Judging surfing is a difficult thing to do. Fairly putting an exact number–down to a tenth of a point, no less–on something as subjective and fluid as a surfer and a wave is basically an impossible task. In the end, as technical as they try and make is seem, it comes down to opinion. But now there’s another option.
Trace is a little gadget that measures pretty much everything in action sports. In surfing, it measures speed on a wave, distance, angle of the turn, and a million other little things that would be useful in a judge-based contest. This week, Trace is using its technology for just that. The Huntington Beach High School Surf Team is being judged purely on data collected.
Over the course of two days, each member of the team will surf for a total of one hour. Trace will measure how many waves they catch, their total distance, how fast they went, and the number of turns and airs. Based on that score, they’ll select a winner… with absolutely no opinion.
This will be the first surf contest that will be completely objective, and Trace has its sights set on making their technology the way of the future for surfing events.