Environment News

Bournemouth artificial reef 'near impossible' to surf

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 5 March, 2010 : - - Bournemouth Borough Council is refusing to make public a report into its £3million artificial surf reef amid suggestions that it is 'near impossible' to surf. 

It is the only one of its kind in the northern hemisphere and was much hyped by the council which boasted about the waves that would be produced. However, surfers are not using the reef and local businesses that believed it would bring in large numbers of people have been disappointed.

An alliance of 16 hotels said that between them not one had taken a booking from a surfer visiting the town. Council officers have this week received the interim report they commissioned in the form of a "verbal briefing", but will not disclose what it contains. Even councillors are in the dark and have been considering putting in a Freedom of Information request to find out.

The University of Plymouth carried out the investigation but the council has also admitted that two other universities are monitoring the reef. Surfers have already given their verdict and said the wave produced is more of a 'slab' than a 'peeler', meaning it is too steep and breaks too quickly.

As a result most surfers are unable to stand up on their board and ride it for any length of time before they wipe out. Safety fears have also been expressed as the top of the reef breaks the surface of the water at low tide, which has resulted in fins being ripped off boards.

The submerged structure is made up of 55 huge geo-textile bags filled with sand and the calls being made are to remove several tonnes of the contents. It is the centrepiece of the "Boscombe Spa", a project designed to revitalise the area which had become run down.

David Weight, chairman of Wessex Surf Club, said: "It is quite near impossible for anybody to surf it because the wave trips up too quickly. "Because the reef is uneven and there are lumps on it there are areas that are very shallow, so shallow that surfers have lost the fins on their boards."

Surfer Charles Cam, 42, said: "It is not a surfer's wave. It is very fast, stands up very quickly and folds over within seconds. It is a slab. Waves don't break and peel along.

Read the full article at Telegraph UK

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Source: Telegraph UK

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