Surfing in the New York Times: Surf’s Up, and Upscale, as Sport Reverses Its Beach Bum Image
Matt Higgins, reporter with the New York Times, recently wrote on the new image of surfing: how it’s changing from its previous beach bumb image to being seen as high-end upscale sport. As more professionals take up the sport, surfing provides more than just physical and mental benefit: now you can surf and discover networking opportunities at the same time.
“For $10,000 a day, you can have the ultimate surfing sojourn in Indonesia aboard the 110-foot Indies Trader IV, a sort of floating hotel with 15 cabins, a helipad and three-course meals with wine. A motorized tender takes you to the waves. Or for a daily rate, in addition to the cost of his airfare, Brad Gerlach will give private instruction to select clients anywhere in the world. Mr. Gerlach, who was ranked No. 1 on surfing’s world professional tour during the 1986 and 1991 seasons, termed the cost “not cheap at all.â€
Surfing, once the sport of Hawaiian kings, has come full circle. After becoming a counterculture activity for beach bums and bohemians, it has emerged as a status sport, like skiing and golf.
“It’s sort of lost that dirtbag appeal,†said Isabelle Tihanyi, who with her twin, Caroline, started Surf Diva, a school based in La Jolla, Calif., that caters mostly to women, a growing segment of surfers. “Now you see more yuppies in the water with a brand-new board and a brand-new S.U.V. — all the latest technical gear.†click here to read full article
