FIELD TRIALS OF THE DIRECTIONAL WAVERIDER

In connection with a wave energy mapping programme, OCEANOR have evaluated the new Directional WAVERIDER buoy from Datawell in the Netherlands. The buoy was deployed from June-November 1990 alongside a reference directional wave buoy performing long term measurements for the oil industry off More county, mid-Norway. The results illustrate that the Directional WAVERIDER is capable of providing high quality wave direction statistics, at least under the deep water conditions under which the current trials were undertaken. Combined with our experience of good reliability after operating this buoy at various locations for over 1 year, its ease of deployment and lower cost compared with conventional competing buoy systems makes this buoy a real alternative. However, some modifications on the data collection side will be needed to give it worldwide application.