New Wave of Surf Girls.

Navigation: Main page

Author: Lewis, Jordana

TRENDS

If you're a woman, any year is good to be tanned and toned. But 2003 was an especially good year to hit the beach. As the most recent numbers reveal, female surfing peaked last year, when women made up 37 percent of the estimated 2.1 million board riders in the United States. In comparison, women were just 25 percent of the surfing population in 2002 and a mere 19 percent in 2001. And there's no sign the horizon will look any different this year. "In the last 10 years, Title IX, the surfing lifestyle and parents who surf have fueled this female increase," says Marie Case, the managing director of Board-Trac, an action-sports-marketing firm. "By the time [movies like] 'Blue Crush' hit, women were already getting in the water."

As quickly as female surfers have multiplied, so has the industry that caters to them. Surf Diva in La Jolla, Calif., is the Starbucks of female-only surfing clinics; it's the model for the scores of women's classes that have recently popped up around the world. This summer, Diva opened a surfer-chic boutique and launched the La Jolla Surf Camp for 6- to 16-year-olds.

Now women need to stick it out: the female median surfing age hovers at 20, while the male equivalent grows older. Men got on boards earlier and have stayed longer, so women must prove they won't wipe out.

PHOTO (COLOR): Beach babes: Surf's up--and so are the number of women surfers

~~~~~~~~

By Jordana Lewis