"What Does the Contest Prove?" ran in the December 28, 1964, issue of the Honolulu Advertiser, during the same week at the annual Makaha International Surfing Championships. Roger Pepper, columnist for the Advertiser, wrote a short intro noting that "there are some who feel that it is bad to exploit surfing in the form of contests. Your reporter asked one of Oahu's best surfers, Paul Gebauer, to present his views on this subject." The slightly edited text below is Gebauer's.

Most of the top surfers don't try to find the perfect wave anymore, but rather try to find a place that isn't crowded. The Makaha contest has made that beach crowded to a point where it is absurd. People go there now just because it is the site of the contest, and not because of the beautiful waves.

What does the contest prove? Certainly not who the best surfer is. Even the top surfers, who know the most about the sport, can’t agree even on what is good, let alone who is best.

We recall a year when a big-wave rider won the contest. While he was receiving his trophy, better all-around surfers like Phil Edwards, Dewey Weber, and L. J. Richards Went out and outsurfed everyone who was in the contest.

Those of you who have recently started surfing on Oahu will never be able to go surfing and not worry about crowds. The Makaha contest is symbolic and partly responsible for the mass fad that surfing has become. Surfing and surfers are being exploited for commercial gain by people who have no interest in the sport and who are not surfers.

PAUL GEBAUER, 1964: "WHAT DOES THE CONTEST PROVE?"

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