Red Bull to hold the first ever all-female big wave surf contest in Hawaii

The Red Bull Magnitude contest will be the first-ever all-female big wave surf contest throughout the winter in Hawaii. 

There is a common theme among women in sports and that is that they rock. Whether it is soccer, basketball, football, or golf, women are hanging with the men and fighting for equality. The scene is no different in surfing. The men and women of the World Surf League compete at the same venues most of the time, but there are some instances when the equality stops. That has been a key focus for The Committee for Equity in Women’s Surfing over the last few years. They have been campaigning for equality in the contests available to women, as well as the prize money.

Recently the Committee fought for women’s rights to be included in the most well known of all surf contests, PipeMasters. Now the ladies of surfing are heading for the big ones in their own contest. Red Bull is running a women’s only big wave contest called Red Bull Magnitude.
The contest will take place between Dec. 1 and Feb. 28 at a few locations in Hawaii. Among the locations possible for this contest are notable big wave swells like Jaws, Waimea Bay, and the North Shore. So how can a contest take place at all these places? Well, the contest is digital. The submissions will be on video and the winners will be chosen from an all-star panel of judges at the end.

The judges for this contest include surfing pioneers Rochelle Ballard, Betty DePolito, Kai Lenny, and Mark Healey. They will have two weeks at the beginning of March to decide the winner of the $25,000 “Overall Performance” winning prize. There are also “Runner Up”, “Best Ride”, and “Biggest Wave” winners that will receive $5000 each. Film crews will be provided for the athletes at locations and times when the swell is predicted to be going off. If the wave height is over 15-foot the cameras will be rolling. There will be safety personnel on hand.

In addition to the star power on the judge’s panel, there are some big names in the lineup. Among the athletes competing are Keala Kennelly, Justine Dupont, Moana Jones, Raquel Heckert, Sheila Lee, and more.

There will also be a “People’s Choice” award that the public will be able to vote for in March. This award is presented by Yeti. With the way the world is right now in the face of a global pandemic, the digital format might be the way these kinds of contests move to full time. Fans can go to RedBull.com to keep up with all the action.