Bournemouth Surf Reef

South West Trains Surfboard Ban

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 02:10:52 +0000

According to the National Rail conditions of carriage, surfboards are not permitted aboard South West Trains.

Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood has recently raised the issue in Parliament in order to try to lift the blanket ban on surfboards. In the process, he’s discovered that changing the rules and allowing individual train companies to determine their own policy on surfboards is no easy matter.

Speaking last week, he said:

There is a surprising amount of red tape and a worrying number of organisations needed to change something so simple. I have written a rather plain-speaking letter to the Secretary of State asking for him to knock some heads together.

Last year, South West Trains provided funding towards a bus link between the station and the seafront to encourage visitors to the surf reef.

A spokesperson for the Association of Train Operating Companies said they were hoping to get to a position soon where individual train companies could decide their own policies.

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First Surfing Contest Announced at Bournemouth Surf Reef

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 00:46:09 +0000

Sorted Surf Shop have announced the first surfing contest to be held at Bournemouth surf reef. They will be bringing the event to the beach at Boscombe with the help of main sponsor Rip Curl.

The dates are March 20th and 21st and the weekend will consist of surfing and bodyboarding competitions, as well as activities and demonstration stands with equipment for all to try.

The contest categories will consist of a Mens Open, Mens 35+, Ladies Open, and Groms (under 18’s). It will also host the first leg of the British Bodyboarding Annual Championships.

Gul team riders Mark “Egor” Harris and Russell Winter will be in attendance to give advice and sign autographs.

Monster Energy Drink will be hosting the after party being held at Urban Beach. There you will find all of the contest organisers, sponsors and contest competitors enjoying a BBQ, drink and live music with a few surprises thrown in to the mix.

Keep checking here for more information as it’s announced.

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DVD Competition Winners

admin — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 23:09:48 +0000

Congratulations to the following readers, who have each won a copy of the surf documentary “Bustin’ Down the Door” featuring Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew, Shaun Tomson and Mark Richards.

The answer to the question was ‘Oahu’. If you are a winner, you will be contacted shortly.

Suzanne Sendell, Cardiff
Lucy Pugh, Bristol
Richard Sutherland, Edinburgh
Andy Joyce, Bournemouth
Paul Allen, London

Click here to buy the DVD from amazon.co.uk

Keep checking www.bournemouthsurfreef.com for chances to win more great prizes!

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Bournemouth Surf Reef Report Due In March

admin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:15:17 +0000

The performance figures for how well Bournemouth Surf Reef is performing are due on 3 March 2010.

Plymouth University, home of the UK’s first marine academy, is currently assessing the quality of the waves and the number of days suitable for surfing. Experts at the university have been conducting site visits and collecting data from on-site cameras to monitor the shape and power of breaking waves. They have been keeping keep tabs on the number of surfable days and the number of surfers at both the pier and reef areas, compared with previous years.

Cabinet member for tourism Cllr Anne Filer gave the date at Wednesday’s economy and tourism scrutiny panel.

If performance figures meet expected standards, the final payment will be made to contractor ASR. The sum is 10 per cent of the original £1.5million fee to build the reef, although this has since increased to £3.03m.

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DVD Giveaway Competition

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:51:09 +0000

We’re giving away FIVE copies of the soon to be released “Bustin’ Down the Door” surf documentary featuring Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew, Shaun Tomson and Mark Richards.

All you have to do is answer the following question:

The notorious and famous reef break ‘Pipeline’ is located on the North Shore of which Hawaiian Island?

a) Oahu
b) Maui
c) Kauai

Please email your answer to info@bournemouthsurfreef.com.

The competition closes at midnight on Sunday January 31. Winners will be announced here at www.bournemouthsurfreef.com on Monday February 01.

The DVD is released on January 18. See www.bustindownthedoor.co.uk for more information.

