Surfrider Foundation, MAKING WAVES, Feb. 2003

Can Surfrider turn Blue Crush
into Green Activists?

By Matt McClain

Several years ago, surf apparel giant Quiksilver launched Roxy, a then new line of clothing and accessories designed and marketed specifically for women. While the Roxy line was hardly the industry's first line of women-specific clothing, its successful launch, rapid growth and eventual metamorphosis from a product line into its own division within the company seemed to signal the beginning of a new era. The handwriting was on the wall and it was being read by more than just the surf community; word was out among the general public. It was cool to be a surfer girl.

Not just cool mind you, but cool. Clothing manufacturers scrambled to expand their women's product lines. Magazine publishers launched new women's surfing magazines. Even Hollywood caught the wave, producing Blue Crush, one of last summer's top grossing films. Not surprisingly, MTV recently cast for a new reality TV series focusing on a traveling boat of professional women surfers.

Certainly women's involvement in surfing is nothing new. As far back as the 1930's Mary Ann Hawkins earned the respect of many surfing luminaries, including Doc Ball and Joe Quigg. During surfing's golden age of the late 50's and 60's, names like Linda Benson and Joyce Hoffman figured prominently. In the 70's, the sport took a progressive step forward as surfers like Margo Oberg, Rell Sunn and Jericho Poppler proved fundamental in the development of women's professional surfing. Throughout the 80's and 90's, scores of female surfers continued to raise the bar, proving once and for all that women could rip high performance and big wave surfing as hard as the guys. Yet, as we move further into the new millennium, this recent explosion of excitement and interest in women's surfing has many companies and organizations, including the Surfrider Foundation, asking the same question: Is this just media hype, or are the numbers of women being drawn to the sport actually increasing?

Making Waves contacted Marie Case from Board-Trac, the action sports industry's leading marketing research firm. According to their statistics, the number of total surfers in the United States has declined, from 2.43 million participants in 2000 to 2.26 million in 2001. However, the percentage of women who participate in the sport of surfing rose slightly, from 21% to 25% in 2001. According to Case, "What's really telling is the number of women in the water." She cites a recent survey indicating that between 1999 and 2001, the number of women purported to surf daily, rose 120%. "That number jumped even more dramatically in 2002," she continued. "As of the latest Board-Trac survey, the number of women who say they surf each day has grown an additional 160%." The bottom line? While the overall number of women surfers still trails the men by a lengthy margin, the number of women in the line-up each day is growing dramatically. [continued]

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