A host of shareholders, potential licensees and locals were on hand recently for two demonstration days at Surf Lakes. The invited guests got to session with Surf Lakes team members Mark and Jay Occhilupo, Barton Lynch, Ben Player, Beau Emerton and Harley Walters.

The wave pool in Yeppoon Queensland hosted the event to show off wave size and quality, as well as their technology progress. Six people attended from three licensee groups over the two days while around 40 shareholders got to watch or jump in and go for a surf.

“Many commented on the realistic feel of the waves and whilst some always will want larger waves (which we will be able to do in a full commercial facility), most of the public will enjoy the wave size at mid-range, which is perfect,” said media director Wayne Dart. “Remember, most of what we produce will be for beginners and intermediate surfers, who are stoked just to catch a wave. However, the ability is there to refine and increase size beyond the 2.4 metre face for competitions and surfing demonstrations.”

The Surf Lakes system works via a central plunger that pushes out a wave in 360 degrees (visualise a stone dropped in a pond). The waves fan out and meet specialised bathymetry to produce peaks, slabs beach breaks and a variety of other types of breaks. The company’s branding is on the principal that they are the only wave pool on the market to deliver “5 Wave Technology.”

Surf Lakes added that while the machine and systems are working well, the engineering team is constantly gathering data and surfer feedback, and that the learning from each session has been phenomenal.

“Over the past few weeks they have been experimenting with lake water levels, CWD weight, stroke length, forces and various pressure levels. All of this info will be fed into the commercial design.”

Surf Lakes added they are expecting to finalise another territory sale in the coming week or two with one of the groups from the USA.

Reflecting on the open house days, Wayne Dart noted that despite business being the impetus for hosting the weekend, it still all comes down to simply surfing.

“Seeing the stoke on the kids’ faces as they caught our waves was one of the highlights of being part of the project so far,” said Wayne Dart. “At the end of the day it is the kids and the average surfer who we are building these for… as we say, Everyone Gets A Break… so to see the massive grins and to hear the squeals of joy was just so awesome to witness. It’s all about sharing the thrill of surfing so one massive box was ticked on the day.”