Surf Competitions for All Girls – 2025
In general the rules of the current Surfing Australia Rule book apply.
Surfers must check Live Heats and/or whiteboard for heat details and rashie colour. Timing of heats may change and it is the responsibility of surfers to ensure they are in the competition zone in time for their heat. Free surfing during the competition may mean a surfer misses a rescheduled heat.
Heats are 20 minutes unless otherwise specified. Junior and Senior Beginner divisions start from the beach on the green flag. All other division heats start from the water.
Heat size is dependent on conditions and divisions. In general Opens, Longboards and Wahines will have 4 or less competitors per heat, whereas beginner and intermediate divisions may have more.
If there is more than one heat in a division 50% (plus one if an odd number in heat) will progress to the next round.
Flags
Beach flags mark the competition zone or zones if double banks are in use.
Green flag means a heat is live. Do not catch a wave before the green flag goes up.
A yellow flag means it is the final 5 minutes of the heat. The next heat can paddle out on the yellow 5min flag.
A red flag signals the end of the heat. Waves caught after the red flag is raised will not count. When the red flag goes up, come in lying down.
A hooter will sound at the beginning and the end of each heat.
The best two rides count and a maximum of 10 rides are scored.
We don’t use the priority system in our events.
Interference
The surfer who takes off closest to the breaking part of the wave has claimed that wave. Two surfers may ride the same wave if one rides left and the other rides right provided they do not cross paths. If you “drop-in” on a rider already riding a wave, it is interference. Waves caught by an interfering surfer are NOT scored. In addition the Head Judge has the authority to address interference issues, and the surfer at fault may face a penalty of a 50% deduction from their second-best scoring ride. This will only occur if the interfering surfer has not made an effort to kick out of the wave and avoid impacting the scoring potential of the surfer in possession of the wave.
Once a rider has possession of a wave, they retain right to the wave even if another surfer takes off behind them. If by taking off behind, it affects the scoring potential of the original surfer, it is interference.
Free surfing during the competition is only allowed outside the competition zone. Any competitor who surfs in the competition zone during the event will be disqualified.
Judging
We align with the Standard judging criteria Surfing Australia. Judges are looking for:
- Commitment and Degree of Difficulty
- Innovative and Progressive manoeuvres
- Combination of Major manoeuvres
- Variety of manoeuvres
- Speed, Power and Flow
Note the importance of manoeuvres on waves, so any completed manoeuvre should be scored higher than a wave that is caught and surfed without a manoeuvre – even if it is a longer ride.
For longboarders, in addition, we are looking for controlled manoeuvres in the critical section of the wave, utilising the entire board and wave using traditional longboard surfing. Style, flow, grace, nose-riding and footwork are all considered. Eg. Nose rides – touch 5 and 10’s and extended 5’s and 10’s, Cheater 5 nose rides, Cross-stepping and reverse walks, Layback cutbacks, Cutbacks – Drop knee, cross step, roundhouse, Tube rides – Cover-ups, Re-entries – Off the face and lip.
At the beginning and during the heat, the surfer must be clearly in possession of the wave on the wave face, making a movement to stand, her hands having left the rails (rail grabs excluded) for the wave to be scored.
Scores
Rides are scored from 0-10.
0.1 -1.9 Bad Wave
2.0- 3.9 Poor Wave
4.0-5.9 Average Wave
6.0-7.9 Good Wave
8.0-10.0 Excellent Wave
Scoring is relative to the conditions and the division. Eg. A wave that is 9.0 for a Beginner might be a 3.0 or 4.0 for an Opens surfer. In general the scoring should aim to use most of the scoring scale.
Everyone gets to judge!
When you finish your heat, return your rashie and be ready to judge the next heat ie. If you are in Heat 1, you should be judging Heat 3. Make sure you are down at the judging tent by the time the yellow flag is up for the heat before. Our Head Judge and Senior Surfers are always available to support you to learn judging so please always feel welcome to ask questions of the team.
There are 3 judges per heat, plus a fourth person as a spotter (who helps with identifying which coloured surfer is paddling for the wave). No more than 2 inexperienced judges to be judging at any one time. Only experienced judges to judge Open division, heats and finals.
DIVISION GUIDELINES
OPENS: An experienced shortboard surfer.
WAHINE MASTERS: As opens, as well as must be aged 45+ before the season commences
LONGBOARD: Any age, Boards 9 ft+
JUNIOR (Under 18) AND SENIOR (18 year +) BEGINNER: A novice surfer catching whitewash waves. Surfers are independent in the water. No restrictions on board size.
*Note for juniors: Surfers must be independent in the water– parents can be in the water but are not permitted to push surfers on the waves.
JUNIOR (Under 18) AND SENIOR (18 years +) INTERMEDIATE: Catching green waves, doing turns. Boards should be less than 9ft.
Surfers may only participate in the division for which they are registered. A maximum of 2 divisions is allowed per surfer eg. Intermediate or open divisions plus Longboards.
Final Rankings
Final rankings are determined on the basis of the best 8 of 10 events. If less than 10 but 7 or more rounds are surfed, two rounds are dropped. If 6 or less but more than 3 rounds are surfed, 1 round is dropped. No rounds are dropped if 3 or fewer rounds are surfed.
If a surfer commences in a lower grade but it is deemed after their first round to be better placed in a higher division, they will be given the average of their subsequent scores for their first round.
If a surfer commences in a higher division and is deemed to be better placed in a lower division, they will be given the average of their subsequent scores for their first round.
All Girls Surfriders 