First Reef Section Enters The Water

In search of a consistently perfect wave?  A winter holiday in Boscombe, Bournemouth might be the answer as the Surf Reef puts this holiday resort on the UK surf map.  Fans cheered when a section of the first artificial surf reef slowly rolled off the transport barge and was laid on the seabed construction site in Boscombe. The Surf Reef is Europe’s first artificial reef and is set to be completed by the end of October. 

 “This is D-Day. We’ve been waiting for several weeks for winds to drop. Today has provided us with perfect conditions to accurately place the reef section on Boscombe seabed. After years of planning, it’s very exciting to get to this stage. If we have consistently good weather, we should get the reef completed by the end of October,” said Construction Manager for the Surf Reef, David Neilson (ASR Ltd).

So what’s the good news for us water babies?  The reef acts as a ramp which changes the way the waves break, improving the quality of the surf and producing a right-hand ride of around 75 metres. Even better, the number of good surfing days will increase. However, it’s not just for Bournemouth’s established surfing community. The reef will enhance many water sports including kite-surfing, windsurfing, stand-up paddle boarding, wake-boarding, kayaking, SCUBA-diving, sailing and skim-boarding.

However, it’s not for everyone. The reef will be 225 metres out to sea from shore, requiring a surfer to be physically fit and competent to ride out to the reef where surfers will be in deep water and waves potentially challenging.

The section of Surf Reef just placed is the first anywhere in the northern hemisphere and makes up one sixth of the volume of the reef.  It is constructed from a geo-mat*, webbing base and 16 huge geo-bags* and has an area of 50m x 50m.

* “Geo” means it is environmentally friendly material

A team of expert divers attached the eastern end of the reef to five-tonne anchors on the seabed. The reef section was gradually unfolded and peeled off the barge into the water. Winches then pulled down the reef onto the seabed and SCUBA-divers secured it in place.

The reef is now ready for filling. Each of the 16 bags on reef section 1 will be filled one at a time. This takes between 1-4 hours each, depending on the size. Once completed, section 2 (already built on land) will then be deployed and filled and so on, until the reef is completed.

It’s likely that marine life will thrive on the reef and predicted that it will eventually become a busy habitat that would not form on an otherwise flat seabed. Another boon is that the Surf Reef will not damage the coastline, but may help with coastal defences – actually protecting the beach.

Councilor Beverley Dunlop says: “It has taken 10 years to get to this point. This regeneration project is unique and innovative and is turning Boscombe into a fantastic place to both live and visit. The surf reef will turn Bournemouth into a water sports Mecca, as it will be a free facility to be enjoyed by surfers, snorkellers, windsurfers and divers. To accompany the reef there will be a new seafront restaurant, café, surfing facilities and retro, super beach huts designed by Hemingway Design. Boscombe is the place to be.”  (Joanna Stevens)

What do you think about the UK's first artificial surf reef? This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it your comments for publication. 

To read more about Surf Reef from Stranger click here.

To monitor the progress and view regular updates of the reef, visit www.thesurfreef.co.uk