Four Australian pro surfers – Stu Kennedy, Connor O’Leary, Mitch Crews and Jackson Baker – recently trialled night surfing at Wavegarden’s demo center in north Spain. Flood lights lit up the Wavegarden Cove like a sports arena, allowing the Australians to surf and train from sunset to late into the night, a feat not easy to achieve in the ocean.
It was the first time the 4 surfers – all highly competitive athletes – were able to experience night surfing and their feedback was overwhelming. “Surfing at night time is just awesome”, exclaimed Stu Kennedy, upon exiting the water. “It’s amazing just how much more ‘surf time’ we are going to have now that we can surf at night”.
Wavegarden’s architects have been developing night lighting systems that are customized for surfing lagoons, which can be provided to future surf park developers. Correct lighting is important to extend the number of operating hours in a day, particularly during the winter months when natural light is limited.
The principle purpose of Wavegarden’s R&D has been to test and refine levels of luminosity, orientation, glare and homogeneity in the surfing lagoon. Finding the right balance is vital to ensure that surfers can clearly see the wave without interference. Additionally, sufficient lighting across the entire water body enhances surfer safety.
The latest system has low energy consumption and is fitted with an intensity feature, permitting lights to be scaled up or dimmed down as required.
Wavegarden’s lighting capabilities extend to landscaping requirements as well, which is important to illuminate pathways around the perimeter of the lagoon as well as vegetation for aesthetic purposes.