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Bournemouth 2010 Celebrations

admin — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:34:32 +0000

Celebrations to mark the town’s 200th Birthday begin on New Year’s Day with the ‘Bicentenary Launch’ in Bournemouth’s Lower Gardens. Events will continue throughout the year to celebrate Bournemouth’s distinguished past, with various sporting spectaculars, dance, music, and historical festivities, as well as literary, food and flower festivals.

Entertainment will be in the Lower Gardens between 3.55pm to 5.00pm, culminating with a fireworks show. Visit www.bournemouth2010.org.uk for more information.

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World Business: Making Waves

admin — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:18:25 +0000

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Bournemouth Reef Review

admin — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:14:38 +0000

Aussie surfer Ben Mondy, an ex-editor of Tracks magazine and contributor to Surfer, Carve and Surf Europe, was one of the first to surf the new reef at Bournemouth. Here he gives his take on it.

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Your Reef, Your Pictures

admin — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:41:39 +0000

According to surf reports, Monday will be a great day to experience the newly opened surf reef in Boscombe.

Send your images and video and we’ll publish them here at BournemouthSurf Reef.com. Remember to state how, if at all, you would like to be credited if your submission is published.

Let us know what you think of the reef, positive or negative!

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Here Come The Waves

admin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:21:05 +0000

Yesterday, RNLI lifeguards completed their training ahead of the much anticipated surf reef launch.

Divisional lifeguard manager, Barry Heathfield acknowledged that although recent high winds had made the sea “a bit messy”, the weather this week looks set to provide the right conditions – possibly even as early as Tuesday. If the swell is right, surfers can anticipate frequent, fast waves of up to ten and a half feet.

Commenting last week, Mr Heathfield added:

We have three lifeguards based here every day, from 10am till dusk, 365 days a years from now.

The conditions today haven’t been ideal. It’s been pretty rough but it has given us good idea of the worst we can expect.

Referring to the division of public opinion on just how effective or not the reef will be in producing the right waves, council bosses have disclosed: “There’ll be a period of assessment which may last for a year and we’ll be looking for feedback.”

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Reef Opening Delayed

admin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:02:01 +0000

Weather conditions are being blamed for the continuing delay to the official opening of Bournemouth’s new artificial surf reef.

A tourism spokesman has told the Bournemouth Daily Echo:

The surfing conditions are still not right for the launch, we can only get a prediction for the next few days and it now looks like the reef won’t be opened this week.

It’s all down to waiting for a South Westerly ground swell; only time will tell if the conditions are more challenging next week for RNLI training prior to the reef launch.

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ASR Announces Completion of Bournemouth Surf Reef

admin — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 19:46:15 +0000

We are excited to confirm the official launch of Bournemouth Reef in Boscombe, England. It is just one of four artificial reefs worldwide: Narrowneck, Queensland; Cables, Western Australia and Mt Maunganui, New Zealand.

ASR Ltd (Amalgamate Solutions and Research) are responsible for the creation and execution of the reef. They were enlisted to help Bournemouth improve it’s surfing conditions in order to increase tourism, but it is hoped the new reef will provide a much more substantial benefit to the beachside community. Mimicking nature, the multi-purpose reef provides the same beach protection benefits of natural reefs – acting as a protective barrier to the coastline to help decrease sand erosion on beaches, as well as creating a new marine habitat.

Nick Behunin, managing partner of ASR, says:

At ASR we’re passionate about multi-purpose reefs as the sustainable future of coastal protection. Our beaches are facing increasing direct and in-direct threats from both humanity and the natural world, with issues like global warming and the rise of the sea level. While the initial investment to build a reef is often more than seawalls and rock jetties, the environmental and economic benefits of multi-purpose reefs far exceed those of the traditional methods – as beaches are protected without creating blight, marine habitat is enhanced and beach communities get socio-economic benefits from increased recreational use.

