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MAKING WAVES
The 4th International Surfing Reef Symposium combines science and stoke |
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February 24, 2005 Given the amount of time surfers spend daydreaming about waves, describing them, drawing them and watching countless videos of them, it is amazing how little we really know about the mechanics of breaking waves -- let alone what makes one great to ride.
This is slowly changing thanks to a small band of surfer scientists who recently met in El Segundo, CA for the 4th International Surfrider Reef Symposium. For two days some of surfing's brightest scientific minds discussed topics such as the scientific description of surfing waves, the latest plans for artificial surfing reefs, and why we need sustainable management of our surfing resources.
Serious study of waves and the beaches, points and reefs that form them began in earnest shortly after World War II. Since then, coastal science has flourished with serious programs at Scripps in San Diego, Oregon State, the University of Delaware and countless other universities. However, even given all this brainpower, an accurate description of breaking waves still eludes academics and scientists -- not to mention a description subtle enough to describe the difference between an ordinary wave and the extraordinary ones we obsess over.
The beginnings of surf science point back to the 1970's and a Hawaiian coastal engineer and surfer known as James "Kimo" Walker. He published his PhD thesis at the University of Hawaii titled "Recreational Surf Parameters". Kimo described in detail what a surfer does to catch and ride a wave and produced some of the first scientific wave descriptions specific to describing the "surfability" of a wave. They included the obvious wave height, and discussed waves breaking types (spilling, surging or plunging), and perhaps most notably the notion of peel angle -- a quantitative means of describing a waves speed.
The field of surf science laid in fallow for years until the more recent interest in the construction of artificial surfing reefs in the mid-1990s. The resurgence was largely motivated by a handful of Kiwi scientists from the University of Waikato who set up shop in Raglan intent on building artificial surfing reefs.
This renewed interest motivated the 1st International Artificial Surfing Reef Symposium that was held in 1997 in Sydney, Australia. That symposium was quickly followed by another artificial surfing reef symposium held in San Diego in 1998. After a 5-year hiatus, the 3rd International Surfing Reef Symposium was put together in Ragland, New Zealand in the summer (ours) of 2003.
(The papers from the 3rd Symposium are available for download in pdf format here.)
By this time it was clear the field and interest in the science of surfing was growing. At least three artificial surfing reefs had been constructed: the reef in Narrowneck, Australia, Cables Reef in Western Australia, and Pratte's Reef in El Segundo, CA. A multitude of new reefs were being proposed, including a reef design funded by the US Army Corps of Engineers for Oil Piers in Ventura, CA.
The science of surfing reefs also took on a life beyond the pragmatic understanding of breaking waves for the sole purpose of constructing artificial surfing reefs. It was recognized that these efforts could help with accurate monitoring of waves and any potential impacts to them, could help defenders of surf breaks better understand impacts from proposed projects, and might even help surf forecasting. With this surge of momentum the 4th International Surfing Reef Symposium was held in early 2005 in El Segundo, CA.
Hosted by USC Viterbi School of Engineering's tsunami researcher Jose Borrero Ph.D. and Surfrider Foundations' Environmental Director Chad Nelsen, the interest in the Symposium was diverse and strong.
The two-day conference was planned to continue an open dialog amongst surfers, scientists, ocean enthusiasts and coastal zone managers regarding the science and management of surfing reefs and related subjects. Attendees hailed from Australia, New Zealand, UK, Brazil, Japan and both US coasts. The conference was well attended and the dialogue was rigorous, scientific and enthusiastic.
Some highlights:
The conference was organized into six sessions that ranged from social and political issues regarding surfing to descriptions of existing projects, discussion on design of reefs and proposed reef projects, some pure surf science, studies on natural surf breaks and a special session on the plans for Oil Piers in Ventura.
Intermixed were discussion sessions on the future of surf science, the successes and lessons learned from existing projects, and efforts to publish papers on surfing science in peer-reviewed technical research journals. Papers were presented on each topic representing today's brain trust on the mechanics of wave breaking as it relates to surfing.
The conference opened with a keynote address from Bob Battalio, a practicing coastal engineer from San Francisco who is also a regular at Maverick's. Bob set the tone for the meeting by sharing both his stoke for surfing and his reverence for science by describing of the history, mystery and magic of wave breaking and some of the people of have defined the field, such as Kimo Walker.
Some of the highlights included Dr. Nick Lavery's presentation on optimizing fin design using computational fluid dynamics. Although way too complicated to explain in any detail here, it is interesting to note that Nick found that the rounded edge where glassed-in fins meet the board produce less drag than the 90 degree corner formed by removable fins.
Mark Davidson who leads the surfing science major at the University of Plymouth discussed his analysis of the "tidal push". In other words, using scientific monitoring equipment can you see an increase in wave height from an incoming tide?
Dr. Davidson suggested that his analysis indicates that the tide looks to have an effect on wave height. However, it appears that the outgoing tide plays a role in diminishing wave height, whereas the incoming tide has no discernable effect on increasing wave height.
Dan Osieksi showed pictures of the scale model of First Peak at Sebastian Inlet he constructed in his backyard and presented the research he conducted to determine whether or not proposed modifications to the jetty/pier that creates the wedging wave would have a negative impact on its magic.
Two Brazilian PhD students, one on his way to the North Shore, Luiz Morales and Luiz Franco highlighted their computer modeling efforts to design a proposed reef for Macumba Beach in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
Susie Ming, from the US Army Corps of Engineers, described the arcane process that Corps of Engineers plods through to approve and fund experimental projects such as the reef proposed at Oil Piers. She predicts construction should begin sometime in 2006.
Shaw Meade from Artificial Surf Reef Ltd. in New Zealand and designer of the reef walked us through a detailed description of the design process for Oil Piers. The objectives are to provide erosion protection device while also creating a new surf spot where the surf at Oil Piers once existed.
Although still in its infancy it is clear that surfing science continues to gain momentum and that thanks to the hard work of those at the conference, the notion to applying critical scientific analysis to surfing is gaining respect.
While there still remains a disconnect between this field and the larger field of coastal and marine science, the good news is that the gap is closing. After two days of extensive discussion all participants left enriched, thirsting for more and excited about the prospects of the 5th International Surf Reef Symposium to be held in Lombok.
--Chad Nelsen
To see the full program and to get more information on the 4th International Surf Reef Symposium visit: surfrider.org/reef4
Images on fin fluid dynamics courtesy Nick Lavery. (Email: N.P.Lavery@swansea.ac.uk; website: http://cetic.swan.ac.uk/surfs )
*****
RELATED STORIES:
WHAT LIES BENEATH: Artificial Reefs: are they good for the sport but bad for the soul? (Feature, Jan 2001)
Artificial Reef Surfing A-Z Entry
FORECASTING AND METEOROLOGY: So, how do we get surf? Sean Collins explains.
SURFING: NOT JUST FOR KIDS ANYMORE? The first annual Surfing Arts, Science and Issues Conference wants us to grow up (Nov 2001)
IF YOU BUILD IT, WILL THEY COME? Two English coastal towns hope building artificial surfing reefs will bolster local tourist economy (Apr 2001)
A NEW FACE FOR NEWQUAY? Proposed development at England's Surf City causes a stir (Sep 2001)
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