Real women take surfing seriously

Associated Press

CARLSBAD, Calif. — Straddling a longboard, Kim Kennis scanned the incoming waves, searching for one packing enough height and force.

Megan Abubo of O'ahu is a world-class surfer. Like other female athletes, Abubo's presence has helped dispel the bikini babe image, and athletic-minded women now make up one of the fastest growing groups of new surfers. Advertiser library photo • March 2001

For five days, she had listened, practiced and shared the frustration that came with learning a new sport. Kennis and 20 others are enrolled in Surf Divas, a camp for women.

Now in the water, the 35-year-old antiques dealer bobbed on her surfboard as she looked at the waves rolling in to South Carlsbad State Beach. Then she saw it, a soft swell building in the distance.

"This isn't the end — you know, a come-to-California-and-learn-to-surf vacation, and then go home and forget it," she said later on the beach. "This is the beginning. This is a sport I'm learning, I'm going to continue, and I'm going to invest in."

That's the attitude, industry analysts said, that a growing number of women have been expressing about the sport in recent years. In response, surfing companies increasingly cater to women, sponsoring weeklong camps and clothing lines.

Analysts point to the rising number of women with disposable incomes, the adventure sports movement and the success of targeted advertising by mainstream retail giants, such as Nike.

"Suddenly, in the summer of 2001, the climate is just right for a lot of these women to take that step and get out there," said Elizabeth Glazner, founder and co-editor of Wahine, a women's surfing magazine.

"It's not because somebody created a board short for women. It's because people have been out in the sand for years watching their kids, their boyfriends, their husbands do it and finally asked, 'Why can't I do it?"'

The Surf Industry Manufacturing Association reported at its annual meeting this spring that the number of businesses offering surfing products for women and girls had increased nearly 75 percent between 1997 and 2000. It also found that major surfing retailers, such as Billabong and Reef, had made significant marketing changes to target women.

The babes in bikinis who dominated advertisements in the 1980s and 1990s have been replaced by athletes. Most visible are world-ranked competitors such as Lisa Anderson, who became the first female professional surfer with a signature shoe line.

"Using real athletes, real women works," said Jessica Trent, a marketing manager for Billabong. "You don't have to have a cookie-cutter girl."

Christina Shires, 29, of Seattle, is among the women targeted by businesses. A year ago, she had never held a surfboard. Today, she owns one. She admits that "a lot of people asked if I was going through a mid-life crisis."

Women-owned small businesses also are finding a place in the industry.

At the recent Surf Summit, the surfing industry's annual gathering in Mexico, more than 70 percent of the businesses represented were owned by women, according to Glazner.

"There were a lot of stores, companies owned by men who were selling what they thought a woman should buy. Women know what women want to buy, what they need," said Isabella Califano, co-owner of Chickabiddy, a small surf clothier.

But perhaps the greatest indicator is the proliferation of women-only surf clinics and camps.

Five years ago, Surf Divas was one of the only surf schools offering individual instruction, clinics and weeklong camps for women. Today, more than a dozen such schools have popped up around the nation.

"These kinds of schools offer patience, that nurturing that's needed," said Isabelle Tihanyi, co-owner of Surf Divas.

For about $600 a week, Surf Diva participants receive two three-hour surfing sessions a day, use of a board and wet suit, and room and board — a tent and outdoor cookouts at South Carlsbad State Beach. No men are allowed.

"Men and women are different. The way they learn is different. Their bodies are different. The way they surf is different," Tihanyi said. "Surfing by itself can be intimidating. If you throw men in the mix, it can become overwhelming for some women."

Cat Beagan-Gorlick, a 30-year-old Web designer from Queens, N.Y., had always heard that surfing was for guys. But by Day 4 at Surf Divas, she was ready to do it herself.

As she popped up on her board, Lesley Gregory, a 46-year-old elementary school teacher from Temecula, Calif., cheered her on. Later, Gregory got up on her board to cheers from others in the water.

The camp also teaches surfing etiquette, lingo and proper attire.

Board shorts and wet suits are recommended. Bikinis are a no-no. According to Tihanyi, "The wave will just take it right off."