River Surfing where are you going? To Prague! River Surf Summit 2023

I only got physically acquainted with river surfing last year when we finished the second version of the surfing wave at Štvanice after the first one didn’t work. At that moment I would never have dreamed that just a year later our club would host river surf projects from all over Europe and many great surfers would be literally excited about the Prague wave. And that’s exactly what finally happened, on the weekend of October 20-22, 2023.

I’ve had the summit project in my head since I started running into misunderstandings with the vision of a complete rebuild of our venue with wild water and a wave that is not accessible from the shore, but needs to be swum to. For a challenging project that would involve two waves with different character and an upgraded wild water course underneath, it is necessary to get broad support from the municipality and the watershed management as well as funding to carry out the project. And for this it is good to listen to the advice of more experienced people.

How the Idea of a Summit Evolved

Fortunately, one day this summer Janne Paul Schmidt from Giessen (where he is trying to build a local river surf spot called Lahnwelle) appeared at the door of the Vlny Štvanice club.

Soon after our meeting, a Whatsapp group Network River Surfing was created, in which representatives of European riversurf projects started to join quickly. The idea of a summit caught on in the group and soon after we agreed on a date and venue on the island of Štvanice in Prague. Paul and I had a great understanding of the overall approach and composition of the program, and so the preparation went off without a hitch even though we both had many other projects on the table.

Brief Event Summary

The core of the event was a series of lectures and discussions on Saturday. In addition to all aspects of wave making and operation, there was also the topic of racing and cross-border cooperation. DreamWave, Surf Anywhere and Hydrostadium all sent representatives from companies involved in wave design and construction.

Above all, however, there was the first meeting of a group of river surf fanatics who create an environment for other surfers and share a passion for improving the conditions for inland surfing.

In addition to the lectures and discussions, our goal was for all guests to experience a new wave, so all the time outside of the summit itself was filled with sessions including two night rides with artificial lighting. Saturday evening was then devoted to discussions and the joy of meeting until the late hours of the morning.

Paul and I agreed on several goals for the summit that were met beyond expectations:

to get to know and meet other wave operators and creators
to gain from the lectures and discussions the basis for the creation of a “cookbook”, or guide to making waves, based on the experience and knowledge of the guests and network members
to check whether the informal group Network River Surfing makes sense to others and to discuss its future activities.

Outlook

We are already working with Paul on the cookbook and recordings of the talks will soon be made available on the Network channel. We are also planning other activities – in addition to peer visits, online seminars on topics that didn’t fit into the program, and we hope to repeat the summit next year.

For me personally, it was a dream come true to see surfers returning from a wave with a happy smile on their face and praise for its shape and power.

Martin Leskovjan
Waves Štvanice founder
Canoeist and rapid surf greenhorn

Gallery

Brought to you by

RB Team The editorial team of Riverbreak is a loose connection of passionate river surfers. As a group, we strive to give the larger community a voice on an international level – our mission is to connect river surfers around the globe.