Good thing or a bad thing?

[kitesurfer]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6384237.stm

On the face of it, it looks like a great idea. Might even keep some of the city dwellers in the city and reduce the numbers at your favourite break.
Or is it going to encourage more people down to your local break and is of course another step closer to commercialism that seems to latching onto all things extreme.

If its accessable to everyone then yeah i think the benefits out weigh the negative points but somehow i imagine it will be so over priced to use that it will limit its usage.

KS

[Phil]

i dont think it matters surfings gonna grow regardless, the only benifi is that with any luck all those londoners wont head down to north devon every weekend

[Sillysausage]

its in the middle, good points for people who can't get to the beach because it's too far, all the babies who don't like surfing cold water etc...but then its going to cost loads to use and will probs be waiting for ages before you can have a go on it because it will be so busy

[Dr Rev]

Its going to be damn expensive to bulld too !!!!

[libby]

Waste of money that could go towards something useful and is going to take huge amounts of energy and resources not only to build but also to run and maintain.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[essex sucks]

i will still head too the beach it will not be the same indoors and the waves will be the same every time

[parrysurf]

someday they will make a good one......we could all enjoy a good ride during a flat spell. Nothing wrong with it...why fight the inevitable.

[Surfing-Innovation]

More people will want to 'have a go', but this will mean they can do that without having to travel to the beach to do so - so the crowds could go either way.

As for what it costs to run, etc - what's going to have more impact - thousands of people trying their hand at indoor surfing in what will be (in effect) a leisure pool, which will use just about the same amount of power no matter how busy it is, or thousands of people tripping down to the coast in their cars and vans??

[Roxyyyyy]

it would never be like the real thing :] not even close.

[tomato3000]

It would be interesting to see if the increase in snowdomes created significantly more skiers/boarders.

One bad thing I do think about this is, getting a wave is actually a pretty small part of surfing. Finding/waiting for good conditions, getting out back, not dying are all important parts of it aswell. And that's ignoring the wave manners and connecting with nature aspects.

I think there's definately a risk that people that learn 'to surf' on this pool will go to a real break and then get in trouble (don't know what a rip is etc.).

[Old Guys Rule]

I am concerned that it will bring a new group out that do not understand the ettiquette of surfing. I hate it when someone pops up on a wave that I am clearly already on.

[isaluteyou]

I am concerned that you will bring a new group out that do not understand the ettiquette of surfing. I hate it when someone pops up on a wave that I am clearly already on.

or worse shouts at you cause they dropped in on you still figuring that one out

[Otter]

Creating a perfect wave every time? What could be bad about that. I'd love to try it. Much more so than something like Bruticus Maximus.

[surf patrol]

Anything that keeps people out of the lineup is a good thing

[niallhills]

not sure bout it...could encourage more people to give surfin a go