A little timeline of the last 10 years – Airwave started off as an art concept. A sail-like sheet of canvas anchored to the ocean floor by screw in sand anchors, with an air bubble underneath to create the shape of the Airwave. The process from design concept to first full size prototype has taken ten years of thought, interspersed with children, other life stuff, many phone calls, meetings, driving, flying and of course prototypes
ABOUT
OUR STORY
Breakthroughs
We realized that the canvas sail with the air bubble whilst newsworthy, was a little romantic and posed several logistic issues. When we realised that anchoring was a major concern we decided that a design which included sealed bladder with a sand ballast, was the simplest to anchor and engineer.
First prototypes
The first prototypes were miniature domes made of plaster, placed in man made ponds to show what mini-waves did when we pushed ‘swell’ at them. We then needed to go to several two metre rubber prototypes to find out exactly what trying to put an inflatable reef in the ocean REALLY entailed. Geez! and didn’t we have fun with those. The major benefit of flailing around in the ocean trying to wrangle bladders full of air and a bit of sand, was exactly what NOT to do!
Main obstacles
Fortunately the process of design and finding a location for the test site, has been remarkably smooth. The hardest part of the whole project, was how to put sand and air into the Airwave in the right sequence and amounts, whilst keeping the Airwave on the ocean floor. Overcoming the problems encountered with the smaller prototypes has been the major focus. The first full sized test installation will test the design work we have put in and method of installation.
WHO WE ARE?
“Waveco is the company behind the Airwave Technology”
We believe that the world’s beaches are an unlimited and magical resource, from which humans can extract equally, feelings of excitement, joy, tranquility and fulfillment. Whilst simply sitting on a beach is more than enough to tap into some of these emotions, surfing a perfect wave, paddling back out to sit amongst fellow humans, also brings with it a treasure trove of positive human emotions which benefit both health, spirituality and mental wellbeing. This is the magic that Waveco would like to share with the world.
TROY BOTTEGAL, AIRWAVE’S FOUNDER
The human race has created some marvellously complicated inventions, in order to build things like huge cities, highway bypasses and spaceships. Sometimes we need to invent marvellously simple things to create joy, and happiness in the world… and that is what AIRWAVES are all about.
OUR VISION
Our vision is a world with less stress and more fun, provided by the ocean. Enticing more people to enjoy surf, sunrises and sunsets.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to bring greater joy to the world by creating more waves, for more people, in more locations, with minimal environmental impact.