A dangerous sport

Surfing is a really popular sport. But it is not without any risks. Each year, 40 to 50 people die while surfing around the world. And several hundred get severe injuries. And risks are the same for other water riding sports like kitesurfing or windsurfing.

One of the most famous threats in surfing is the shark attacks. This is mainly due to different Hollywood's movies that created this myth of man eating sharks. There is not so many shark attack on surfers. But it is true that surfing increase risks of getting bitten by a shark. Sharks see the surfboard a they could see otters, that are their principal prey along coasts. Thus sharks attack more easily surfers. But this number is still small as their were a total of 53 attacks in 2013 and only 600 people died from shark attacks in the past 60 years. However some shark attacks still occur in surfing and boards bitten by sharks make nice trophee.

Another danger of surfing is the possibility to be taken to the sea by currents. The stronger sweel often come with wind and this create big currents that can get surfers carried away from shore, sometimes very far from the coast. One of this phenomena is called baïne. It appears in specific place, mainly in Gironde, France. It is part of the beach were a really strong current is going out shore. The stream can get surfers very far away from the shore and gets them stranded. Each year, coast guard all around the world have to get inattentive surfers out of delicate situation. The emergence of kitesurfing has even increase this derives as the wind carries some practicer away along with the stream.

This sports all come with a lot of risky situation. Thus, it is important for new practicants to get lessons with some advices about how to avoid it.

The Surfing Culture

During the 20s, Hawaiian people spread surfing out of their native island, mainly in California. Some rich and famous people helped its development. But it was in the 60s that this sport became a really popular sport due to its practice in Australia and California.

This gain in popularity is mainly due to the development of new board that made it easier and more impressive. Long boards' Tricks are mainly composed of cross stepping and nose riding. But short boards that were introduced in the late 60s permitted a whole new range of maneuvers, allowing short and sharp turns and jumps. And this gave a new dimension to surfing, more visually impressive, that attracted a lot of new people.

The development of new materials during the WWII permitted to develop new conception for the boards and to make lighter and more resistant boards. In 1946, Pete Peterson shaped the first fiberglass board and was closely followed by Joe Quigg and Bob Simmons. They developed several design and sold some boards along the Californian coast while traveling from surf spot to surf spot. Dale Velzy saw an opportunity with those new design and opened a surf shop to distribute this new materials boards.

Duke Kahanamoru had introduced surfing in Australia in 1915. But it was in 1956, with the development of modern surfing, that a surfing culture emerged in Australia. A group of Californian life guard, came bringing with them those new boards. The Australian scene changed from those point, due to the big impact of those new comer on the local surfers. Local board shapers bought some of the newcomers' boards and started to experiment with it and mad new designs.

In the late 60s, Dick Brewer came with a new idea. He shaped boards with half the size of the normal ones. This new design allowed faster surfing and made possible more maneuverability. In the same time, experiments with the fins showed that twin fins design permitted more stability on the water. The shapers experimented once again lots of design to find way to gain more speed, stability and maneuverability. And in 1971, Jack O'Neil came with the final part of the modern surf boards, the leash, that permits to keep boards from breaking so quickly. The modern surfboard were born. The World Championships of 1968 were won by Nat Young, a Australian surfer, on a short board and this started the “short board revolution”.

Meanwhile, Hollywood's industry and Californian music promoted the surfing culture. The beach boys, first American group from 1961 to 1965 promoted the theme of surfing with 3 albums that were international success. And different movies showed those young athletic men surfing on the Californian coast. With this, the image of surfing became popular and entered in the Californian dream.