Swell idea: Her Turn Surf Festival provides a platform for women and girls

The Flagler Beach female-only surfing contest had age-group divisions from 10U to 45-plus and two pro divisions.

By Brent Woronoff
| 2:01 p.m. June 3, 2024

Photo by Jake Montgomery

Peyton Crave, 7, catches a wave in the future division. Photo by Jake Montgomery

Maria Aguilera, 32, of Orlando, checks out the surf prior to her heat. Photo by Jake Montgomery

Heather Tran with her husband, Matt Tran, began the Her Turn Women's Surf Festival last year. Photo by Jake Montgomery

Photo by Jake Montgomery

Abigail Franken, 30, of Folly Beach South Carolina, was happy with her heat. Photo by Jake Montgomery

Photo by Jake Montgomery

Kasey Oharen, 30, of Ponte Vedra Beach. Photo by Jake Montgomery

Emma Coz, 30, of Boynton Beach exits the water after her heat. Photo by Jake Montgomery

Leia Miles, 17, of Jacksonville exits the water after her heat. Photo by Jake Montgomery

Mimi Munro of Ormond Beach surfed in her first contest at age 12 in 1964. She was one of the judges at the second annual Her Turn Women's Surf Festival in Flagler Beach. Photo by Jake Montgomery

Elise Forsyth, 7, of Jacksonville checks out her surfboard. Photo by Jake Montgomery

Elouise Pearsall, 8, of Jacksonville Beach, is excited for her heat. Photo by Jake Montgomery

Photo by Jake Montgomery

Palm Coast Observer
Sports

Two years ago when Heather Tran was surfing in Flagler Beach one day, she noticed that half the surfers in the water were women. That gave her an idea. She decided to put on a local surfing contest exclusively for women and girls, and Her Turn Women’s Surf Festival was born.

‘Legend’ Mimi Munro judges event

Heather Tran calls Mimi Munro a legend. Munro was one of the judges at the second annual Her Turn Women’s Surf Festival on June 1. Munro had a daughter and a granddaughter competing in the all-female surfing contest at the Flagler Beach pier.

The Ormond Beach native has four children and 12 grandchildren. But before she raised a family she was a two-time East Coast Surfing champion at age 14.

Munro learned to surf at 10 years old. Two years later, she was watching the 1964 Florida State Surfing Championships at the Ormond Beach pier, when her friends encouraged her to enter contest.

“They didn’t have enough women and my friends kept pushing me, but I didn’t have a surfboard,” she said.

Somebody loaned her a surfboard and she wound up winning. At that time, she said, there were only 9-foot longboards and no leashes.

Sponsored by the Daytona Beach Surf Shop, Munro went on to win the East Coast Surfing Championships in Virginia Beach in 1965 and 1966. She earned a spot in the 1966 World Surfing Championship in San Diego and placed third behind two of her heroes — women’s surfing pioneers Joyce Hoffman and Joey Hamasaki.

Then, at the age of 15, Munro quit.

“I lost interest,” she said. “I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

At 38, she got on a surfboard again and started teaching and running surf camps. She still does.

She also started competing again. In 1996, she won the women’s pro longboard division at the Cocoa Beach Easter Surfing Festival at age 49. She is a member of several surfing halls of fame including the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame and the Surfing Walk of Fame in Huntington Beach, California.

Munro lives in Ormond Beach and has been a massage therapist for 39 years. Three of her children and two of her grandchildren surf, she said.

“That’s the fun of it, surfing with family,” Munro said., adding “I hope to surf till I’m 100.”

For more information on Munro's surf camps, email [email protected]

The second annual Her Turn festival was held this past weekend with the kickoff party Friday, May 31, at Wadsworth Skateboard Park and the surfing contest at the Flagler Beach pier on Saturday, June 1.

Mother Nature cooperated with a beautiful, sunny day on Saturday as scores of surfers and spectators swarmed the beach. All of the vendors were women. All of the contestants were women and girls.

“We’re giving women a platform and showing little girls that it’s OK to do hard things,” Tran said. “Sports help women feel strong and empowered. That’s what the day is all about.”

And it only makes sense that Flagler Beach, the town where Frieda Zamba grew up, should host a women’s surf festival, Tran said.

Zamba, a four-time world surfing champion and one of the greatest women surfers of all time, now lives in Costa Rica, but is still very influential in the Flagler surfing community, Tran said.

“Being the home of Frieda Zamba, we should have a day all about us,” Tran said.

Most tournaments only have one or two female divisions, Tran said. The Her Turn contest had divisions for all levels.

Trans said it can be intimidating for women to paddle out with all men in the water. In this contest that was not a worry.

There were prizes in several divisions. East Coast Acupuncture, owned by Lisa Sweeters, sponsored the Shortboard Pro Division with a $1,000 purse. Carla Cline’s Please Don’t Make Me Cross the Bridge t-shirts and accessories sponsored the Longboard Pro Division. Ohana Food Co. sponsored the Express Yourself: My Board, My Choice division, in which competitors on longboards, shortboards and bodyboards all paddled out together with a $350 purse.

There were also longboard, shortboard and bodyboard open divisions and six age divisions from 10U (Future Division) to 45-plus (Goddess Division). The event’s premier sponsor was WIN Mortgage.

The Her Turn festival also had raffles to raise money for the Flagler Board Riders scholarship program and the Family Life Center. The kickoff party included a skate jam, artists, vendors, music and a food truck.

Results: https://liveheats.com/events/224117