By now, you’ve seen the clips.

You’ve seen Italo Ferreira’s freakishly large superman air ; you’ve seen Olympic skateboarder Pedro Barros boost quite possibly one of the biggest, most tweaked-out, indy grabs on surf craft ever done ; and you’ve seen Jacob “Zeke” Szekely nearly break all his bones during a marathon session .

“This ramp is gonna change the game,” said Zeke after his first dip in the pool, and first dance with the new air section. “I’ve never gone this high in my entire life. People are gonna do some f*cked up sh*t on this air section in the years to come. This is going to change the game of surfing entirely.”

All these clips, of course, come from the brand-spanking new São Paulo Surf Club. And specifically, the mind-bending air section, which they’ve dubbed the “McFly.” And so, to hear more about this game-changing launch ramp, we hit up PerfectSwell® Brand Manager (and certified flyboy in his own right) Rob Kelly. Check out their exclusive new edit below; and keep scrolling for our chat.

Set the stage. For those of us who haven’t been there, but seen the clips, what’s it like being on the ground at the Sao Paulo Surf Club?

It’s pretty surreal standing at the beach at São Paulo Surf Club. São Paulo is the 4th largest city in the world and the pool is right in the heart of the city, literally at the base of the iconic Octavio Frias De Oliveira Bridge. The sights and sounds of the city seem to magically disappear as soon you walk through the gate while you’re standing on a white sand beach with palm trees and perfect waves peeling down the line. American Wave Machines has made waves in unlikely places already, like Waco and inside the American Dream Mall, but this pool proves to me that we can bring a world class surf spot to literally any city, state, or country in the world.

What makes this pool different than other PerfectSwell® pools?

Every PerfectSwell pool is unique because it is customized to the footprint of the venue. In addition, AWM’s engineering team is always working on enhancements to the technology so each new project has a few new features as well. This pool is most similar to the Boa Vista Village pool when it comes to wave size and length, but during the commissioning process we designed a few brand-new waves including the McFly which we are super stoked on. And it’s apparent the surf world seems to be stoked on it as well. That’s something that’s super cool about the PerfectSwell technology, it gives us the ability to make every pool unique. The vision is to create pools all over the world that all have their own identity. Just like surf spots naturally have around the world. That incentivizes surfers who might have already surfed one of the pools to take a trip and go check out another pool. It keeps the experience exciting and it will benefit all our partners in the future as more and more PerfectSwell pools get built around the world.

Talk about the McFly section. What was the thinking when creating this?

All the waves, including the McFly, have been inspired by waves, or features of waves seen in the ocean. American Wave Machines is a surfer owned and operated company. Everyone from the founders to the engineering team loves to surf. We even have a group message thread where we are always sending each other videos of waves we see in the ocean that we think would be cool to try to bring to life in the pool. That’s really how ideas for all the waves started even going back to the first PerfectSwell pool in Waco.

There’s an idea for a wave, we get some surfers in the water, and the engineers go to work. Thanks to the ability of the wave-designing software, AWM can create waves that we ourselves would want to surf. The surfer feedback is a big factor when it comes to creating quality waves in the pool, especially the high-performance waves like air sections that need feedback from qualified pros. But at the end of the day, it’s really the flexibility built into technology by the engineers that makes PS waves come to life. The ability to fine tune and make minor changes fast based on something felt or seen by the test pilot is why the waves are able to get so perfect.

For the McFly, we noticed a trend in the waves that have produced some of the loftiest airs done in the ocean, and prior to going to SPSC, we discussed the idea of creating a new ramp that would allow for the biggest airs done in the pool. So, the engineers already had a design and pattern in mind, and I had an idea of the “pop” that we wanted to feel with the new ramp. We were pretty close right off the bat and it actually only took a couple test runs of me surfing the wave, giving the engineers feedback, and them making adjustments to the design. As soon as they got all the elements to come together with the runway, air section, and landing we all kind of knew we this wave was going to make a big impact. That’s when we decided to invite some more pros (Zeke, Cruz, Kevin, Artur Villa, and Pedro Barros) to come surf it and give it a proper stamp of approval.

That’s pretty much the process of how designing new waves goes. An idea is inspired by something we saw in the ocean, the engineers draw up a pattern they think might work, I get to test it and give them back some feedback, they make adjustments, and when we all agree the new wave is worth saving, we give it a name and lock it in. It’s probably the most fun part of the job and the fact that the technology exists that allows that to happen still blows my mind.

“As soon as they got all the elements to come together with the runway, air section, and landing we all kind of knew we this wave was going to make a big impact. “

When it comes to potential for aerial progression, what do you expect to see in the near-future with the McFly section?

I believe the new heights that can be achieved on the new McFly section will open the door for more technical airs, more rotations, and maneuvers that we might have never even seen attempted yet. That section has only really been surfed for three days and we’ve already seen aerial progression happen. As more guys get to hit that section, I’m sure our minds are going to continue to be blown and the new standard for aerial surfing is going to be rewritten again.

I think in the future, more inclusion of surf pools in the highest level of competitive surfing is going to be undeniable. I’m an old soul and purist when it comes to the world tour and traditional surfing competition, but when guys that aren’t even in the challenger series are putting together better highlights in two hours than world tour guys their entire season, that can’t get overlooked. And it’s no knock to the world tour guys, it all has to do with the waves. If they had an opportunity to compete on the McFly or even some of the other waves at Boa Vista or SPSC they would be unlocking new levels of surfing never seen in my opinion. Right now, it’s the free surfers without tour obligations that are benefiting the most from access to the pools. I would love to see the most talented guys in the world have an opportunity for their own brands and for the greater good of the sport.

How about other waves in the pool? Give us some of the highlights.

All the classic waves we know and love from Waco, Japan, and Boa Vista are available at SPSC but there’s a few new waves in addition to the McFly. Two personal new favorites are the “Combo Pack” and the “Nugget.” The Combo Pack is a wave that allows for two turns, a barrel section, and an air section to finish. I could see this being a good wave to use in competition but it’s also just super fun to surf a wave that lets you do turns, get barreled, and do an air. What else can you really ask for on a single wave?

The Nugget is a new barrel wave that’s similar to the Keg and Wedge but is a little more user-friendly with an extend tube section. The takeoff is easy and the tempo is a little slower, so it’s a great addition to the menu for surfers that have never gotten a proper barrel, but aspire to do so. And for someone like myself, it’s still a sick tube that gives you the vision that never gets old.

“That section has only really been surfed for three days and we’ve already seen aerial progression happen. As more guys get to hit that section, I’m sure our minds are going to continue to be blown and the new standard for aerial surfing is going to be rewritten again.”

First Boa Vista Village, now Sao Paulo Surf Club – seems like Brazil is a large market for wave pools. Why is that?

Boa Vista Village and São Paulo Surf Club were both created with our partner in Brazil JHSF. JHSF is the leading Real Estate Development company in Brazil and they produce some unreal projects. They have the capability to develop world-class surf pools and working with them has been key. I think there’s two reasons why the demand for PerfectSwell is so high in Brazil. The first reason is they love to surf there, plain and simple. Pro surfing down there is a different beast, and it’s apparent that the population respects and loves surfing as a main sport. The second reason is that they know a good wave when they see one. This falls in line with their love of surfing, but they know that the PerfectSwell experience is unmatched and that continues to drive strong demand.

What can we expect to see out of Sao Paulo in the coming weeks, months, etc.?

The project is still under construction and getting ready for the members to begin accessing. That will happen this summer. Until then JHSF will continue to add all the infrastructure, buildings etc. and get it ready for the grand opening.