Hey Pedro,

Hey Pedro,
I found this on the www.bournemouth-surfing.co.uk.

It doesn't really give a date as to when they expect to start building it but below is a description of the type of wave that it's gonna produce - and it sounds like it could be a board breaker aswell!!

Here is a brief summary of Professor Blacks recommendations:

Southbourne: Southbourne with be just one right hander of about 110m long. It will provide the coastal protection which is needed for this area at a capital cost similar to groynes and cheaper over 50 years, and it is hoped that funds will be obtained from MAFF for coastal protection, and from the lottery sports fund. This should be a challenging wave, probably a 6 - 7grade. (Pipeline would be 7-8, and Raglan a 5). Initial ideas suggest that the reef be based on Bingin, a reef break on Bali . (Professor Black's team have surveyed the bottom contours of all the renowned reef breaks around the pacific). It hoped that by breaking up the line of swell and creating refraction, one or two decent banks should form on each side, thus creating two or three breaks where there are currently none. (This effect has occurred at Narrowneck- they still have to get the top layer on there, but it shows very good form on large swells).

--
sam@surfcore

artificial reefs

This sounds like BS. For a start the guy is not a professor, that is just what he calls himself when in UK. ASR have not yet made a wave that gets even close to working - the photos of the Mt reef show only the 10 m section that breaks now and then. A mate in OZ says the locals think it is a total waste of money and are over all the hype about it. At 4 ft and the waves break way out beyond it, and under 3 ft is is just a nasty suck now and then. ASR bodged the construction of the left hander half of the reef, and are now demanding $350,000 more to finish the right hander. Check the comments on the forum at www.surf.co.nz sometime. People are saying why throw good money after bad. Now, the local committee reckons the reef is making a rip channel that is scouring sand off the beach and causing erosion, so all this talk of magnificent waves and coastal protection is only talk.

True?

Is that right? Most of the coverage has been +ve about the reef. I'll agree that photos of surf breaks don't always tell the whole story, it is easy to get a one off shot, that makes the wave look special. I'd like to know what people who actually live by it and surf it say...

Can't find the post in the www.surf.co.nz forum, can you put up a link to it?

Cheers

The full story?

All the pics so far are showing a nasty suck, which is throwing a slab - good for the boogers, but it does make the take off quite manic for the standups.

Booger barrel

I might be a bit biased 'cause I worked with ASR for a while, but this site seems to have the most up todate story. www.mountreef.co.nz . I don't know anything about the beach loosing it's sand or the money problems - but I recon that it's fair to judge the wave when the whole reef is in place.

Story so far

The reason that it's throwing such an uncompromising slab at the take off might be that the front hasn't been completely finished, creating a 'wedge' instead of a smoother natural wave?

The reef bournemouth

I think personally this reef will be great because it going to take the pressure off of local reef spots in the area, which lately are nearly un-surfable due to a silly crowd. Let bournemouth have its reef. I have no intention of going there because with the amount of surfers/pretenders in bournemouth its going to be swarmed from day one! good luck guys and enjoy it!!!!

Hey Nick - sounds like

Hey Nick - sounds like you've got a great job (I checked out your page) so do you keep an eye on all the coastal paths and get to cruise around in a bad boy land rover? I bet that it's busy at this time of year with people on holiday...

I think that the best reason to put the reef in, is as a show case, these reefs need to be refined but unless we get them in we can't work out how to make them better.

Since the last post that Richard Cranium put up I have heard mutterings that back up what he said - along the lines that surfers in NZ are a bit over the hype and it hasn't performed to expectations. But unless we give these things ago I they're not going to improve.

I reckon that Newquay would have been 'the' spot for a reef, loads of swell and good for competitions.

Check out the video here for wave pool action http://surfcore.co.uk/news/surfdome

Yeah its a great job, but

Yeah its a great job, but tourists can be a nightmare! they just dont listen! haha, i see what you mean. True you have to put it somewhere to see how it goes. i heard its going to be almost parallel to the beach so its nearly offshore in sou' westerlies? not sure if its just talk. i tell the what tho i bought a noseless 4 months ago and i cannot tell you how good that thing goes....my thruster isnt being touched until i have to again!!!!!! will stick a pick of it up on me page, its a little bitch!! Nick

mistake-parallel i meant

mistake-parallel i meant nearly at a right angle to the shore

Blaady ell' and another comment!!!!!

And your at aber-do you know charlie green? shes a south coast surfer who's at the uni?

Nah don't know her, I

Nah don't know her, I finished at the Uni last year. Might know her by face Aber is a small place...

How long is that noseless?

