What Happens in a Surf Competition?

11 April, 2016

Being out in the waters and having fun riding the waves is just a part of all surf events. This gathering of surfers is also a way to compete with each other. Every surfing enthusiast is encouraged to attend surf events. Surf competitions are usually organized by local rider clubs and can be planned through different competition levels. The levels for these competitions also include regional, state, national and international surf events. These surfing competition events are also some of the fun things to do Adelaide.

During an event competing surfers wear a colored competition vest for them to be identified with. The usual colors for the competition vests are white, red, blue or yellow.

Competition Score

The judges for the competition usually based their scoring with the range of difficulty, maneuvers, power and speed exhibited by the rider per heat. Completed and controlled radical maneuvers performed by the rider on the board will get them high scores.

Having a great performance per heat catches the eyes of the judges and will surely help out in analyzing the elements when scoring waves. Below is the list on which the judges base their analysis:

• Degree of difficulty and commitment or completion
• Innovative maneuvers
• Major maneuvers and other combinations
• Various maneuvers performed
• Flow, speed and power

Note that 10 points is the highest score that can be given by the judges to a rider per heat. The two highest scoring heats will be added together to determine the total points for the competition and this may only amount to a total of 20 points.

The Heat of Waves

Heat is the term used for each phase of the surf competition. This usually lasts up to 20-35 minutes. For each wave, every rider can only catch a maximum of 15 waves.

When watching an ongoing heat, you can check the announcement for the best surfers through the updates. The announcements are delivered to let everyone know who is currently surfing, how well they are doing and if they are already done.

Keep in mind that all surfers are placed into randomly picked heats. During every heat each rider is being scored for each of the waves they catch. Once the surfer is out in the water and stands up on the board the judges immediately considers it as a wave.

What do the surfers win?

The prizes for the event usually depend on the level of competition. Local board riders club usually hands out trophy to the winners. Cash prizes are normally given out when the competition is a national or international surf event.