To test his hydrofoil, Fincham built a prototype wave pool. The model was about one-fourth the size of an Olympic-size swimming pool, and about 15 times smaller than what he expected the final wave pool to be.
Fincham connected the hydrofoil to a track system along the side of the prototype pool. Cables pulled the hydrofoil forward. When the device moved, water pushed against it, creating a slowing force called drag. Just as he had hoped, the shape of the hydrofoil disrupted the water and pushed it laterally to form a wave. “The hydrofoil moves underwater like a submarine,” says Fincham. “But a submarine is designed to produce as little drag as possible—we created a shape that maximizes wave drag.”
After several years of testing and tweaking the shape of the hydrofoil, Fincham successfully created a swell. This hump-shaped wave grows, or swells, as it rolls across the water’s surface.