Fraternity Manuals

Surfing

From Open Encyclopedia

See World Wide Web for "surfing" the web; see also Windsurfing

Image:Surfing in Hawaii.jpg Surfing (Hawaiian: he‘e nalu, "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 a flat, wide board. Most modern surfboards are made of urethane foam (with one or more wooden strips or "stringers"), fiberglass cloth, and polyester resin. An emerging surf technology is an epoxy surfboard, made from a different material. Epoxy boards are stronger and lighter than traditional fiberglass boards.

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History

Originally developed by Hawaiian islanders (see Ngaru), 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.

The sport exploded in popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, when cheaper, more maneuverable, and lighter boards made of fiberglass and foam became available and the teenaged baby boomers headed to the beach in droves to enjoy the maneuverability and stunts made possible by the new boards. The sport has spread to most places where waves of sufficient size and shape appear, including Brazil, Costa Rica, France, Ireland, México, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, and many island states including Barbados in the Caribbean and Tahiti in the Pacific. Long Island is also a very popular spot for surfing.

Equipment used in surfing includes a leash (to keep a surfer's board from washing to shore after a 'wipeout', and to prevent it from hitting other surfers), surf wax and/or traction pads (to keep a surfers feet from slipping off the deck of the board), and "skegs" (also known as fins) which can either be permanently attached ("glassed-on") or interchangeable. In warmer climates swimsuits, surf trunks or boardshorts are worn; in cold water surfers can opt to wear wetsuits, booties, hoods, and gloves to protect them against lower water temperatures.

Surfing's appeal probably derives from an unusual confluence of elements: adrenaline, skill, and high paced maneuvering 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 their board in challenging conditions, but by their ability to execute various maneuvers 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) and, if the surf conditions allow it, tuberiding. This is the holy grail of surfing, where the surfer maneuvers 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' or 'close-out', meaning that they break in large parts at a time.

The drama of surfing obscures the sport's mundane aspects. Most people only see the pros riding and miss (when televised) or ignore the time-consuming paddling out and waiting required to get a surfer into position.

Competitive surfing is a comparison sport. 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 maneuvers. There is a professional surfing world championship series held annually at surf beaches around the world.

Although competitive surfing has become an extremely popular and lucrative activity, both for its participants and its sponsors, the sport does not have its origins as a competitive pursuit. 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 (See also: tow-in surfing). These waves were previously unrideable due to the speed at which they travel. Some waves reach speeds of over 60 km/h; 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.

Image:Oahu North Shore surfing catching wave.jpg

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Understanding waves

Surfing conditions at a particular location or "break" that is known for surfing (see below) are almost never ideal. Wind blown consistently over a large area of fetch, or open water, generates waves. These waves use a drafting effect similar to race cars and cyclists to travel vast distances efficiently. To learn more about surf meteorology, see StormSurf's Tutorials. As waves near their ultimate destination (land), the bottom of the wave begins to run aground as the water becomes more shallow.

There are two primary factors that contribute to the general characteristics of waves at a particular break: (1) the "swell window" or the exposure of the location to wave-generating areas of fetch, and (2) the structure of the ocean floor (composition, shape).

The swell window determines the potential of a break to receive waves. In general, the western coast of any continent usually has better breaks since winds (and, therefore, waves) tend to travel from west to east. Coastlines that face east or south (in the Northern Hemisphere) or north (in the Southern Hemisphere) that are exposed to tropical storms and hurricanes can also be surfable on a consistent basis. When waves break along a section of coastline at an angle almost perpendicular to the land, these special locations, known as point breaks, can produce very long-lasting waves that can be surfed for several hundred meters. The two main types of waves for surfing apart from the pointbreak are the reef break (waves breaking over a coral reef or rockbed) and the beach break (waves breaking onto sand bars).

The structure of the ocean floor is the biggest factor that determines the broad characteristics of waves at a particular break. For instance, there are beach breaks (soft sand bottom) that generate slower, mushy waves and reef breaks (coral reef or rock bottom) that tend to generate faster, more powerful waves. Based on the structure of the ocean floor, a location may break better on a particular tide, say, an incoming high tide or a low-low tide.

Local wind conditions, water temperature, solar radiation, the crowd factor, hazardous aquatic life, water pollution, and aggression of local surfers are other factors that can have impact on the experience one might have surfing at a particular break.

The availability of free model data from the NOAA has allowed the creation of several Surf forecasting websites. These automatically combine the above variables into a presentation of how good the surf will be.

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Popular surfing areas

Image:Wave kils.jpg Image:Wellenreiter Eisbach.jpg Surfing is a global sport; one can find a surfer in almost every coastal nation in the world.

The west coast of the Americas tends to have better surfing areas than the east coast. While the continental shelf of the west coast drops off quickly, on the east it extends a great distance, creating drag and making smaller and less powerful waves.

  • Puerto Rico
    • The West Coast in the Island has A-frame breaks, with international surfers coming every season for the taste of huge waves. The North Coast has consisten overhead spectacular breaks prolonged months of the year. The Southern and Eastern part of the Island have good breaks that don't get ridden that often.
  • Barbados
    • The most easterly of the Caribbean territories (ie closest to Cape Verde, Africa etc), the island's location far out in the Atlantic Ocean allows waves to travel thousands of kilometers on the bottom of the sea to finally unload all the power they developed during the long oceanic journey over Barbados' coral reefs. These reefs extend to completely surround Barbados' coastline, providing unlimited surfing conditions all around at almost any given day of the year. If categorised according to power and size, the East Coast is the premier surfing spot; an area known as the 'Soup Bowl' is of international significance in the surfing world. This is where Kelly Slater impressively made his comeback onto the world tour of pro surfing in 2002. The rugged Northwest features consistent 'Duppys' and other breaks that can easily live up to Hawaiian standards.
  • Hermosa Beach
    • The heart of Southern California, Hermosa Beach is a surf spot with extreme consistency and world class shape.


Anywhere else waves hit the shore. Many surfers are seen as territorial, hence the expression "locals only"; or as the rock group The Surf Punks put it, "my beach, my wave, my girl, so fuck you!".

The expression "Surf Nazi" appeared in the 1980s to describe territorial and authoritarian surfers.

Other surfers, however, known as "soul surfers", hold less aggressive views towards others. These surfers see surfing as more than a sport; it is an opportunity to harness the waves in and to relax and forget about their daily routines. This type of surfing has seen a rise in popularity recently.

Global warming, environmental damage, and increasing riparian development may continue to increase pressure on the sport. Global warming may produce bigger waves...or a return, through altering ocean currents, to a new ice age. Oil spills and toxic algae growth can threaten surfing regions. And, many wealthy homeowners have tried to prevent free access to beaches in violation of English and American common law traditions, in which "the strand" is not private property.

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Surfing culture

See surf culture

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Surfing movies

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Surf brands

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Famous and notable surfers

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See also

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External links

da:Surfing de:Wellenreiten es:Surf fr:Surf it:Surf he:גלישת גלים nl:Surfen ja:サーフィン pl:Surfing pt:Surf ru:Сёрфинг scn:Surfing zh:衝浪

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