John Stahl

www.johnstahlphoto.com

Wahine Surfers
The art and sport of surfing has gone through many changes since the early days of Duke Kahanamoku and redwood boards in Waikiki, through the California craze, to corporate-sponsored big wave North Shore contests. In all of this, it has been male–dominated. As in so many other fields, women have been unequally recorded partners, but it hasn’t been from lack of fervor or skills. 

Today there are many highly enthusiastic and talented, even driven, wahine surfers. The nose-riding longboarders of Waikiki and Waianae and Chun’s are growing in ranks and dance up and down their floating stages in a waterborne ballet, a graceful hula. There are also the highly physical, explosive, daring wahine on short boards and fast waves, thrashing out a hula all their own. They charge hard and take on challenging waves, and express a connection to the sea and waves that is at the same time technical and graceful, aggressive and feminine, bold and playful. In such a male dominated sport, the women participants necessarily stand out. Their numbers are fewer but their zeal equals the men turn for turn. Of course, women are now being welcomed to contest the massive surf of Waimea and Peahi, and acquitting themselves wonderfully, but there is joy on a smaller, more intimate scale on the fast, head-high waves of the North Shore on Oahu that so naturally allows expressive surfing, not the death defying risk taking of challenging monsters, but a dance upon the face of a wave; balance, grace, movement – hula.