Designing waves for the people

Project Information

DWAVE

Grant agreement ID: 673315

DOI

10.3030/673315

Project closed

EC signature date 5 May 2015

Start date 1 June 2015

End date 30 November 2015

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

INSTANT SPORT SL
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DWAVE (Designing waves for the people)

Reporting period: 2015-06-01 to 2015-11-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

"""The objective of this project is the creation of Wavegardens all around the world. A Wavegarden is a place where surfers can practice surf: a lagoon in which a mechatronic device creates waves that could fulfil surfers expectations. The project aims at solving the problems that a surfer fan has:
- Surfing currently is limited to very specific coastal spots, most part of coastal locations are no suitable for practice of surfing.
- Even in these best spots favourable surf conditions only occur about 30% to 50% of the year
- Surf schools cannot cope with current demand
To make a clear idea of the market involved in surfing activities, for example, 10 million people in the world travel each year to wind and wave surfing destinations and the trend is growing: 500 thousand new people every year practice this sport. Thus there is a mayor unsolved market opportunity waiting to be held: to make possible surfing on demand.

To overcome the limitations of nature to cope the demand, a Wavegarden works in the exact same way an ocean wave does but on a man-made installation. A mass of water is systematically moved over a surface that causes the wave to form and then fold on itself – just like a wave breaking over a reef or sand bar. The difference is that Wavegarden can regulate the size and speed of the wave at will, making it engaging for all different skill levels, from beginner to ripper.


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Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

"""The work done during the 6 months of the project has thoroughly been following the work plan signed in the Grant Agreement. In the following lines, the work plan is explained and detailed:
Objective: Analysis of the market and competitors, definition of the value proposition, business model, alliances for international commercialization, identification of risks and barriers, economic and financial analysis.
Tasks: Four different tasks have been implemented during the project execution:
- Task 1: Market analysis by country
- Task 2: Value proposition, business model and commercialization
- Task 3: Cost, revenues and funding scheme
- Task4: Feasibility Study
Timetable: The work done has been executed from June 1st 2015 until November 30th 2015.
Results: The main remarkable results that have been achieved are related to the study of the market and to the business model. The feasibility study done during this six months has help us to better understand the market and positioning . As well, new customer relations have been started recently.
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Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

"""The ground breaking technology is based on an innovative hydrodynamic Wavefoil and a revolutionary wave lagoon design which creates two perfect barreling waves at the same time. The state of the art Wavefoil generator has been proven to be more reliable and to require significantly less energy than existing wave generating technologies and those that are still in conceptual design stage. As well, Belts and Cove technologies, as explained in the previous point, are part of the product range ensuring medium and high quality surf experience to medium level surfers covering each surfer level with the three technologies.
Competitive surfing started over 50 years ago and events have always been relatively popular in spite of the difficulties in staging them (remote locations, varying wave size, winds, and tides). Nonetheless, thousands of spectators regularly flock to professional surfing competitions to get a glimpse of their favourite surf stars. Governments inject money to attract tourists, and brands invest sponsorship dollars to promote their image.
Surf related drawbacks are:
- Surfing currently limited to coastal locations.
- Favourable surf conditions only occur about 30% to 50% of the year.
- Surf schools cannot cope with current demand.
A clear market opportunity appears for an out of the sea system that can:
- Provide perfect beginner and expert waves at all times.
- Provide a longer and higher quality wave riding experience.
- Host events close to major cities to attract more spectators and manage surf competition as mainstream sports such as professional tennis and football.
- Ensure surf conditions.
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