Five Minutes Of The Ch11 Clan Utilizing All Four Dimensions Of Ventura’s Liquid Prisms

“When you have a man-made structure like a jetty, you’re going to see wave refraction,” explained Mark Sponsler in our recent feature on wedges. “The swell will reflect the energy as it interacts with the jetty. When you see a wedge, you’re seeing some of the energy that has reflected from the first wave bouncing off the structure and mingling with the second wave to create a cross-peak.” 

Wave refraction is not unique to surf. In an arguably more arbitrary field — that of studying light — lenses rely on concave and convex refraction to bend lightwaves towards our pupils and shutters.

When considering the hollow teepees offered by Ventura’s jetties, the image of a triangular glass prism filtering a single beam of light into a rainbow of wavelengths comes to mind. Dark Side Of The Moon album cover, for lack of a better reference. 

When light enters one of these prisms, each colour of the spectrum is refracted by a different amount and the colours are dispersed into a rainbow. 

Similarly, when a surfer exits a triangular wedge tube, he is endowed with some equal mysticism — the likes of which was imperceivable upon entry. 

Above, the CH11 fellas make rainbows of seabreezes and triangular mucky water. 

When you’re craving more — watch our Chapter 11 mini doco here.