Urbnsurf Melbourne è il primo Wavegarden Cove nell’emisfero meridionale e, per molti versi, rappresenta l’apice dei risultati finora ottenuti dai fondatori di Wavegarden. Destre, sinistre, barrel, onde lunghe e aperte, qui tutto funziona con estrema semplicità. Uno spettacolo unico, anche per coloro che non hanno idea di cosa possa essere il surf in condizioni perfette.
All’inizio di gennaio le porte di URBNSURF Melbourne si sono aperte al pubblico, offrendo la tanto attesa opportunità per i surfisti australiani di assaggiare le onde artificiali di Wavegarden. Due mesi prima, a porte chiuse, si sono svolte numerose session di prova dell’onda che pochissime persone conoscevano, dando loro l’opportunità di vedere e provare surfando. Gli ingegneri di Wavegarden la definiscono la fase di “wet commissioning”, una vera e propria messa a punto della macchina.
Quando il livello d’acqua nella laguna ha raggiunto l’altezza prescritta, la wave pool a grandezza naturale da ben 160 x 160 m (5 volte più grande del Centro Demo in Spagna), frutto di anni di duro lavoro e migliaia di estenuanti calcoli matematici, è stata finalmente messa alla prova. La macchina ha preso vita, i codici del software sono stati messi a punto e così è nato il primo “Wave Menu” per URBNSURF.
Per diverse settimane il personale operativo di Wavegarden e quello di URBNSURF si è occupato di surfare onda dopo onda, letteralmente tutto il giorno e ovviamente per motivi lavorativi :). Il feedback è stato trasmesso in tempo reale tramite walkie-talkie impermeabili direttamente ai programmatori in ufficio, che hanno meticolosamente registrato i dati e regolato i parametri operativi. La complessità del sistema che sta dietro le onde non può essere sottovalutata: esiste una complessa rete di fibre e pannelli elettrici che agiscono come un cervello, muovendo con precisione ogni pezzo del macchinario.
Ogni giorno un nuovo tipo d’onda veniva registrato dal sistema: tubanti, aperte e morbide, veloci, con sezioni per air e non… insomma ogni onda è stata creata con un profilo di surfista specifico e un livello di abilità in mente.
Con il menu iniziale pronto sono stati invitati alcuni surfisti esterni al team per ultimare test e modifiche e raccogliere feedback. Julian Wilson e Ryan Callinan sono stati tra i primi professionisti a unirsi ai test, seguiti poi da Adam Robertson, Otis Carey, Winter Spencer e molti altri.
Scendendo dalla Tasmania sono poi arrivati Dion Agius e Chippa Wilson, affiancati poi da Angie Vendy e Nat Dieda. Questo video è il risultato dei “demo days” di Melbourne, buona visione!
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The Wavegarden Commissioning Sessions at URBNSURF Melbourne
Urbnsurf Melbourne is the first Wavegarden Cove in the Southern Hemisphere and, in many ways, is the epitome of what Wavegarden’s founders have been working towards for many years. Line upon line of waves. Section upon perfect section. Rights, lefts, barrels, open faces – all unfurling with seamless ease. An awe-inspiring sight, even to those who have no concept of what perfect surf may look like.
In early January the gates of URBNSURF Melbourne flung open to the public, providing the long-awaited opportunity for Australian surfers to finally sample Wavegarden’s man-made waves. Two months prior, behind closed doors, a large number of wave testing sessions took place that very few people knew about, let alone had the opportunity to see. Wavegarden engineers refer to it as the “wet commissioning” phase. As the water level of the full size lagoon, measuring 160 x 160m (5 x larger than the Demo Center in Spain), reached its prescribed level, the fruit of years of hard labor and thousands of grueling mathematical calculations could finally be put to the test. The machine came to life, software codes were fine-tuned and the first ‘Wave Menu’ for URBNSURF was created.
For several weeks, Wavegarden and URBNSURF operations staff surfed wave after wave after wave, literally all day long. Feedback was relayed via waterproof walkie talkies in real time to office-bound programmers, who meticulously recorded data and adjusted the operating parameters. The complexity of the system that lies behind the waves cannot be underestimated – there’s an intricate, convoluted network of fibers and electrical panels acting as the brain, moving each piece of machinery with precision.
Every few days, a new wave type was logged into the system. Turn waves; barrel waves; waves that pitched this way, or that way; waves that peeled slower, or faster. Every wave was created with a specific surfer profile and skill level in mind.
With the initial full wave menu prepared, a handful of outsiders were invited to support further testing and tweaking. Julian Wilson and Ryan Callinan were among the first elite pro’s to join the freshwater line-up. Whilst visiting the Spanish demo center some years before, both Julian and Ryan had dreamed of the possibilities of a full scale Wavegarden Cove and the potential competitive advantage that could be gained from training at such a venue. Now they had their chance to try it for themselves.
Adam Robertson joined Otis Carey, Winter Spencer and a range of others, all curious to test the full scale facility. Jetting in from Tasmania, Dion Agius and Chipper Wilson touched down only to take-off moments later on the newly created air section. Victorian locals Angie Vendy and Nat Dieda told us that they had to throw sickies for the opportunity to ride the Waikiki, Malibu and turn waves, noticeably improving throughout the course of the day until finally exhaustion set in.
URBNSURF Melbourne is the 2nd commercial Wavegarden Cove in the world. For Wavegarden’s engineers – with 5 new facilities scheduled to open in the next 12-18 months – the wet commissioning sessions are now nothing more than a distant memory. Since the start of the year URBNSURF Melbourne has been fully booked – day and night – with people travelling from all over Australia and the world to see what the Wavegarden Cove has to offer, with reports of some pro’s reserving up to 5 sessions a day.
As always, a huge thank you goes out to the surfers for their invaluable support… Mitch Crews, Reef Heazlewood, Isabella Nichols, Ozzie Wright, Imogen Caldwell, Chippa Wilson, Julian Wilson, Xavier Huxtable, Ryan Callinan, Kai Otton, Dion Agius, Nat Dieda, Angie Vendy, Eneko Merino, Julen Vega and the URBNSURF team.
