A new leisure attraction under construction at Hāwea Flat is on track to open this winter.

YourWave is a world-first product created by local Ross McCarthy. Ross’s design pumps water over an inflatable form to create a surf wave.

“We have world wide patents now on all the inflatable system so we’re the only company in the world who can use that system,” Ross said. 

Ross standing next to the pumps which will be used to push water over the wave form.

“And the only company in the world who can adjust a wave on the fly while you surf it.”

Ross has a masters degree in product design and has been refining his invention for ten years. He said the latest prototype went “really well” and the time is now right to set it up in a commercial environment.

“We’ll be able to change the height [of the wave] from pretty much nothing to over 1.8 metres,” Ross said. 

YourWave will be the only system in the world which can change the shape of a wave while it is being surfed, he said.

An artist's impression of the surf attraction.

“We can change it on the fly, from a nice carving wave to a stand up barrel.”

On any given day Ross expects the most popular wave to be between 0.8 metres and 1.5 metres. He said pricing is a work in progress, but he expects to be able to accommodate approximately eight surfers per hour.

The attraction uses water from the bore on the farm where it is situated. 

“One of the best features about putting YourWave on a farm is the fact that we can circulate irrigation water through the unit which means we do not need to treat the water or use chlorine,” he said.

“It gets pumped through the wave before going back out onto the farm through the irrigation system,” Ross said.

Read more about YourWave here.

PHOTOS: Wānaka App