The future of surfing as we know it ????

 Pretty broad question , granted. I am interested to know diferent views on where you would like to see the art of surfing, ten years from now..........not from a busines point of view , but as a surfer , first and foremost.........

Better manners in the lineup.

Better beach replenishment efforts that create breaks, not destroy them

More variety of boards in the lineup.

More backyard shapers riding their own boards.

A return to style oriented surfing instead of how many off-the-lips you can do on one wave.

More crowds, more commercialism, less soul, more restrictions from government, less money to afford such luxuries as surfboards due to the generational theft of our government.  The future looks bleak.

I hope to see the same thing in the lineup as in the rest of society:  a return of common courtesy, manners and humanity.  Not bloody likely.

I would like to see man made surfing reef technology go forward.

I would like to see a website similar to Swaylocks dedicated to surfing reef technology.

The seeds for this future are in surfers with engineering minds.

I would like to see surfers line up and take it in turns at long peeling point breaks.

And surfing without hassling would become more of a meditative wave ride.

Hey Kayu

Good question , something we think more about as we get older I guess.

I think the one thing that is going to raise it’s ugly head  will be Government Regulation.

Overcrowding and the call for artifical reefs and existing break enhancement by surfers will open the door for the regulators .

It may not be applicable everywhere but crowded city breaks will more than likely be affected .

The’ve worked out a way to tax and control everything else.

Still an early sesh to yourself will probably still happen now and then to keep the sanity.

Cheers

Mooneemick

Kayu,

Would love to see a greater appreciation for surfing’s roots from all surfers now under the age of 40. Now and going forward to your 10 yr. point and beyond.

Coming up in the early 60’s, we soaked up all we could on surfing’s history - I still do…now, the groms, for the most part, seem like they could care less and don’t know squat before Lord Kelly’s dominance - about the surfers or boards and who and what it took to put them where they are…We’re losing surfing’s true pioneers and innovators, the people the groms have to thank, and they have no clue - or appreciation.

Oh, and 10 years on…I would like to see ME still surfing. Just got in 2 weeks in Costa Rica and got 2 sessions a day on a few days/ 1 on the others. Hooked up with an old amigo I haven’t surfed with in 40 years and we both are determined to get more waves as long as we can. I’ll be 60 this year…

Pete

 

Forget about better manners. We’re headed the other way.

It may be a while, but someone will find a way to privatize a beach and make us all pay money to surf there. Then they’ll add tow ropes to pull us out to the lineup so we don’t have to paddle back out, setup a food concession out in the deeper water to keep us from getting pissed that there’s a line of people waiting for the next wave.

Hey wait a minute, isn’t that what they do now. Close off the “public” beach to everyone except those who’ve paid an entrance fee. Provide jet skis to get you back out to the lineup. I think they call it a contest.

 

In 10 years??? I’l be watching my son surfing.

Doing rodeo clowns, and reverse hoop’D"loopers, with flow and power on a Yorky 7 Mini fin swoosh model… He’ll be 12 yrs old… I’ll be so proud…even if He’s going straight!

Peace

[quote="$1"]

In 10 years??? I'l be watching my son surfing.

Doing rodeo clowns, and reverse hoop'D"loopers, with flow and power on a Yorky 7 Mini fin swoosh model... He'll be 12 yrs old...................... I'll be so proud...................even if He's going straight!

Peace

[/quote] An optomistic vibe there Yorky !   I have never been anti-pro with surfing , but it's not , and never will be the main game where surfing is involved(IMO) . I remember the first rumblings of a touted  " professional pro-tour of surfing" all those years ago . I was skeptical, and viewed it as the begining of the end, which has  become a self fullfilling prophacy since. On the surface , surfing is owned by big companies, with big advertising budgets.........but scratch beneath that false surface and there is some great stuff happening with boards and with surfers , and arts and new attitudes mixed with forgotten (almost ) attitudes and new music and old music. Its all there,  if you want to find it .  These days , theres a lot of people in the lineup that see surfing as nothing more than another professional sport.......like tennis or golf or something.......or a way to keep fit or keep the colestarol level down maybe - they just don't get it.

