Wave Loch

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.{{cite web |url=http://encyclopediaofsurfing.com/entries/lochtefeld-tom |title=Tom Lochtefeld in The Encyclopedia of Surfing |date=June 2013 |publisher=Matt Warshaw |access-date=January 23, 2014}}

File:Lochtefeld flowbarrel norway.jpg

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.waveloch.com/history |title=Wave Loch – A short history of Wave Loch and Wave House & Surfing Machines |date=June 23, 2010 |publisher=Wave Loch |access-date=June 27, 2010}}

In 1999, Wave Loch built a portable FlowBarrel, which was shipped around the world to support the SWATCH and Siemens Wave Tours. This portable FlowBarrel 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.{{cite web |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.08/kahuna.html |title=Making Waves |date=June 2008 |publisher=Wired |access-date=January 23, 2014}}

In 2005, Wave House San Diego opened at the northwest corner of the Belmont Park amusement area in San Diego, where the company headquarters was located for ten years. By 2009, Wave Loch had sold more than 175 FlowRider sheet waves to locations around the world. In 2014, there were Wave Houses located in Durban, San Diego, Santiago, Chile, Sentosa, Singapore, and Mallorca. Additional locations are planned for Miami, Orange County, and three in China.{{cite web |url=http://www.waveloch.com/history |title=Wave Loch History |date=June 2008 |publisher=Wave Loch |access-date=January 23, 2014}}{{Cite web |date=2010-12-28 |title=A wave pool in a beach town? |url=https://www.ocregister.com/2010/12/28/a-wave-pool-in-a-beach-town/ |access-date=2024-03-04 |website=Orange County Register |language=en-US}}

In 2014, Wave Loch sold the FlowRider IP and technology to WhiteWater West, although it retained the Flow Barrel and Wave House brands.{{cite web|title=Wave Loch turns their attention to surf pools after selling their world-leading FlowRider sheet-wave product to WhiteWater West Industries|url=http://www.waveloch.com/news/wave-loch-turns-their-attention-surf-pools-after-selling-their-world-leading-flowrider-sheet|website=waveloch.com|publisher=Wave Loch|access-date=20 November 2014|date=27 February 2014}} As of 2018, there are over 230 FlowRiders installed around the world.{{Cite web |title=FlowRider® Official {{!}} The Ultimate Surf Machine {{!}} Buy A FlowRider |url=http://www.flowrider.com |access-date=2018-06-25 |website=FlowRider |language=en-US}}

That same year, after ten years of R&D, Wave Loch introduced its Surf Pool line of compressed-air-powered wave pools.{{cite web|last=Beamish |first=Christian |url=http://www.surfline.com/surf-news/jumping-in-the-wave-pool_108356/ |title=Jumping In The [Wave] Pool |publisher=Surfline.Com |date= |access-date=2016-01-29}}{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zmuvP_dxAA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/-zmuvP_dxAA |archive-date=2021-12-15 |url-status=live|title=Wave Loch SurfPool IAAPA 2014 |publisher=YouTube |date=2014-11-24 |access-date=2016-01-29}}{{cbignore}}{{cite web|author=Čeština |url=https://www.linkedin.com/company/wave-loch-inc |title=World's Largest Professional Network |publisher=LinkedIn |date= |access-date=2016-01-29}} With its goal of making surfing an Olympic sport,{{cite web|url=http://www.surfparkcentral.com/tom-lochtefeld-discusses-new-focus-on-surf-pools-at-wave-loch-podcast-1/ |title=Tom Lochtefeld Discusses New Focus on Surf Pools at Wave Loch - PODCAST #1 |publisher=Surf Park Central |date=2014-03-27 |access-date=2016-01-29}} Wave Loch’s Surf Pool generates {{convert|2|m|ft|adj=mid|-high}} waves every ten seconds in a {{convert|5000|m2|acre|abbr=on}} footprint.{{cite web |author=Czech |title=Surf Loch SurfPools |url=http://www.surfloch.com/ |access-date=2021-03-04 |publisher=Surf Loch}}{{cite web |title=Technology |url=https://www.surfloch.com/technology |website=Surf Loch |access-date=4 March 2024}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.08/kahuna.html "Making Waves"], Wired Magazine, August 1999
• [https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2005/1114/096.html "Making Hay of Haymakers"], Forbes, 2005
• [http://www.utsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060228/news_1b28waveguy.html "Making Waves"], San Diego Tribune, 2006
• [https://www.usatoday.com/story/cruiselog/2013/09/30/royal-caribbean-flowrider-surfing/2894905/ "Royal Caribbean allows tricks on surf machine"], USA Today, 2013
• [http://durangoherald.com/article/20130926/SPORTS05/130929624/0/Sports05/Makin%E2%80%99-waves "Makin' Waves"], Durango Herald, 2013
• "[http://www.surfparkcentral.com/surf-park-insider-series-tom-lochtefeld-surfloch-surf-pools/ Surf Park Insider Series: Tom Lochtefeld]", Surf Park Central, 2015

Category:1981 establishments in the United States

Category:Companies established in 1981

Category:Companies based in San Diego