Tierza Davis, who grew up in Citrus Heights, began surfing three years ago after moving to San Francisco. She runs a women-only camp to introduce them to surfing. Sacramento Bee/Michael A. Jones

Surf's up, ladies

Why should guys have all the fun riding the waves? With movies and television providing a showcase, women are taking up surfing in rapidly rising numbers

By Debbie Arrington -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Wednesday, January 21, 2004

"I grew up in Citrus Heights, riding horses," the 34-year-old said. "It wasn't until a visit to Hawaii with my family that I got my first start of love of the ocean. Hawaii will do that to you."

Now, she rides boards. After moving to San Francisco, the former Sacramentan took up surfing three years ago and has made it her passion. Not only does she pursue perfect waves for herself, but Davis launched a women-only surf camp, Pura Vida Adventures -- with classes in Costa Rica -- to help introduce other women to the sport. The first trip, set for Jan. 31, sold out immediately, and six more are now planned.

"Women are different these days," Davis explained. "We're more into adventure. We want to try all these 'guy' sports. We see guys on the slopes snowboarding, or we see them in the waves. We want to do it, too."

Riding a new wave of popularity, surfing is the second fastest-growing participatory sport for women, trailing only golf, according to Board-Trac, an Orange County-based research company devoted to action sports. It also ranks as the sport women say they would most like to learn.

In the past four years, the number of female surfers has skyrocketed 280 percent, thanks to such mainstream influences as television and movies. Women now account for one of every four wave riders, Board-Trac said.

At the same time, women's professional surfing has taken off, led by Australia's Layne Beachley, the only surfer -- male or female -- to win six consecutive world titles.

"There are a lot more women in the water, and they are surfing better then some of the men," said California professional Julia Christian, who competes on the Association of Surfing Professional's World Championship Tour. "We are no longer just a pretty face in the lineup."

Beachley and other female pros, such as Rochelle Ballard and Keala Kennelly, have starred in recent surf films. That trio surfed together in "Step Into Liquid," a new "surfari" documentary from Dana Brown, son of "Endless Summer" filmmaker Bruce Brown.

"It was just like going surfing with your girlfriends, and filming eliminated the competitive vibe," said Beachley, 31.

Ballard and Kennelly worked as surf stunt doubles in the 2002 hit "Blue Crush," starring Kate Bosworth and billed as the "first women's surfing movie."

" 'Blue Crush' was a true expression of what it's like to be a surfer girl on the North Shore (of Oahu)," said Ballard, who turns 33 next month and has been surfing for more than 20 years. "It captured the true sense of what it's like to surf big waves, heavy barrels and the joy of surfing."

Also featuring women's surfing talents are such television shows as MTV's "Surf Girls" and WB's "Boarding House: North Shore."

"All this is just taking off," said Marc Franklin, a San Francisco sports marketing expert. "It's a huge phenomenon. It's a sport people think is cool."

Women's surfing also received much publicity recently because of 13-year-old Bethany Hamilton, who returned to surf competitively in Hawaii despite losing her left arm in a shark attack.

Like the men, female surfers travel the globe in search of waves. The women's pro tour includes stops in Malibu, Tahiti, Fiji, Hawaii, Australia, Portugal, France, Brazil and England.

Surf-themed vacations in exotic locations have become a popular draw for women. Davis chose Costa Rica for her surf camp because of its blend of atmosphere and waves, and then tested the concept with friends.

"That's how I created Pura Vida," she said of her camp. "I asked myself, how could I combine this perfect lifestyle and share it with others?"

A native of Carlsbad near San Diego, Christian received her start wave-riding from her brothers. "It didn't hurt that we lived a block from the beach," she added in an interview from Peru, where she is currently surfing.

She credits the pro influence with helping promote her sport outside the waves.

"This has created a huge market for women's clothing and equipment," said Christian, 21, a pro surfer for four years. "The major companies have branched off and made women's lines. There is Rip Curl Girl, Roxy and Billabong Girl, plus lots of others. This has created more opportunity for sponsorship and making a living out of surfing. Since the companies are doing well and continue to grow, so have women's salaries."

That boom is reflected in a tsunami of sales for surf-related gear and fashions.

Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver, maker of the popular Roxy line for girls and young women as well as men's surf gear, expects to break the $1 billion revenue mark in 2004 after a spectacular sales year, capped by a 37 percent jump in sales in 2003's final quarter.

As for female pro surfers' salaries, the top 20 women average about $20,000 per year in purse money but can earn many times that in endorsements. During her reign, Beachley has earned more than $440,000 in purses.

By comparison, the top 20 male pro surfers earn almost $90,000 in purse money on average, with former world champion Kelly Slater topping the $1 million mark last year in career earnings.

Women's surfing will always be synonymous with Gidget, the fictional surfer girl inspired by Kathy Kohner Zimmerman. Played by Sandra Dee in the original 1959 movie and Sally Field on TV, Gidget was a gutsy yet cute surfer girl in a world where guys ruled the beach.

Despite Gidget, surfing itself didn't always have the most wholesome image.

"I grew up in Florida near the ocean, but I didn't surf," said Monica Lee, a 36-year-old consultant and member of the Northern California Women's Surf Club. "Surfers back then were considered an unsavory lot. More than 20 years later, I decided to try it. It didn't take long before I got really, really hooked."

In just two years, membership in the club has soared to more than 350 boarders, many of them commuting from the Sacramento Valley to Santa Cruz and other surf spots.

"It's grown like crazy," Lee said of the club. "It's interesting to see people from all over, especially inland, and how far they have to travel to get to the water. We have members from Sacramento and Santa Rosa, places that you don't associate with surfing. But here in California, we're blessed with a lot of coastline, and we still have uncrowded surf up north."

Like Davis and Lee, many women have discovered wave-riding while in their 30s after excelling at other sports that require upper body strength, such as swimming or horse riding.

The return of longboards -- now lightweight and with soft tops -- has helped put more women in the water because they're easier to handle. In the 1960s, longboards weighed 75 pounds. Now, Lee rides a 9-foot-6 longboard that weighs about 20 pounds.

"I recently tested a carbon-fiber 9-foot board that weighed only 9 pounds," she said. "That was really, really fun to ride."

Lee directed the club's first surf fest last September at Pacifica's Linda Mar Beach. More than 70 contestants, age 6 to 53, participated, with another 75 women and girls taking surfing lessons in clinics. As evidence of surfing's appeal to marketers, the fest drew 54 sponsors, too, because surfing has always been more than a sport.

"Surfing is so seductive because it crosses over into so many other areas of your life," Lee said. "There's surfer music, surfer clothing, surfer movies, a surfer attitude. It's a whole lifestyle."

Added Davis: "You see Roxy in department stores. Everybody wants to be a surfer girl now, no matter how far they live from the beach."

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