Yesterday, SPC’s Matt Reilly had a chance to sit down with Tom Lochtefeld of Wave Loch to talk about the company’s most recent business transaction and their shift in technology focus. In the following Podcast, Tom gives the skinny on the deal struck with Whitewater, and what it means for their future, and the future of surf parks and wave pools in particular. Give it a listen below…
Key Takeaways
– While he couldn’t disclose the exact dollar value attached, Tom made it clear that the Whitewater deal/venture will certainly provide sufficient funds to cover his deeper dive into the world of surf pools and surf parks.
– Historically, the struggle with large scale surf pools/parks has been in creating a product that can drive a large enough annual ROI – roughly 33% per year is ideal in the amusement industry.
– In terms of their latest designs, Wave Loch has been focused on the quality, frequency, variability, and fairness in prices of the wave based on what the user wants. Based on his experience with Flowrider and sheet waves, he’s got a very solid idea of what works and does not price-wise.
– There has already been some serious interest in one or some of the company’s new designs, and their hopeful to have the first pool build right on the cusp of 2015 and 2016.
– Perhaps the most promising news from Lochtefeld is that he’s been working on, and is continuing to work on, engine efficiency for running these pools. Within the next year he plans to unveil an extremely efficient engine that could alleviate large environmental concerns regarding the operation of these large scale pools.
Please drop us a line and let us know if you enjoyed the Podcast format. If you have any questions for Tom, ask them in the form below as we’ll be passing them along.
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