How long is that noseless? Anything below 5'5" I can't believe I'd stand up on it - they must be really bouyant? - I'm riding a fish this summer and lovin it 5'11" - I preach fat and fast now :) Not women though...(yeah okay bad joke)

summer boards and nordic lords

Its a 5'3 and it goes in bigger and smaller than you would think, but its amazing in 6ft slop its got tiny fins so the tail slides really easily...so fast, it loves croyde and i can finally punt (sometimes!!!!) grab a go on one, i dont want to surf antyhing else at the moment! yeah its pretty bouyant but not overly. is that your fish in the pic?

Ahh the fish dramas - not

Ahh the fish dramas - not that one in the pic although it is 'fishy'. Have a look at this I did a bit of a write up on it http://surfcore.co.uk/reviews/simon_noble_fish

fish..

My board is similar, blunter nose though, and 5.10". She's new to me at the moment, any tips on handling her?

Djrafikie :)

Slide into the wave

Low center of gravity is the key, especially on take off. Fish are flat boards and don't have as much rocker through the nose - so when you first get on it in some waves with a little bit of size, I was leaping into the take off like a normal board and expecting to let the nose rocker handle the drop. But this just lead me to nose dive the board and bail over the front, now I stay low and 'slide' into the wave.

Hope this helps...

Sam

ta :)

Thanks for the tips hon, I nearly ended up arse over tip the first time I tried to paddle her out! she's a custom job, normal board shape, very angular tail (like yours), very flat, I set myself too far foward and ate most of a wave. Can't quite find anything like her on-line. I'm already in love, think we'll part when one of us breaks for good!

Djrafikie :)

mount reef is pus because iits a pimple

clloser puspus from 500ft -just a pimple

pus_pimple on a nice beachlocal surfers call the Mount "pus" and it looks like a pimple in the sand

SUPPORTERS of Opunake's artificial surf reef say they are determined to push on despite a major setback with Mt Maunganui's reef.
Last week Tauranga-based Bay Underwater Services, which had been involved in building the Mount's reef, pulled out of the project, claiming it was owed thousands of dollars by the Mount Reef Trust.
Owner Rob Campbell said he initially had faith the project would work but now doubted if either reef would be able to be finished. "The proof is in the pudding. The Mount reef is just sitting out there."
Mr Campbell, who has 22 years experience in the construction industry, said work on the right- hand-side of the reef was complete, apart from one bag which needed to be replaced. "It should be causing waves now and it doesn't and it is not going to."
Progress on the Mount's reef is being watched closely by Opunake residents.
The Opunake Surf Reef Trust has so far spent $1.1 million on its project and only three of 28 geo-textile bags are in place. The trust has another $600,000 available from the TSB Community Trust to finish the job.
After doing some sums, taking into account what work had been done on Opunake's reef and what needs to be done, Mr Campbell reckons it would cost more than $11 million to finish.
Raglan-based ASR Ltd (Amalgamates Solutions and Research) designed and is building both reefs.
Mr Campbell said design work for the reefs was done in a swimming pool and did not take into account sand migration in the sea.
New Plymouth Underwater Ltd managing director Mike Sharp said the Mt Maunganui experience was not setting off any alarm bells and he still had faith in the design and concept of the Opunake reef.
"They have got such good potential, it is a matter of ironing out the bugs."
Mr Sharp would like the bags to be modified to allow them to fill faster but, as they had already been bought and paid for, he said that would only add to the cost of completing the reef.
Reef trustee and Opunake businesswoman Maureen Gatenby said the reef would be completed by March 2008 within budget _ "all going well."
Mrs Gatenby said Mr Campbell's estimate of $11 million to finish the reef was way off track.
ASR Opunake reef construction manager David Neilson said it would not cost $11 million to complete.
Mr Neilson would not make any further comment and directed inquiries to ASR managing director Kerry Black, who refused to comment to the Taranaki Daily News yesterday.

Hey Pedro

Waves were way better pre reef, but not photographed much because there was no money to be made or axes to grind, they don't tell you that

www.olosurfer.com

give asr a break -heres a good report

give them a break - here's a good report from the global surfer mag!

http://surfermag.com/features/onlineexclusives/stfrancisrejuvenate/

"If Dr. Mead’s other projects are anything to go by, the surfers in St. Francis Bay are in for a real treat. “In good conditions the right will be a very good barreling wave,” he says, adding that, “If you look at the Mt. Reef project in New Zealand, once it was completed we’ve seen 50 meter long barrel rides on that wave. And we are looking at probably a 100 meter long wave in St. Francis, so there will be a section in that which will be a high quality wave for competent to expert surfers.” "

Bournemouth Reef

What a waste of money, what is the point in putting a reef where there is so little, poor quality surf. What a joke. It would have been better if they had put it somewhere with decent long period groundswell (normally needed to hold up reef/hollow waves) and a bit of consistancy . Even the NE would have been a better option, although the natural reefs up there will trump anything man made!

Anyway hopefully it will reduce the amount of Kooks that descend on Newquay every bastard swell!