There are several unique benefits to the creation of multi-purpose reefs as it pertains to coastal protection:

Reefs decrease the rate of erosion on beaches by dissipating wave energy before it has a chance to hit the beach
Reefs create marine habitat and increase ecology
Reefs can be designed to create a recreational amenity like surfing, diving and fishing
Reefs are submerged offshore structures, supporting the natural beauty of the beach and ocean, unlike prominent seawalls or groin structures, which can be unsightly and create blight

Roger Brown, Director of Leisure Services at Bournemouth Borough Council says:

The Boscombe Spa Village project already produced a rise in tourism, even before the completion of the reef, re-establishing Boscombe to its rightful place as a leading destination beach resort. An affluent surfer market is attracted to the area, and as a result, jobs have been created, the seafront transformed, a new water sports facility built and a community revived. The reef is a perfect example of how an innovative free-to-use project can have such a positive ripple effect in an area. While the reef will improve wave quality for surfers, it’s exciting to know that there are underwater benefits too, as sea life, including cuttlefish and spidercrabs, have already been making the artificial surf reef at Boscombe their home.

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Surf Reef Webcam Goes Live

admin — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:34:27 +0000

A new webcam is up and running on the Urban reef building. It looks straight at the reef and should hopefully give a good idea what the reef is doing. You can access it from the Urban Reef Homepage or click here to go straight to it.

So far, the conditions have been less than ideal for surfing but there are signs the surf reef will live up to expectations. It’s effectiveness can really only be tested with the arrival of a solid south westerly ground swell. This is also when we can expect the reef to be publicly launched.

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Surf Reef Nears Completion

admin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 10:59:28 +0000

The final safety checks are being carried out and council and contractors are meeting to decide if Bournemouth’s much anticipated surf reef can officially be declared ‘open’.

Experts from Plymouth University will check it performs in the way it should before the final payment is made to contractor ASR. The sum is 10 per cent of the original £1.5million fee to build the reef, although this has since increased to £3.03m.

The university experts will conduct site visits and collect data from on-site cameras to monitor the shape and power of breaking waves. They will also keep tabs on the number of surfable days and the number of surfers at both the pier and reef areas, compared with previous years.

The council are keen to stress that the surf reef is not a wave machine. It doesn’t create waves from nothing, but acts as a ramp, pushing existing waves upwards and shaping them into better quality surfing waves. It will only make a difference on days where there is already good size swell occurring naturally. But in the surf season (September through to April), it will mean more surfable days, more surfable waves and a better quality, consistent break.

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Movie Poster Giveaway

admin — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:35:36 +0000

We’ve got 10 special limited posters to give away to celebrate the launch of a new surf film ‘Bustin’ Down The Door’, narrated by award winning actor Edward Norton.

It’s a surf documentary which chronicles the lives of World Champions Wayne ‘Rabbit’ Bartholomew, Shaun Tomson and Mark Richards. The film covers events from the 70’s and documents how these men risked everything to become the best surfers in the world and inevitably changed the world of surfing forever.

Winning best documentary awards across the surfing community and featuring interviews with today’s surfing greats, Kelly Slater, Rob Machado and many others, the film is touring across the UK from the 4th September. Catch it at the Empire Cinema in Poole from 7th – 8th September.

Check out the movie trailer at the official website:
http://www.bustindownthedoor.co.uk.

We will pick 10 winners at random from our mailing list who will each receive a special limited poster!

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Huge Crowds Thrilled By Bournemouth Air Festival

admin — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 18:45:25 +0000

As the second Bournemouth Air Festival draws to a close, tourism bosses have declared the four day event “an unprecedented success”.

With an estimated 1.2 million flocking to Bournemouth’s beaches and some of the best flying displays in world, the festival has become the biggest free event of its kind in the UK.

Highlights included the Sally B Flying Fortress, The Royal Marines Combat Display, The RAF Falcon Display Team, The Blades, as well as the Kitty Hawk, Chinook and Guinot Wing-walkers. Nostalgia was flown in with three iconic aircraft that were instrumental part in winning the Second World War – the Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster bomber.

