Is there no better way to do this?

That's gotta be a great ride.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'ship, launch, ocea, sea, shipyard, tilt, slide, wave' to 'ship, launch, ocean, sea, shipyard, tilt, slide, wave' - edited by calvados

Don't they build it in a chamber sometimes and then just flood it gradually?
The sideways thing does look risky.

Yeah, its called a dry-dock. This kinda launch seems like something you would only do where you dont have dry-dock facilities...looks crazy fun theme park ride, they should charge admission fees

I think that you're taking the wrong approach on that matter. The question you should ask is : "Why are they doing it that way ?" and the obvious answer "because they can" would solve the issue once and for all.

Thats like trying to send a rocket to space by gradually raising it with cords or whatever when you can do it with ROCKETS.

I need a video of an air-craft carrier doing this.

I can just imagine there's some guy still in there, doing the final touches on the painting and didn't tell him the launch has been moved ahead an hour

Totally thought it was going to capsize.

This and similar methods are the standard methods of building and launching ships. Drydocks are generally used for maintenance and repair of existing ships.

Not only is it far cheaper than drydock launching, it's also a final physical test. If a boat can't handle that sort of launch, it's going to fall apart in a couple years of use.

Payback is undoubtedly right, but zebishop's answer still plays better.