How overcrowding issue on our waves can be helped
Surf Scene looks at how we can get around one of the biggest issues in surfing.
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IT seems there are now more surfers than waves.
With the surfing population into a fifth generation, overcrowding is becoming a major problem.
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Wave riding has been on the increase since the turn of the 20th century and has accelerated in the 21st century.
The Millennials are taking the sport and lifestyle of surfing to new limits, nothing is sacred and everything is in constant change.
Take a look at all the wave craft – from short, long, in between, retro, step-ups and step-downs, softs, big wave, bodyboard, kneeboard, wave ski, SUPS, foils, kite, did I leave anything out?
Oh, good ol’ bodysurfing with hand boards. Whatever it takes, the buzz of surfing is addictive and therapeutic but can surfing sustain itself?
Nobody knows for sure how many people surf on the planet.
There was a statistic from Surfing Australia about 10 years ago that said surfing accounted for 10 per cent of the national population.
That equated to about 2.5 million people in Australia.
At the Global Wave Conference to be held at Southern Cross University’s Gold Coast campus in February, esteemed surf journalist Nick Carroll will attempt to clarify the exact number of surfers worldwide and how the surfing masses will cope in the future.
How much of a real problem can overcrowding be?
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Simple answer is try surfing the Superbank of DBah or for that matter any of the well-known spots from South Straddie to Snapper Rocks when it is pumping.
The ugly side is when tempers fray and localism turn into surf rage.
Nobody owns the breaks but tell that to someone who is passionately protected of their home break.
■ THE reality is surfing is getting bigger and not smaller.
It is vitally important not to lose the fun factor and the aloha spirit of surfing.
One alternate to overcrowding is the use of wave pools and artificial reefs although both come at an extraordinary price.
The Kelly Slater-designed wave pool at Lemoore in California has a value close to $100 million to buy the land, supply the water and build the mechanics.
By comparison the Palm Beach artificial reef that cost Gold Coast City Council $20 million is showing signs of success which would make it the world’s first successful artificial reef.
To be finished in October, it could pave the way for a series of artificial reefs from The Spit to North Kirra.
The Palm Beach reef was to be built further out between the outside natural reef and the back break.
But the cost of building it in deeper water with the rocks required necessitated engineers to construct it on an angle off one side of the back break.
It’s yet another manufactured surf break that the Gold Coast is famous for.
The design is simple: just run an angle of rocks off a back break and you have a slab break!
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