But the big moments came towards the end of the day as the Vulcan, the Eurofighter Typhoon and the Red Arrows thrilled the record crowds crammed onto the cliff tops and beaches.

Next year’s festival is due to take place on Thursday to Sunday August 19-22, 2010.

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Bournemouth Air Festival: What’s Happening

admin — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:45:51 +0000

Today marks the start of the 2nd Bournemouth Air Festival, promising four days of awesome air displays, attractions and evening entertainment.

The skies will again be buzzing with Britain’s aeronautical finest and thousands of eager spectators will line the clifftops, proms and beaches to enjoy the show.

Click here for a timetable of what’s happening.

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Billabong Open Day

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:39:46 +0000

To celebrate Billabong’s new surf movie “Still Filthy”, Billabong will hit the road this summer touring through 8 countries across Europe. The first stop on the UK leg will be Boscombe, Bournemouth on Bank Holiday Monday 31st of August.

The day will kick off at Sorted Surf School with beach games followed by some surf and wake tips with the pros. Look out for Billabong team riders Andy Irons, Tiago Pires, Benjamin Sanchis and Reubyn Ash to name a few. Join in to grab tons of giveaways and get the chance to test the latest Billabong boards and wetsuits.

In the evening don’t miss the sneak preview of “Still Filthy”, being premiered at Boscombe’s newly opened surf bar, Reef Encounter. Billabong will also be putting on a free all-you-can-eat BBQ.

For more information, see: www.billabongeurotour.com. Spaces are limited to 100 that can be prebooked for £20 for 2 hour lessons.

Call Sorted Surf School on 01202 300668 for bookings.

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Final Phase Of Reef Construction Gets Underway

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:56:10 +0000

The final construction phase of the surf reef gets underway on Monday next week.

ASR’s Boscombe team, led by Rex Pollock and Andrew Moores, is focusing efforts on the continuing underwater activity. Now that the reef is in place, this work involves fine tuning of the underwater structure, including topping up all the bags and checks to ensure the reef is constructed exactly according to the design requirements. ASR will also remove temporary anchors and red buoys, and, crucially, undertake the final bathymetric survey of the completed reef.

Shaw Mead, ASR’s Technical Director said:

Like any major construction project, there are extensive checks to be undertaken before we can say the project is complete.

We are now starting to make all those checks thoroughly and according to the agreed specification, and I remain confident that we will finish in September as scheduled.

Cllr Beverley Dunlop, Cabinet Member for Economy and Tourism said:

I am very pleased that the construction of Europe’s innovative first artificial surf reef is progressing according to plan. I look forward to hearing that the project can be officially declared complete next month – that’s when I’ll be booking my surf lessons.

The team has also begun to shut down the land-based construction site, dismantling their pipelines and equipment into containers, removing containers from the beach and flattening the surplus sand stockpile. This means that much of the beach area used for construction should be back in use, in readiness for next week’s Bournemouth Air Festival.

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Identity of Boscombe Surfer Remains Unknown

admin — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 01:54:08 +0000

UPDATE: The Boscombe female surfer has been identified, and has made a full recovery.

A surfer whose identity remains unknown was rescued off Boscombe Beach by lifeguards at around 11.15am yesterday morning. The unconscious woman was brought to shore by lifeguards and taken to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, where she remains in a serious condition.

Police suspect she may have been surfing on her own. She is believed to be in her 20’s, about 5ft 7ins and of slim build with blue eyes and long blonde hair. She has a pierced lip and nose and was wearing a black O’Neill wetsuit. She was using a very distinctive aqua-blue surfboard with J P Liquid Solutions – the name of the manufacturer – written on it.

Police are urging anyone who recognises the lady from this description to call Dorset Police urgently so that her family and friends can be contacted. Anyone with information should call Dorset Police on 01202 222222 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

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