The whole world has been distracted by Kelly Slater's new artificial wave (which looks awesome) and, as with everything he endorses, looks like it's going to be a winner when it's open to the public. We had also heard around the same time that the imaginatively named 'The Wave Bristol' (a new type of artificial wave near Bristol in the UK) project had got the go ahead to break ground. The Surf Snowdonia machine had broken for the winter and I was feeling pretty sorry for the guys at The Wavegarden who have been refining their wave technology for years at their secret test location somewhere in the Basque Country. Little did we know what they have been working on next. Check this out.
There we were thinking that the guys at The Wavegarden had been resting on their laurels when really it seems they have been working on a way to keep one of their parks open 24 hours a day. Yep, imagine that for a second. Say you are a bartender and finish work at 2am, and you might fancy a surf? No problem, pop down to your local Wavegarden for some clean head high fun! It's genius as you think of the applications of this and it would make the economical validity of installing more of these facilities 100% more viable.
No big deal you might say, just slap some lights under the water? Nope, it's a bit more complicated than that, think more about the specifics, like the special type of light, and where they are placed so they just illuminate the wave and not the surfers face, along with glare and refraction make this (if it has worked) an amazing feat.
For more information we have dispatched an undercover operative to get the low down and visit the facility. Keep an eye out for his first hand report in this little gem...
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