Argentina has joined the boom in the artificial wave industry with its own creation called Waveseg, which is capable of generating waves of between 1,20 and 1,50 meters with a frequency of four 10-second waves per minute, the company announced today in a press release.

The creator of the wave, Omar Modini, a surfer from Buenos Aires who had to travel the 400 kilometers between Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata to get to the beach, tried to bring in some already existing technology but the price was too high and he then sought to generate technology “made in Argentina.”

Thus, he obtained technical support from the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (Conicet) and the Fluid Dynamics Laboratory of the University of Engineering of Buenos Aires, with whom he spent four years using trial and error to generate the described model.

“Today we are in a position to build the first dynamic artificial wave in the country,” says Modini, who notes that the road was not easy: “We have had persistence and patience. It is not easy to undertake something like this in Argentina.”

“We are looking for entrepreneurs who decide to invest in Argentine technology and in a typical case of research and development where science and surf culture come together for a specific purpose. And so we can build attractions with high-class artificial waves that allow us to practice surfing anywhere. I feel that Argentines have more than enough potential to show the world that we are competitive and inventive,” said Modini.

The construction plan is divided into four phases. The first will define the design of the machine, which will generate a test wave of at least 1 metre in height, with a width of 3/4 and a length of 80/90 metres. Once this test has been passed, the following stages are executed until the construction is completed.

Depending on the timing of each project, it can be estimated that in the following years Argentina will have at least two technologies creating artificial waves since in In June last year it was reported that a Wavegarden Cove will be operating in Buenos Aires in 2020.

The fissure as a motivation to generate its own wave
Omar Modini says he always felt he had a special connection with the sea, although it was only at the age of 30, 11 years ago, that he dared to get on a board after hearing the captivating stories of a friend who always went to surf in Mar del Plata.

That's how it started, going from Castelar to La Feliz whenever he could. But, of course, due to the frenetic modern day, it's not easy to sustain passion when the field of your sport is 400 kilometres away.

“I started to feel the wear and tear of traveling and to wonder how I would continue surfing living so far from the sea… That's when I started to fantasize about an artificial wave for those of us who, like me, love surfing but find it difficult to travel to the coast regularly,” he explains.

That first idea, “while I was planning a trip to Mar del Plata without even being sure there would be waves,” crossed his mind in 2012 and today, after six years of hard work and investment, he is beginning to move through the final stage of the project that could change (and enhance) the history of surfing in Argentina.

“Argentina is a long country, far from the sea. And Waveseg can mark a before and after in the history of sport. Wherever an attraction of this nature is installed, the local GDP will grow and the socio-economic engine will rise,” he adds.

“I imagine schools incorporating surfing as a sport, cars entering the premises with boards on the roof, new surfers excited, those who already surf evolving rapidly and an entire community enjoying the surf culture,” he adds.

“This is an unprecedented opportunity, not only for surf fans. Many people who always dreamed of getting on a board and didn’t do it, out of fear, prejudice or simply because they didn’t spend enough time on the beach, will now be able to do so. Safely. And they will benefit because it is proven that surfing is healing, a sport that helps mental and physical health,” Modini highlights. The inauguration will depend on how the economic context of this surfer continues to evolve, who, together with his team, is determined to install the first SurfPlace. In Buenos Aires. And in 2019. To change the history of Argentine surfing.