At the peak of the ‘Rebel Tour’ rumours – around this time last year – the Tracks office was rife with discussion about the future of surf events. But what about the wave pool?

… But if this is the future then can someone please explain this…

… This is a shot of Tom Carroll hacking the crap out of a Pennsylvanian wave-pool peeler at the Inland Pro… 25 years ago.

So judging by the rate of wave-pool technology advancement so far I think it’ll be a while yet before we see the best in the world duking it out in machine generated, mechanical perfection.

And even if perfect, repeatable, chlorinated waves are just around the corner, given the choice I’d pick the salkty ASP tour we’ve got going now everytime… especially if they can bring back G-Land, Cloudbreak and that little La Jolla number.

But what do you think – are wavepools the future? And if they are, are you going to be happy about it?

For more on the 1985 Inland Pro and other ‘highlights’ of pro surfing over the last 40 years check out the Backtracks section of our upcoming August issue, available on the 30th June.