Locals in Bournemouth, England have begun calling the recently-finished artificial surfing reef “the beached whale.”
The reef cost $4.5 million dollars and… it’s not working.
Not working meaning it’s not attracting surfers to come to Bournemouth, stay in local hotels and prop up the local economy (this was the business case for spending taxpayers money on the project).
Not working meaning the surfers that live in Bournemouth are opting for the natural shore break instead of the “wave” created by the massive reef.
A piece came out in the Telegraph calling it “near impossible” to surf.
The fact that it’s not working shouldn’t be too surprising as the other half dozen artificial surfing reefs on the globe aren’t exactly setting the surfing world on fire… in fact it would be hard to point to an artificial reef, anywhere in the world, that is even attracting surfers from another region… or even being surfed by those that live nearby.
Locals are already starting to call for Bournemouth’s removal. Ouch. I’m guessing… just guessing that it will cost another few million dollars to take out.