ASR combats this potential threat by openly sharing and disseminating their findings. Their hope is to proactively facilitate global understanding for the benefit of both the industry and the public.
The 5th International Surfing Reef Conference, held last August at Heaven on the Planet, Dr. Kerry Black’s privately owned eco-resort in Lombok, Indonesia.
They participate in regular industry conferences, such as the 5th International Surfing Reef Conference, held last August at Heaven on the Planet, Dr. Kerry Black’s privately owned eco-resort in Lombok, Indonesia. ASR has either hosted, sponsored, or significantly supported these international conferences, which are held every 18 to 24 months and cover a range of topics from surfing reefs, to surfing science, beach dynamics, reef ecology, coastal management, legislation, and just about anything related to where the surf meets the perfectly manicured bathymetric turf.
In addition to these conferences and publicized proceedings, the crew at ASR is passing their knowledge around the industry through many channels. They actively take on student internships, form strategic partnerships, and have published scores of papers on their website and in industry journals.
“It’s the industry that matters,” says Black. “I would like to retire someday in Lombok, watching others implement successful reefs, watching them grow and get a good sense of satisfaction.”
With each new project, it is apparent that this industry is getting more efficient in perfecting the planning, design, process, coordination, and implementation of these large-scale multi-purpose reef structures.
Today, projects range from the feasibility stage, to design, to several under construction. Europe’s first reef in Bournemouth, England is now in the detailed engineering design stage, and is scheduled for completion by next July. The second half of the Mount Reef project (New Zealand’s first artificial surfing reef) was deployed over the weekend of September 16th, 2006, and at the beginning of October, people were already racking up tube-time on this a-frame gem.
Also in New Zealand, the Opunake Reef is under construction. Black described the Opunake Reef as his personal favorite, having a soft spot for the small country town consisting of mostly farmers who are interested in generating some tourism to grow their local economy. “It’s also a fantastic surfing district. The reef itself has been designed such that the take off is easy, and then gets faster and hollower as you go down the line. On our personal wave scale (1-10), it’s designed to go from a 5 to 7 or even an 8 depending on the tide and swell direction.”
Opunake Reef, New Zealand
In November, the Ron Jon Surf Park “training pool” was completed. Regarded as a successful proof of concept, it has produced more than a few waist high tubes and clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of the technology. The training pool is soon to be followed by the much larger "Pro Pool".