09.10.00
by: Loren Schwartz
EXPN.com

MISSION BEACH, Calif. -- Some people spend their lives searching for the perfect wave, others show a little initiative, some elbow grease and build it themselves. At least that's what Thomas J. Lochtefeld did. What he came up with is the Flow Rider. It's a left-hander that never closes out, has a 10-foot face and a barrel big enough for 6'2" Tony Hawk to stand straight up. The Flow Rider utilizes 150,000 gallons of water and has four pumps that can re-cycle a three-inch deep sheet of water at a rate of 100,000 gallons per minute over compressed foam/plastic wave form.

Is it the perfect wave? It doesn't ride exactly like a real wave. If it did you'd expect to see surfers dominate all aspects of the Flow Rider. But they don't. The Flow Rider puts skateboarders, snowboarders, skimboarders and surfers on equal ground, or in this case water. Swatch took the Flow Rider on tour and sponsored competitions inviting pros from all board sports to compete. One stop on the tour went down at the Wave House here in Mission Beach from Sept. 8-10.

The Flow Rider.

It's only fitting that a one-of -a-kind technology results in a one-of-a-kind competition. It's not everyday you get to watch Tony Hawk compete against Terje Haakonsen or Andy Macdonald against Christian Fletcher. The finals were held on Sunday night before an intimate crowd of 200. The 10 finalists included: Chris Miller, Andy Macdonald (skateboarding) Bill Bryan (skimboarding), Terje Haakonsen, Andy Finch, Steve Klassen, Reto Lamm (snowboarding), Jason Prior (windsurfing), Rush Randle (surfing).

To totally appreciate the skill the pros demonstrated it's necessary to see a beginner. Earlier in the day industry folk and accomplished surfers all went down after a few seconds on the board.

Pro or not, there aren't many pretty falls on the Flow Rider. Water surging at 25-30 mph (approximately twice the speed of a normal wave) combined with the shape of the wave, makes almost every fall result in a trip over the falls that spits you out into a semi-padded "catch pool." The catch pool is like an overgrown Jacuzzi with class IV rapids. It's not a matter of whether you get worked, just how hard you get worked.

That didn't stop the competitors from going big. Tricks included, stalls (on the faux curl), 360's, 540's, 720's, front flips, back flips, alley-oops, rail slides (off coping on the side of the pool) and a few tricks that shall remain nameless, until someone gets around to naming them.

Tony Hawk is at home on the water too.

The three top riders looked at home on the wave. In third place Jason Prior was all over the Flow Rider slashing and gouging. Jason was easily the most active on the Flow Rider. Chris Miller was long on style and technically solid, nailing multiple 360's, but it was the local skimboarder Bill "Beaker" Brian, who was master. He was completely at ease and rode equally well regular or switch, performing the widest range of tricks.

Easily the most entertaining portion of the evening came when the competition ended. What was an organized competition, broke down into a no-holds barred battle royale. Competitors and organizers dropped in on each other on body boards, strapped boards, strapless boards or suicidal body surfing runs. In the midst of the melee "lifeguards" and competitors hurled boogie boards into the fray hoping to take out riders on the wave. The constant barrage of flotsam resulted in some of the better wipeouts of the night. Other highlights from the free-for-all included:

An unidentified girl losing her top in the catch pool's violent waters. The subsequent rescue by a female lifeguard, who, in the name of discretion embraced the topless body boarder only to cause a brief homo-erotic interlude before a rider gave up his rash guard to preserve the family entertainment.

Terje dodging errant body boards, shoving down fellow competitors and busting some of the biggest tricks of the night like mctwists and signature Terje methods.

Tony Hawk, Andy Macdonald and Bill Brian experimenting with ollies and kickflips on strapless boards.

Bill Brian downing a beer while inside the barrel.

Want to try the Flow Rider yourself? Unless you've got and extra $2.5 million in your checking account for one of these overgrown Slip'N SlidesŪ , you'll need to make your way down the Wave House in Mission Beach before September 30. Eager Flow Rider wanna-bes can just go to the next stop on the Swatch tour, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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