Each tank a thirty-mill build, twenty of that going to the monstrous plunger…

At precisely six pm tonight, Sydney time, nine am in London and a brutish four am in New York, the company that wants to take plunger-powered waves to the world held what it called an “investment information webinar”.

Over the course of a 45-minute presentation followed by a 15-minute Q and A, investors learned “about the status of our prototype testing, business model for growth, anticipated commercial locations and the profit potential for investors.”

What’s the news?

Four Heads of Agreements have been signed (although these are non-binding), 13 Requests for Proposals have been completed and a number of interested parties (wisely) are waiting on the final testing before committing.

Surf Lakes says they’ve had enquires from over 300 entities across 47 countries. Potential investors have included owners of theme parks, ski resorts golf courses and property developers.

Surf Lakes management says it’s not unreasonable to expect a wavepool in most biggish towns in the next five-to-ten  years. They say 20 are already planned worldwide.

The company says we need to start thinking of wavepools as sports stadiums or cycling tracks. Surfing has a broad enough community engagement so why shouldn’t it attract money from state and local government authorities to pay for the infrastructure?

What’s it cost for a plunger tank, in Australian dollars?

Thirty mill, with twenty of that going to the wave-generating equipment.

By comparison, an American Wave Machines setup (Waco) will cost $10 million, Wavegarden Cove $28 million and KS Wave Co $30 million.

From a productivity perspective, and presuming no breakdowns, Surf Lakes’ 5-Waves technology produces 2,400 waves in the same time that Wavegarden spits 1,000, American Wave Machines 300 and KS Wave Co 20.

Productivity-will-make-you-the-money is the mantra at Surf Lakes.

Surf Lakes estimates it costs 30 cents a wave in energy and another $2.20-ish in wages, filtration etc. They suggest operators charge $50 an hour for 10 waves or five bucks a wave.

It ain’t a bad margin.

Bear in mind these waves are going to be 15 seconds long, max.

Which is significantly less than Slater’s pond but almost twice as long as Waco.

And, now the bad news.

None of us are gonna surf Yeppoon. Well, not for a very long time. Even the shareholders are struggling to get their share at the moment.

For now, its all about potential licensee sales.

(*Editor’s note: an earlier version of this story announced twenty plunger-powered pools worldwide. It was twenty wavepools across all technologies. Surf Lakes are planning six plungers over the next three years.)

Surfing heart-throb and one-time title contender turns real estate developer…

The  world number twelve, Owen Wright, has spent $5.1 million on an unremarkable beach shack a few hundred metres from The Pass in Australia’s Byron Bay. 

Of course, Owen, who is yet to turn thirty and whose plume of golden hair, swooning eyes and bullfighter’s body suggest teen idol more than real estate developer, sees more than an idyllic little timber house surrounded by almost half-an-acre of grass and trees.

He sees, as the trade papers suggest, a high-end villa development, although a DA is yet to be presented to Byron council.

It’ll be yet another play in Owen’s expansive property portfolio.

You’ll remember the $1.6 million house at Lennox Head with its indoor swimming pool that meandered through the living room,  the Federation-style house in Byron Bay (a little under a million), the beachfront townhouse at Thirroul (675,000) and the gorgeous mountain-top hideaway (bought for 750k, sold for a million).

I doubt if we’ll see a family like the Wrights within surfing ever again, at least in my lifetime.

Three surfers on the tour, including a duel world champ, and all of ’em with their own aesthetic.

For added spice, mysterious illnesses have derailed two thirds of the pack. These include Owen’s so-rare-it-didn’t-have-a-name delayed brain trauma that resulted in a push for compulsory helmets and Tyler’s potentially career-ending Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Ongoing spinal issues with Mikey, meanwhile, has kept that firecracker’s fuse unlit.

And as recorded by Surfline cam!

Earlier today, the noted big-wave surfer from Santa Cruz, Ken Collins, also known, variously, as Skindog and Skin Dizzle, announced that he’d received a citation for the “bitch slap” of two bodyboarders.

From the Instagram account @skin_dizzle: I was surfing small Pleasure Point with my kid. 2 boogie boarders called the sherif on me. They said I bitched slapped them both. I got a citation to go to court. @surfline rewind shows them dropping in on me and I just put my hand down and pushed them back from hitting my knees as I went by. Interesting times we live in. Thanks @surfline for the rewind camera.

Cue commentary re: the insanity of a world where two boogers can’t be brushed aside without the cops being called.

From the noted surf journalist, Sean Doherty: “You invaded their safe space.”

Kook of the Day: “Sad, sad entitled privileged world we live in. I remember getting dunked and if I want and told my mommy or daddy they’d be, like, ‘What the hell did you do out there? You must’ve fucked up!'”

Life_surfer77: “Crazy to think what would’ve happen to them ten or twenty years ago.”

And the shaper Chris Christenson, “The world has gone soft. Just say you’re transgender and they’ll let you go.”

In 2015, Collins was ticketed on suspicion of misdemeanour battery after pushing another man in an argument over a one-foot wave.

From the Mercury News, 

Collins, 47, was surfing at the popular spot near 41st Avenue and East Cliff Drive the evening of Jan. 8 when he “dropped in” on the Los Gatos man and got in his way, said Lt. Kelly Kent. Collins and the other man argued in the surf, and Collins grabbed the man by his shoulders and pushed him in the water, deputies said.

The surf was about 1 to 2 feet, according to Surfline.com. Collins and the other man started arguing again near East Cliff Drive, where Collins allegedly grabbed the man’s shirt or sweatshirt and stretched it out. Deputies arrived about 6:10 p.m., saw the stretched clothing and ticketed Collins.

No one was injured.

I asked Collins for a comment, ’cause you know he’s gonna light up, but he’s gotta talk to the DA first etc.