"Violence, especially against women, should never, ever be part of surfing."
Peacemakers are working overtime in Hossegor tonight after it was revealed local French surfers had given hell to competitors in a German gal contest there.
A damning video, more of a GIF than a video but a moving testimony nonetheless, shows one French surfer becoming “physically aggressive”, as they say, after dropping in on a competitor and pushing her off her surfboard.
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The gal on the wave Maya Sauer reports from the scene,
The event was fully approved by the city and paid for. All the necessary licenses were in place for that stretch of beach, flags were up and lifeguards on scene.
But still, a big group of freesurfers deliberately paddled out in the contest area. They dropped in on us on purpose, yelled at us, insulted us, and got physically aggressive.
The lifeguards tried getting everyone out of the water, but they didn’t listen at all.
The guy from the video who pushed me off the wave seemed to be proud of what he had done, showing no remorse after being confronted.
And let’s not forget: the contest had official permission for that stretch of beach, and the freesurfers had no right to be in the water during contest hours. On every other day, they’re the locals and may control the lineup, but not then.
I totally understand that It’s frustrating when your home spot feels more crowded every year. I’ve been coming to Hossegor for 11 years now, and I’ve seen how the vibe in the water has changed. There’s a lot of tension, and learning to deal with that can be tricky.
But there’s a line. And violence, especially against women, should never, ever be part of surfing.
It breaks my heart to see things heading in this direction. Surfing is supposed to bring people together. We’re all out there because we love the same thing. I hope we don’t lose sight of that.
Comments, naturally, disapproved of the action and made several good points.
I was shooting in the water when this happened. I tried to talk to the guy, but he was only satisfied with what he did because he lived there. If you’re a living in an area that only exists because of tourist infrastructure, and then you decide to paddle out onto a sandbank along a 106 km coastline during a girls’ heat just to annoy and push them—there might be something wrong. Hopefully, he finds a better hobby.
What we saw today was the most disrespectful behavior I experienced in 12 years of surfing and it made me really sad! As a german surfers who mostly need to travel for waves we need to show respect to locals anywhere we go and I consent with that. But respect is exchanged for respect. This guy and all other Contest-crashers with similar attitudes deserve something else.
Horrible attitude in the water the last few days in seignosse lately:/ bad vibes through and through – there is so many peaks along the coast why not just move over to the next one – and sad that the lifeguards get no respect from these „locals“.
From your viewpoint, many thousands of miles, how do you survey the scene?
I think pushing girls and being a pest during a surfing contest is a lose-lose scenario, the work of a beta male and very bad all around, although I also know, from living in the joint, how few good banks there are around Hossegor, despite the two hundred click coastline, and the boiling madness it’d generate if you rolled up to a surfing contest full of dang Huns.
Opinions sought.
