Women big-wave surfers were looking forward to a long-awaited Women of the Bay contest at Waimea Bay when it had to be canceled because no sponsor stepped up, said organizer Betty Depolito, who co-founded the event in 2017.

The reasons, she said, were twofold: the holding period of Sept. 1-Dec. 3 falls short of the North Shore’s peak big-wave season; and the city and county park department’s permitting rule that a “big wave” means minimum face heights of 40 feet.

“No one wants to sponsor Women of the Bay because the possibility of having it is really small, and they don’t want to end up spending the money on nothing,” Depolito said. “And I don’t blame them.”

Red Bull sponsored a one-day, 30-women invitational, then known as “Red Bull Queen of the Bay,” for its first two years in 2018 and 2019. But because of a lack of adequate waves, and then the pandemic, it was never run.

The Waimea Bay big wave, one-day contest in honor of Eddie Aikau has only been held eight times since 1986, with Dec. 8, 1990 the earliest. The originally all-male “Eddie,” which started inviting women in 2017 but hasn’t been held since 2016, holds exclusive rights to the optimal big-wave window of Dec. 3-Feb. 28.

Depolito says DPR’s refusal to give her more viable dates despite her request — every permitting round — is just one example of a broad, systemic sexism that holds women’s surfing back by allotting them fewer opportunities to compete and advance than men.

Once again, the annual North Shore menehune surfing championships at Haleiwa, which is slated to run virtually from Oct.15-23, offers three divisions for boys and two for girls, who compete across a three-year span, while boys face only a two-year age spread.

“I mean, it’s virtual, without in-person heats, so even if they claim there are more boys entering than girls (which is not always the case), that’s still no reason to have more boys’ heats than girls’,” Depolito said.

“What it means for the girls is less prizes — including new surfboards from the sponsors.”

The hundreds of surfers lower in the rankings must seek entry to the challenger series by competing on WSL’s extensive, international qualifying series: Hawaii/Tahiti is one of seven QS regions.

DPR should require equal female-male numbers for shorewater event permits, Depolito and other activists have been saying for years.

But despite a mandate for gender equity for North Shore surf events in Bill 93, known as the “surf equity bill,” passed in 2020 by the Honolulu City Council, its language falls short of specifying that equal numbers of females and males should be fielded at each event.

“We should force WSL to only offer events for both genders,” said the mother of a young Oahu female surfer, speaking on condition of anonymity because she feared the criticism could hurt her daughter’s career.

Currently, she said, “the top six women contenders for the challenger series are from Australia, which is not surprising because they honor their women equally — it’s equal everything,” from numbers of contestants to quality of waves.

In the U.S., she said, “(WSL’s) excuse used to be they didn’t have enough women to fill events, but now there are so many more women, they say it’s cheaper to consolidate” by holding fewer events in fewer places.

QS events for women include Supergirl contests in California and Florida “both of which are in the North America region, not our region, and it’s a big expense with airfare, hotels and renting a car.”

It was her understanding, the surfer’s mother said, that the regional QS system was designed to keep kids at home and going to school, “not having to be home-schooled and rich.”

Because most events require traveling away from the islands, she said, many top women surfers grew up in Hawaii but moved to other countries that provide greater opportunities.

One bright spot for Hawaii’s big-wave women is the upcoming Red Bull Magnitude, a virtual, open-entry competition held at Waimea Bay, Pipeline Outer Reefs and Pe‘ahi (“Jaws”) on Maui.

Within the three-month window, opening in December, Red Bull provides water safety and in-water film crews to competitors whenever the forecast is for sustained 24-foot wave faces since the virtual event does not require a beach park permit.

But while she’s stoked to be helping organize the Magnitude for a third year, there’s nothing like the thrill of a one-day, classic, live competition at big Waimea with spectators on the beach, Depolito said.

Bill 93’s gender equity mandate will apply to the city’s new North Shore permitting rules; a draft will be released for public comment before DPR starts accepting new permit applications this spring.

Bill 93 can be found at https://hnldoc.ehawaii.gov/hnldoc/document-download?id=10175