Meet The $4mil Chinese Knock Off Of Kelly’s Wave!

Did you know international businesses lose upwards of $20 billion each year to Chinese counterfeiters slinging knock offs around the globe. All those cheap North Face puffies and jangly Rolex fakes on Canal Street, etc. add up, and quick. 

While Kelly Slater surely need not worry about fake Outerknown garb getting cobbled in South Shanghai, today he—and more likely the suits at the WSL and KS Wave Co.—are feeling proper ripped off, as footage emerged from a wave pool in China’s Henan Province rolling out what appears to a “surfable” wave utilizing eerily familiar technology. 

And wanna know the kicker? According to sources familiar with the project, Kelly’s Made In China counterfeit comes in at 1/5th the price, at $4 million (compared to estimates that one of Kelly’s Waves will run you $20 mil). 

While the footage landed on YouTube mysteriously, there’s been much talk of China tossing their hat into the Wave Pool Arms Race for sometime now, with the 2020 Olympic debut quickly approaching.

Stab‘s tossed out lines to those in our camp who might know a thing or two about the Chinese pool, and will come back to you with anything else substantial. (You can see more of the pool in action, while suffering through some very awkward Chinese commercials as well as devastatingly aggressive music, here.)