First ever stadium surf event set for Surf Snowdonia
Photo: @nickpumphreyphoto
Red Bull Unleashed, a brand new surfing event set to feature some of the most progressive surfers in the world, is coming to Surf Snowdonia, Wales 18-19th September 2015. Held in the best man-made surfing lagoon ever built, a capacity crowd of 2,500 spectators will be closer to the action than at any previous surfing event.
By generating waves on demand, giving every surfer equal opportunity and without the wave lottery that can come with unpredictable ocean swells, the event will also unveil a fresh, exciting format brand new to surfing. Unhindered by having to juggle conventional surf event parameters such as ocean swell, tide and local winds, Surf Snowdonia’s lagoon offers the ideal blank canvas for surfers to express themselves.
“It’s been an awesome process selecting the athletes and coming up with a format that matches something as futuristic as surfing a head high man made wave,” said Red Bull Unleashed Sports Director and former World Championship Tour surfer Jarrad Howse. “With innovation, progression and crowd interaction as themes, I’m really excited about seeing something truly groundbreaking go down.”
A brand new innovative event format - only made possible by the on-demand nature of the waves, will see Formula 1 style leaderboard qualifying narrow a 24 surfer field down to 16 seeds, using their highest single wave scores. A series of head to head clashes will then go down, themed on medieval jousting tournaments, which, set in the beautiful Welsh countryside, with its hundreds of castles and rich folklore will be an echo of sporting combat from another time.
Each pairing of surfers will go wave for wave against each other in best of five, matchplay-style clashes to decide who advances.
Spectators can expect to witness mind-blowing performances from some of the most exciting freesurfers in the world at close range as they take on the game-changing, no waiting period format and guaranteed perfect waves in a stadium atmosphere. Tickets can be purchased from www.redbull.com/unleashed and cost £8 per person.
KEY EVENT FACTS:
Name: Red Bull Unleashed
Date: 19-20 September 2015
Location: Surf Snowdonia, Wales, UK
Athletes: 24 Surfers – 20 International invites + 4 UK invites (To be announced soon)
September 18th - Qualification / Seeding: Formula 1 style grid qualification. Each surfer given a number of opportunities to count their best waves in determining the top 16 and event seeding.
September 19th/20th – Match Play: Surfers compete wave for wave with the best wave winning. A maximum of 5 waves per surfer per match play will be surfed.
Seating: 2,500 tickets are available. All tickets are £8.
Wavepool Technology: Wavegarden
Lagoon Dimensions: 300m x 113m
Wave speed: 6-7 meters per second
Wave length: 150m
More information and tickets: www.redbull.com/unleashed
Comments
Webber wave pools are better,
Yeh .....really where on earth might I find a 'operational' Webber wave pool ? ? ?
Are Greg Webber and his ex engineer heading to the court room over wave pool design ???
I Didnt say you would find one, I just Said Webber wave pools are better,
The design and the overall wave is better.., Its too bad him and his "misses" are argueing theyll come together sooner or later,
A sad day in surfing history as we head into the final stage of degrading the activity into just another form of mindless entertainment for the masses. I hope it is cold, raining and with strong cross shores for the whole event!
Hear hear blindboy.
$AUS 43k from spectators entry fee.
That press release is some of the most ridiculous tripe I've read recently, ".....themed on medieval jousting tournaments...." Who can write that with a straight face?
Couldn't agree more. I think I'm gunna vomit.
Finally some people I can agree With , Death to WSL !!! Lets just all be bums who dont work and just surf all day and share food , :D ::D :D:D:D:D: D
Wanker.
Awwwww somebodys a grumpy Bum today ,
Why did you edit your post hero?
PS I don't have a dog.
Howsey...gone are the days of surfing the south coast...gone are the days of your cred...red bull just ripped ya fucken wings off and destroyed any soul you had left.
I'd rather be poor and produce nothing than be an arsehole and conquer the world - Alby Falzon
Amen , TripperGreenFeet
They already did surf comps in wave pools back in the 80s (Arizona? Florida?) so not a first as they claim. Waves were shit too.
Don't forget Allentown!
it will have its place in landlocked places and will introduce people to the love of riding a wave.
but it will never replace surfing the ocean or contests in the ocean.
while its not my cup of tea i can see it helping surfing grow into a mainstream sport in that tv stations will cover it more and it may be more commercially viable enabling the next generation of kids a credible career path with some good coin.
yes the wavepool heroes will eventually come into the ocean to surf the waves but overcrowding is already an issue as is the overpopulation of the planet and a human cull may be more newsworthy than a shark cull.
Yeah it's basically anti surfing as far removed from morning of the earth as you could get but the area needs a boost and building a tourist attraction on an old industrial site is a good move for Conwy.
People will hate away but you get a flat spell with one of these close by and I bet half of you would be there
Errr, NO!
Oh maybe they won't let you sup there
Hah hah, you funny Dr Jones!
What about tow-ins? That could be good for a giggle, wouldn't even need a ski. Just get one of the Burgess boys and a rope!
yep id be there mibs oner.for a novelty splash depending on the price.
I bet its more for a splash than the very reasonable £8 spectators fee for the contest, after reading the hyped up hyperbole that was that article I thought I'd have to give my left testicle to be part of this innovative awesome groundbreaking new experience that looks about as dull as other wavepool events that apparently didn't occur
who the fuck writes this shit
To all the geriatrics hating this is the future. My only beef is the queer fucks didn't give me an invite. I emailed redbull and sent them some footage but haven't heard a thing, wtf??
I'd give my left and right testicle to be the face of redbull unleashed and given the chance to show some of my skills in head high man made waves. The waves look easy too, not too steep and curly.
MSW forum has a interesting review from an average joe surfer on the Snowdonia Wales pool .
Noticeable difference in freshwater re board flotation and a pool current ?