Surfing: Face of male-dominated sport changing

A female surfer rips at "Bowls" near Magic Island. Surfing among females has surged in popularity in recent years, delighting marketers but putting further pressure on crowded surfing spots. Today, up to 17 percent of all surfers are females, according to the head of the U.S. Surfing Federation. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Female surfing — depicted in the Hawai'i-based motion picture "Blue Crush" — continues to grow at a steady pace locally and nationally and has shown no signs of letting up.

Throughout the United States, females make up between 12 percent and 17 percent of all surfers. In the past three years, their numbers have increased 120 percent, according to Paul West, president of the United States Surfing Federation.

Figures in Hawai'i follow a similar pattern, although interest by women here in surfing predates many other areas of the country.

"The current popularity of women's surfing started here maybe 10 years ago," said Jack Shipley, a longtime judge and official for the Hawai'i Amateur Surfing Association. "It's sort of grown steadily since then, and I think it's still growing."

Shipley was in Virginia Beach, Va., last week to judge a surfing contest. He said much of the buzz on the beach focused on "Blue Crush" — a movie about three young women struggling to maintain the balance between surfing and other life issues in Hawai'i. It has been ranked among the top five grossing movies in the nation since its release two weeks ago.

Karen Howard of England, learns to surf off Waikiki. "Surfing has become a legitimate sport for girls," says one longtime surf judge. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

At a surf contest put on by the Hawai'i Conference of the National Scholastic Surfing Association last week on Kaua'i, there were 25 female entries.

Only a few years ago, fewer than 10 girls were registering for the NSSA contests, said Bobbi Lee, director of the NSSA's Hawai'i conference.

"I was really surprised — pleasantly surprised — at how many girls turned out," Lee said. "It shows that there are a lot of young girls getting out there and taking this sport seriously."

Coco Ho, a sixth-grader at Sunset Beach Elementary School and a contestant in NSSA events, said more girls are signing up for contests because "it's fun and you get to surf with only a few other girls out."

Ho, who had a minor surfing role in Blue Crush (she portrayed one of the main characters as a child), said she has noticed the increase in female surfers within the past two years.

"When I was maybe 8 or 9, I didn't see that many girls surfing," said Ho, 11. "But now, I always see three of my (girl) friends from school out there ... there's also a lot of bigger girls out there."

According to Shipley, of the 200 or so contestants registered for HASA events this year, approximately 40 are female, including shortboard surfers, longboard surfers and bodyboarders. That's four times as many as would have registered a decade ago.

The proliferation of all-female surf contests is a further indication that the sport has flourished in Hawai'i. Female-only contests sponsored by internationally recognized surf companies are now held annually on Kaua'i and at Waikiki and Makaha.

The China Uemura Wahine Classic, which was held in June in Waikiki, drew 230 females of all ages. About half that number entered the contest when it started five years ago.

"Surfing has become a legitimate sport for girls," Shipley said. "I think everybody is realizing that now."

The largest growth for female participants has come in the longboard divisions. The size of a typical longboard (about 9 feet), makes it easier to balance and thus offers a faster learning curve.

Diane Tachera, director of the Hawaiian Longboard Federation, said the number of women at longboard competition has risen slightly in the five years the HLF first started holding them.

Tachera, a longboard surfer, said the number of female longboarders is even greater outside of the contest scene.

"Ten, 15 years ago, it was kind of uncommon to see a girl longboarding," she said. "I would be the only girl out there a lot of times. Now it's uncommon if you don't see girls out there longboarding."

Jeannie Chesser, who has been surfing in Hawai'i for more than 30 years, said the growth of female surfing was inevitable because of the growth of the sport in general.

And that growth, she said, has created both positive and negative effects. The positive includes the increased exposure women surfers now receive.

"Now, you see shots of women surfing all the time whether they are known or unknown," said international surf photographer Bernie Baker. "Commercially, this explosion of women's surfing was the best thing that could have happened to the sport. It's just created so many more opportunities."

On the negative side, most surfing spots on O'ahu have become too crowded. What's more, Chesser says that women surfers are not as skilled as the men, and thus can sometimes create dangerous situations.

"A lot of people who are out there in some of the high-performance waves like Ala Moana Bowls should not be out there," she said. "They get in the way and don't know how to handle themselves. It needs to go back to like the old days when certain (beach) spots were for beginners and then you would progress to the better spots."

At the same time, the increase in participation has led to an increase in talent among female surfers.

"It's shocking," Shipley said of the difference between female surfing now and 20 years ago. "You can go back just five years and say there's been a whole step up in the performance level of the women. In the past, when it was time for the women to surf, everybody on the beach kind of took a break and didn't pay too much attention. Not anymore."

The growth of female surfing has also created a change in the industry. Almost every major surf-apparel company now has a successful female line. Quiksilver created Roxy in the mid-1990s, and others soon followed — Billabong Girls and Rip Curl Girl, for example.

At the Local Motion surf shops in Hawai'i, the ratio of men's items to women's is approximately 70 to 30, according to director of marketing Calvin Maeda.

"There's just a whole new awareness of the surfer girl now," Maeda said. "A movie like 'Blue Crush' will create even more recognition and that helps us as retailers."

Even though general business has been down for surf companies in the past year, Maeda said the female market has yet to peak.

"It's still growing, and I think it will continue to grow," Maeda said. "That girlfriend who used to sit on the beach to wait for her boyfriend to finish surfing is now out there surfing with her boyfriend."

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.