"We want to thank all our wonderful community for the outpouring of love and support over the last days."
Bitter tears turned to shouts of joy in Bristol, England, this morning, after it was announced that the shuttered-without-warning surf tub The Wave was set to re-open. The town of near 500,000 souls perched on the pendulum’s bottom west was once most famous as a slave trading hub and, more recently, the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta wherein hundreds of hot air balloons take a mid-August flight until The Wave opened its gates in 2019.
The facility, which utilizes Wavegarden’s patented technology, was instantly popular with Bristolians who were forced to drive nearly four hours to Penzance to surf.
The Wave delivered on its promise of creating 1000 waves per hour and a whole local community began to establish itself. Then, all of a sudden and overnight, the whole business closed.
According to the BBC:
Majority owners (of The Wave) Sullivan Street Partners claimed the closure followed problems surrounding the bankruptcy of a director of another funding partner, JAR Wave. The BBC has approached the firm for comment.
A statement from the majority owners said: “The Wave Group team apologises unreservedly for any upset caused and is doing its best to ensure the situation can be remedied.”
Hope was mostly lost. The local surf community crying onto large plates filled with aged cheddar cheese, Cornish yarg and stargazy pie.
But then, just as swift as it was sealed, The Wave sprung back to life. The BBC now reporting:
The Wave, on the northern edge of Bristol, shut with immediate effect on Thursday and was placed into technical insolvency. It was announced on Friday evening that the site had been sold to another company, with the hope of reopening on Saturday – though this failed to happen. On Monday evening it was confirmed on social media that surfers would be allowed to return on Tuesday.
A The Wave spokesperson added, “We are so excited to let you all know that we will be reopening our doors. We want to thank all our wonderful community for the outpouring of love and support over the last days.”
In a real cherry on top of the clotted cream, the pre-scheduled English Para Surfing Open competition will be held without disruption.
Huzzah.
