“To be surfing in a No 10 typhoon is absolutely ludicrous..."
The Hong Kong surf community has been torn apart, entering a brutal internecine war, as Typhoon Wipha moves closer. The Hong Kong Observatory rated the storm a No. 10 early Sunday morning, the highest-level possible warning, with wind speeds up over 118 km/h.
Now, surfers, as you know, and especially surfers living in generally wave-less places, crave the swell-producing energy of storms. A Hong Kong surf school, Go Surf HK which “provides professional ISA surfing lessons” thrilled with the pulse and began advertising a 20 percent discount for those who signed up for class with No 10 typhoon rating still in effect.
It’s tagline, “The bigger the wave, the better it gets.”
Other surfers, though, became furious at the audacity. One angrily telling the South China Morning Post, “To be surfing in a No 10 typhoon is absolutely ludicrous. It shows a total lack of respect for the power of the ocean. And with the current pressure by the government to ban surfing, it puts added stress on those of us who love to surf and teach surfing responsibly.”
Another, spewing, “The typhoon is too close to the land and shore that waves and wind can go from zero to one hundred. Things can escalate quickly … waves and winds can go nuts.”
Still, a Go Surf HK instructor allegedly went and surfed the madness, posting a clip to Instagram which seems to have been scrubbed.
But where do you fall, here? Are you a safety first gal or devil-may-care sort?
If you were in Hong Kong, currently, would you be waxing up or excoriating those even thinking about it?
More as the story develops.