What's new in Gonna.surf v8 - September 2024 release
Expanded Coverage and Enhanced Recommendations
3 minute read. Last update: 9 Oct 2024.
Introducing our largest release to date for gonna.surf, your go-to resource for surf forecasting in Fuerteventura. We're thrilled to introduce several new features and significant improvements designed to enhance your surfing experience in the island.
Contents
Forecast for the Center and South of Fuerteventura
The forecast is now available for the spots in the Center and the South of the island. A total of 20 surf spots is included in gonna.surf. Relevant information like break type, location, and level is provided for each spot.
The secret spots and local spots have not been included, out of respect for the locals.
New recommendations system
While not the most visible change, the new recommendations system is one of the most significant updates to gonna.surf.
Understanding Recommendations
A "recommendation" in a surf forecast app evaluates how close or far the conditions are from ideal surfing. It's important to clarify two common misconceptions:
- Not Just Surfability: the recommendation isn't just about whether surfing is possible.
- Not Just Fun Factor: it doesn't indicate how enjoyable a surf session might be. Sometimes, conditions may be far from ideal (dark orange) but still fun and suitable for practicing maneuvers.
How We Determine Recommendations
At gonna.surf, we assess the surf quality based on swell and wind forecasts, along with spot characteristics. Our previous system categorized conditions into good, average, not so good, and bad. However, this approach was too binary and didn't capture the nuances of surf conditions.
The new system uses a continuous scale, ranging from dark orange to yellow to green, with many nuances in between. This allows for a more accurate representation of conditions. We've also kept a colorblind-friendly alternate color scheme, accessible in the preferences menu.
Benefits of the New System
- More Detailed Forecasts: instead of showing a yellow indicator for all hours, you can now spot better conditions as the color tends towards green.
- Enhanced Logic: we separately assess swell quality and wind quality, then combine them intelligently. For example, stronger swell power can compensate for strong onshore winds, resulting in a better recommendation.
- Factors Considered: we factor in the cleanliness of the swell and choppiness into the recommendation.
This update brings a more nuanced and accurate evaluation of surf conditions, helping you make better decisions for your surf sessions.
Have a look at the extra nuance this system brings in the screenshot below:
New overview in the home page
The conditions overview panel allows you to quickly compare the conditions at various surf spots around the island.
A colored bar displays the hourly recommendations, making it easy to see which spot has better conditions and at what time of the day.
While a brief sentence describes the current conditions, you can tap on any spot you're interested in to access a detailed hourly forecast.
More changes
Plenty of other areas have been changed:
- The forecast is now presented per spot rather than per area. This allows us to fine-tune recommendation based on the individual orientation of each spot.
- New visual identity. More contrast in our color palette, a more standard font, and a brand new wave shaped logo.
- The wind swell is now always displayed in the detailed forecast pages. This is especially useful for the spots in the East coast and sometimes in the South, where you rely on wind waves rather than ground swell...
- It is now possible to see the forecast in the past days.
- The description of forecasts in plain English has been fine-tuned.
- The pages layout has been redesigned for a better visual hierarchy.
- Sponsorship plans have been updated.
Next steps
I'd love to say "that's it, gonna.surf is ready, it's a finished product".
But there's always more to be done. I have plenty of ideas about how to make surf forecasting better. There is much more to write about surf in Fuerteventura, and the spots around here. It would be great to have gonna.surf available in Spanish and other languages, and also cover other islands and regions.
If you find gonna.surf useful and would like to support its development, please consider making a donation.
If you represent a business and see value in what we're doing, we'd be thrilled to discuss sponsorship opportunities. Your support will help us continue to improve and expand gonna.surf, making it an even better resource for the surfing community.
Thank you for your support, and happy surfing!