A local entrepreneur and inventor is hoping the community will support his initiative to establish a surf wave leisure business on his family's property at Hāwea Flat.

Ross McCarthy is the owner and founder of Airwave, a company which develops and markets surfable waves for the leisure industry. For the past 10 years he has been developing a wave created by water flowing over an inflatable form (like surfing on a bouncy castle) which can manipulate the shape of the wave with the touch of a button. 

“Our technology is the only tech in the world that can do this,” Ross said. 

Ross McCarthy, pictured with his daughter, has a masters degree in product design.

“We can change the wave from a left hand break to a right hand break in under a minute and we can manipulate the shape of the wave to suit learners or create expert waves [steep and barrelling].

“We are also introducing a kayaking wave, wake for wakeboarding and a half pipe.”

Ross said the key purpose of setting up at Hāwea Flat is for further research and testing with a view to selling AirWave units worldwide. He is proposing to establish an AirWave outlet on his family’s property utilising the existing irrigation system as a water source.

“One of the best features about putting AirWave on the farm is the fact that we can circulate irrigation water through the unit which means we do not need to treat the water or use chlorine,” Ross said.

“The AirWave unit doesn't actually use any water, it simply sits on an irrigation dam which will be used to store water for irrigating another part of our farm. Whenever the irrigation system is working it will be recirculating water through the dam every seven hours keeping it very fresh and clean.”

Ross is in discussion with the Queenstown Lakes District Council about the venture and is hoping that the local community will support the initiative.

Proposed location at Hāwea Flat

“We are building one of the most environmentally friendly attractions in the area and will support the local community,” Ross said. “We will have great deals for locals and local schools and will also introduce water safety programmes and surf trips and maybe a surf team.”

“This farm is my home and to actually move Airwave to it will be a dream come true for Sarah and I, something we never expected to do. We have a daughter who is just turning one and to have the opportunity to bring her up on the same farm I was brought up on is fantastic.”

Airwave is commercial in nature and its proposed location is zoned for rural activities. Public notification of the proposal may be required if any adverse effects are regarded as more than minor. Ross highlighted in the resource consent that the Hāwea Wave and LandEscape are similar in nature and in rural zoning.

Read more about AirWave here.

IMAGES: Supplied