobody has that kind of access to surf it. It’s not hard to surf, and I don’t think there’s any secrets. There’s not a “magic” board you need to ride.”

Pro Tips

Don’t do this on your first wave. Kolohe Andino. Photo: Jeremiah Klein

“It doesn’t matter if it’s Parko or Fanning or someone who’s never surfed before — when you get up on a wave, give yourself some space, don’t try to flirt with the pocket too much. Be conservative on your first wave. Most groups that go there, there’s quite a few people and you’re not gonna get a whole lot of waves. And if you get nervous, you’re gonna mess up your first wave. Then you’re thinking about it, and you’re in your head and you’re probably gonna screw up your second and third and fourth waves. Just be conservative on your first wave so you get it out of the way — so at least you’ve experienced the whole wave. And then you can start to move back into the pocket a bit more.”

Event Spectator Advice

Photo: Jeremiah Klein

“Maybe just get really drunk and stay in the shade. (Laughs.) No, really, look at the lineup of who’s surfing. I’m obviously a golf fan. Who’s playing, what holes are they gonna tee off on. Plan my route around that. Plan your route around who’s gonna surf at what time and whether you wanna see ’em go right or left. And you can watch the alternate direction on the broadcast. Certain guys are better on their forehand or backhand. That’s the key — as a surfer — being able to enjoy this event and not be critical, like, it’s the same wave. The idea in the ocean is you wanna give everyone a fair chance. That’s what this is. The critique I’ve read so many times is that it’s boring, it’s the same thing over and over. But it’s not the same surfer and they’re not taking the same lines. Hopefully what you’re appreciating is the different technique and lines and speed that people are going and the way they choose to pick the wave apart.”

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