Pro Surfing and Contests
Billabong Pro Maui final, or why it sucks to be on the Dream Tour light
We all know that there’s less glamour, glory, fame and money is being a female professional surfer. On contest money alone, the guys earn more than three times what the ladies do in any given event. While this seems far from fair given the incredible number of women and girls taking to the sport in recent years, event organizers will quickly point out that the numbers are more than fair, given that there are only 17 surfers on the Women’s World Tour, while there are 45 surfers on the men’s World Tour.
Another point of difference on the ladies tour is the locations. Some of the lesser spots are places more likely to host a less desireable WQS contest, rather than a top level surfing event. Spots like Brazil, Sydney, Peru, and even Maui, are locations that the men’s elite tour would frown upon (remember the mass absentee group from this year’s Brazil event?), yet the ladies must head to these less desirable locations for their livelihood. While many (including some of the girls on tour) will argue that spots like Teahupoo, Tavarua and Pipeline are too heavy for some of the gals on tour, it seems almost unfair that they aren’t given better alternatives to some of the locations where their events are held. Why not throw them an event at Lower Trestles? Or how about Jeffrey’s Bay? Or, how about Bali or the Maldives?
Take a look at this video of Steph Gilmore (AUS) and Melanie Bartels (HAW) duking it out in small backup surf on Maui, while Oahu’s North Shore continued to pump. Kind of seems unfair, no?
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