They used to go there to get stoked, amped and pumped. But now that one of Europe’s greatest surfing waves has mysteriously disappeared from the waters off the northern Spanish village of Mundaka, the world’s surfers feel it is a complete bummer.
In the argot of surfers, the ”sandbank left” in Mundaka was a magical, adrenalin-pumping wave that produced ”intense barrels” as it ran for 400m of surfing heaven. It broke to form a classic tube that allowed surfers to enter what they call the ”green room”, or the rolled-up inside of a wave.
But the famous Mundaka wave disappeared this spring and, it was revealed on Tuesday, its absence has led to the cancellation of a world championship event in October. ”There’s nothing we can do,” organisers said. ”There’s simply no wave there anymore.”
Surfing, and the tourism it brings, is the lifeblood of this small Basque fishing village. The annual world championships bring the world’s top surfers, and 10 000 enthusiasts, to this tiny port in the Urdaibai nature reserve. ”This has been one of the most difficult decisions to make,” admitted Derek O’Neill, spokesperson for the championship organisers.
Arguments rage amongst the regular Mundaka surfers about where the world’s best rivermouth wave has gone and when — or whether — it will come back. Some claim the Asian tsunami is to blame. Most, however, point to a dredging operation in the river Guernica which altered its flow and created a new sand dune.
Local authorities have asked a committee of scientists to set about recovering the lost wave. They claim the river is slowly returning to its natural course, though some local surfers have demanded the dredgers come back to speed up the process.
”We prefer to be optimists and believe the wave will eventually come back,” Aitor RuÃÂz, of Mundaka Surf Club, said on Tuesday. ”But today there is no surf at all in Mundaka.”
”It’s a great disappointment that we can’t compete at Mundaka this year,” said Jake Paterson, representative of the surfers who compete in the world championship. ”Let’s hope the wave returns and we can get down to business there in 2006.” – Guardian Unlimited Â