Wave of the future

Alex Coolman

For years after she moved here from Colorado, Valinda Hilleary wanted to

learn to surf.

The 36-year-old Costa Mesa resident saw surfers gliding out on the waves

when she would go to the beach to play volleyball, and it looked like a

cool way to spend time.

The one thing she didn’t anticipate?

“You just get pummeled!” Hilleary laughed. “My first time out there, I

got so pummeled.”

But Hilleary has been surfing since October with a little help from Kim

Hamrock, who teaches a class for beginners in Huntington Beach.

And if Hilleary has managed to stay enthusiastic about a sport that

involves a lot of pummeling and a lot of competition with men for waves,

she’s not alone.

These days, women are taking to the waves in greater numbers than ever

before.

“Women are less intimidated” about the sport than they used to be,

Hamrock said. “It’s not just surfing. These young girls don’t think twice

about signing up for soccer or anything else.”

The sport can be a little grueling to master, especially at a spot like

61st Street, where waves were breaking fast and hollow on a recent

afternoon when Hilleary paddled out.

More her speed, she said, are spots like Blackies, Doheny Beach or San

Onofre.

“At Doheny there’s a ton of girls, and at San Onofre,” Hilleary said. “I

think it’s because there’s such a nice attitude there.”

Hilleary tackles the waves either on a 9-foot longboard or a slightly

longer version of a standard 6-foot shortboard.

She aspires to master the shorter, more maneuverable model, she said, but

the longboard is good for cruising. And it’s also good to have around

because Hamrock is starting a women’s longboard group.

Surfing with a bunch of women is a little different than surfing with

men, Hilleary said.

“They don’t paddle away from you like the guys do.”

And if you don’t meet as many men while surfing in a group of girls,

that’s OK with her.

Her observation?

“Surfing is a sport of short guys.”