Surfing

Surfing (Hawaiian: he'enalu, "wave-sliding") is a very popular recreational activity and sport in which individuals are propelled across the water by the force of waves, while standing on, predominantly, GRP (fibreglass) boards. Wooden and foam boards ("foamies") are also used.

Originally developed by Hawaiian islanders before the 15th century, he'e nalu spread in the early 20th century to the mainland USA and Australia, where heavy timber "plank" boards were ridden directly towards beaches. However, the sport exploded in popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, when cheaper, more manoeuvrable, and lighter boards made of fibreglass and foam became available. The teenager baby boomers headed to the beach in droves to enjoy the manoeuvrability and stunts made possible by these new boards. The sport has now spread to most places where waves of sufficient size and the right shape appear, including France, Brazil, South Africa, Ireland and many island states.

Wetsuits are often worn to keep surfers warm in colder water. Other surfing equipment includes leashes (to keep a surfer's board from washing to shore after a 'wipeout', and to prevent it from hitting other surfers), wax and/or traction pads (to keep a surfers feet from slipping off the deck of the board), interchangeable "skegs" (also known as fins), and of course in warmer climates, surf trunks or board shorts. In cold water surfers can opt to wear booties, hoods, and gloves in addition to a wetsuit to cope with lower water temperatures.

Surfing has a unique and often powerful appeal, which probably derives from an unusual confluence of elements: adrenaline, skill, and high paced manoeuvring are set against a naturally unpredictable backdrop - an organic environment that is, by turns, graceful and serene, violent and formidable. Surfers' skills are tested not only in their ability to control the craft in challenging conditions, but by their ability to execute various manoeuvres such as:

the 'cutback' (turning back toward the breaking part of the wave)
the 'floater' (riding on the top of the breaking curl of the wave)
'off the lip' (banking off the top of the wave)
the 'aerial' (arcing through the air above the wave)

If surf conditions allow it, tuberiding may be performed. This is the 'holy grail' of surfing, where the surfer manoeuvres into a position where the wave curls over the top of them, forming a "tube" (or "barrel"), with the rider inside the cylindrical portion of the wave. However, such situations do not exist if the waves 'dump', meaning that they break in large parts at a time (also known as a close-out).

The image of surfing powerfully differs from the sport in reality. Most people only see the pros riding; most of surfing has to do with paddling out and waiting 'outside'.

Competitive surfing is a comparison sport where riders, competing in pairs or small groups, are allocated a certain amount of time to ride waves and display their prowess and mastery of the craft. Competitors are then judged according to how competently the wave is ridden, including the level of difficulty, as well as frequency, of manoeuvres. There is a professional surfing world championship series held annually at surf beaches around the world.

Though in recent years, competitive surfing has become an extremely popular and lucrative activity, both for professional competitors and sponsors. It is common to hear debate rage between purists of the sport, who still maintain the ideal of 'soul surfing', and surfers who engage in the competitive and, consequently, commercial side of the activity.

A non-competitive adventure activity involving riding the biggest waves possible (known as "rhino hunting") is also popular with some surfers. A practice popularised in the 1990s has seen big wave surfing revolutionised, as surfers use jetskis to tow them out to a position where they can catch previously unrideable waves. Some waves reach speeds of more than 60km; jetskis enable surfers to reach the speed of the wave thereby making them rideable. Jetskis not only allow surfers to ride these waves but allow them to survive 'wipeouts'. In many instances surfers would not survive the battering of the 'sets' (groups of waves together) without drowning.

This spectacular activity is extremely popular with television crews, but because such waves rarely occur in heavily populated regions, and usually only a very long way out to sea on outer reefs, few spectators see such events directly.