I'd like to see artifical reefs that compress slightly under the power of the impact of breaking surf and utilise this movement to generate power.

That way there would be an incentive for the people who have the money to finance such a product to do so...and then everyone would be happy.

Well said!

 

So true! To such an extent that the big companies have been forced to take notice (hence the resurgence in quads, fish, etc.).

 

Fortunately, they generally buy whatever is shiny and well advertised then give up when they don’t “rip like Kelly” after a month.

 Is there any artificial reefs that work ?  They biult one on the Gold Coast some years ago - it breaks , but is commonly refered to as "the hoax".    Theres been some success with wave pools, so the technology exists . The big one in Japan throws up a pretty good head high wave, I thought ( seen that on youtube). A big wave park, about the same size as an 18 hole golf course would be good, and probably a commercial success with a similar membership like a golf club . If they could make an overhead wave on the first point or reef, it should travel through the park, without loosing power or speed , then dissipate into a shallow beach a few miles down the line...................I'm dreamin .........thin out the Sunday crowd down at the beach I bet

Kayu, I couldn’t agree more.

I’d rather chat to you over a beer about surfing then most pros with there head up their arses.

My comment was kind of “Toung in cheak”. I did also say

… I’ll be so proud…even if He’s going straight!

cheers mate.

Edit… What did i say defore??? LMFAO

[quote="$1"]

 Pretty broad question , granted. I am interested to know diferent views on where you would like to see the art of surfing, ten years from now..........not from a business point of view , but as a surfer , first and foremost.........

[/quote]

Uhmmm- where I'd like to see it go? Not to put too fine a point on it, I'd like to see the popularity of surfing fall off a lot, cease to be the current fad. Get the knuckleheads and crowd-followers out of it, the ones that are at the beach because all their idiot little friends are. Let them go back to skateboarding or spray-painting their incomprehensible crap on walls, just so long as they're not in my ocean.

The ones that are serious about it, they'd stay. And it'd all be fun again, instead of some half-assed surf contest out there every day.

doc...

Good question. I like yorky, will be watchin my young fella surf,he'll be 12.

Would hope Docs wishes will come true but highly unlikely !!

Me,well i'll be gettin ready for my second hip replacement and hopefully our local won't be totally ruined by greedy developers !!

If that New reef gets crowded, then it will take the pressure off some of the other spots.

just make it 20ft deep straight into 1ft deep, that will sort em out! if crowd is a concern.

My TA for my geology class last year was doing his graduate work on how surf is affected by the seafloor and what causes waves to break the way they do. His goal is to incorporate the data into a program which can model surfspots and be able to create plans for new ones. I hope that works out for him.

More crowds, more commercialism, more travel to places with more crowds. Basically, more of the same old same old. Anyone who thinks otherwise is pipe dreaming.

Re artificial reefs. There is no profit potential so funds to build one would have to be donated. And if you donated to build one on public waters it would be over-crowded on opening day. So you spent big bucks on more of the same old same old. The only way it would work is private, pay for access, which isnt likely, surfers are cheap. Besides, surfing is supposed to be free.

The best way to deal with the surfing's future is adapt day to day and not worry about how things will be 10 years from now.

 

[quote="$1"]

My TA for my geology class last year was doing his graduate work on how surf is affected by the seafloor and what causes waves to break the way they do. His goal is to incorporate the data into a program which can model surfspots and be able to create plans for new ones. I hope that works out for him.

[/quote] R.O.W. , although this concept seems futuristic , its practical and doable. I worked on golf course construction for some years. We contoured the course exactly to a set of design plans to a very close tolerance. If the bottom of a watercourse could be designed to maximise the effect of a generated swell, it would work , and I can see no reason why it could not produce quality waves. The financing of such a project would be no different to that of a golf course. It sounds like a better option than tampering with the natural ocean floor