Western Australia, has just gone ahead and approved the installation of the world’s first inflatable surf reef at Back Beach.
Troy Bottegal, is the man behind ‘Airwave’, the company behind the instalation and design of the artifical ecofriendly reef. The plan is to deploy a 12-meter round inflatable dome. anchoring it to the sea floor in shallow waters. The two-meter high blib will help under the motion of the ocean will help produce some good looking peelers, hopefully.
“Ten years ago, I sat at my local beach. Staring sadly at the infinite amount of closeouts, unable to motivate myself to paddle out, I asked myself how could I transform these closeouts into surfable, A-frame peaks? Then after ten years of research, design, and product development, I’m ready to install and test a dome-shaped bladder that mimics a surf reef” – Troy Bottegal.
The science is pretty simple, the Airwave by Waveco lifts, peaks and holds the swell to create a concave, tapered wall of water that retains its shape as it peels toward the beach. Apparently, Airwave can be installed as close as 30 meters from the beach, constructed by an environmentally, super resistent compound.
“These features are very economical and affordable to install in multiple locations along any stretch of beach, creating multiple surf peaks. Six Airwave modules can be installed in around 14 days,” adds Troy.
But Troy Bottegal needs your help. The project is trying to secure funds via Kickstarter to drop in the pop-up reef in Bunbury. Airwave needs $181,290 to become a reality. So if you planning on moving to Bunbury and got a couple extra bucks around?
A link to the kickstarter page would be a nice addition to this article.
12 meters? It’s a-frame so it’s a six meter ride in either direction? Seems a little short or is the idea that sand will start to shape itself correctly around the dome? I supppse 12m is perhaps just big enough for proof of concept. Hope this works.