Double Six Beach, Bali, Indonesia – How do you put an end to a stubborn flat spell? Gather a small army of eager women surfers on the beach and simply watch the waves roll in.
Nearly 100 women surfers showed up Sunday at Bali’s Double Six Beach for RipCurl’s sixth annual Girls Go Surfing Day, and the waves followed suit. Clean, 3-to-4 foot lines from a building swell graced the beach all day, bringing relief to local surfers after going five straight days without a swell and smiles to everyone on hand for Girls Go Surfing Day.
Over the past 15 years, the global learn-to-surf program has helped
hundreds of women develop the skills and confidence to ride the waves,
with events held in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Brazil, the
United States and Europe. This year’s event in Bali, sponsored by Clean
& Clear, more than accomplished its goal of “promoting the health
and well-being of the female youth in Indonesia.”
Women surfers as young as eight and as old as 60 received top notch
instruction from the certified instructors at the Rip Curl School of
Surf and took pointers from Rip Curl team riders, including Diah Rahayu
(Seminyak), Nyoman Satri (Kuta) and Alisa Mertens (Holland). RipCurl
male team riders Garut Widiarta (Kuta), Mega Semadhi (Uluwatu), Gobleg
Suyadya (Uluwatu) and Pepen Hendrik (Kuta) also turned out to show
their support and hang with the girls.
After riding her first wave this week as a student at the RipCurl
School of Surf, Jantine de Vroome, 32, vacationing in Bali from
Amsterdam, was intent on participating in the festivities Sunday.
“They guaranteed I would stand up on the first day and I did,”
Vroome said of her lessons with RipCurl. “I’m headed to Spain in a
couple of weeks and I definitely am going to continue surfing there.
For me, I don’t like just lying around on the beach, so surfing is
perfect for me.”
The morning’s surfing clinics were followed by the main event: the
women’s pro-am surf contest. The field of 32, which included local
Indonesian rippers and women surfers from as far away as Japan and
Australia was pared down to a thrilling final between the 4 riders
Diah, Bone, Yesco and Stella. By mid day the swell kicked securing
great conditions for the showdown. In the end Rip Curl teamrider Diah
Rahayu (14) took the lead to finish first and securing her first ever
win of her still young surfing career.
“To have (an all-girl) contest and events like this is great,”
RipCurl rider Diah said. “It makes me practice and makes me a better
surfer. It shows the girls that we can be just as good as the boys –
maybe better!”
RipCurl will look to continue to its commitment to promoting the
sport of surfing among women with more contests and clinics in the
coming months.
“Our goal is to run an enjoyable and contemporary national program
that will inspire and positively influence future female surfers of
today,” Rip Curl event manager Dhanny said.
