A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Inboard water-jet-powered craft often referred to as a Jet Ski, and generally thought of as the motorcycle of the boating world; used for recreation and lifeguarding; celebrated and reviled among surfers as the motorized component of big-wave tow-in riding. In 2003, the average tow-in surfing personal watercraft (PWC) was eight feet long and weighed 600 pounds, with a two-stroke 155-horsepower motor. PWCs are usually ridden by one person, but larger models can seat three; they go as fast as 65 miles per hour on flat water. PWC drivers don't need to be licensed, but must be 16 or older in most American states. Motocross rider Clayton Jacobsen of Arizona developed the one-man Sea-Doo PWC prototype in 1968, but it was motorcycle manufacturer Kawasaki who popularized the new machine in 1973, introducing the Jet Ski, a gas-powered 34-horsepower stand-up model with handlebar steering. The sit-down, multi- passenger PWC was introduced in the late '80s. California longboarder Herbie Fletcher had by then used a PWC to ride places like Pipeline and Waimea Bay in Hawaii. PWC usage in the United States increased 400 percent between 1990 and 1996. As of 2003, a PWC cost between $5,000 and $9,000. The vast majority of PWC users are weekend and vacation riders on lakes and rivers; some compete in regional, national, or international races. Ocean lifeguard agencies adopted PWCs in the early '90s for rescue and patrol use. Shortly afterward, a handful of surfers in Hawaii reinvented big-wave riding by attaching a 30-foot towline to the rear of the craft to give a rope-holding surfer a whip-start into gigantic waves. Whereas paddle-in surfers were unable to catch waves bigger than 30 feet, tow-in surfers— riding the Yamaha WaveRunner GP1200R model almost exclusively—would soon be riding 50-footers. PWCs have also been used during world pro tour events to quickly shuttle contestants back to the takeoff area after riding a wave. PWCs had meanwhile become hugely unpopular among some groups. U.S. Coast Guard statistics show that while PWCs represent less than 10 percent of total boats, they consistently account for more than 25 percent of annual boating accidents; the two- stroke engine used on virtually all PWCs dumps as much as one-third of its fuel load unburned into the water; a 1999 issue of Time magazine listed the PWC as one of "The 100 Worst Ideas of the Century." San Francisco big-wave rider Mark Renneker spoke for all surfers who value a quiet, smoke-free surfing environment when he described the PWC as "sickening" and "rapacious." PWCs in America are subject to a series of ever-changing state and local regulations (rarely enforced during heavy surf), and have been banned outright in some areas, including Marin County in California, San Juan County in Washington, and the Cape Cod National Seashore. See also: big-wave surfing, tow-in surfing.

personal watercraft

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History of Surfing

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History of Surfing

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