"Gail Couper: Lady of Lorne Point," by Ted Bainbridge, ran in the August 1974 issue of Breakaway magazine. Couper was 26.

More or less. He was riding a coolite. I’m not sure if I got a board before or after him, but his mother used to drive us to the surf. If it wasn’t Wayne’s mum, it was my dad.

About three years, until he sort of grew up a little bit and we went our separate ways.

Wayne influenced me in that he was a really good example of how you should surf. That caused me to do some of the things that he did—not that I ever really accomplished them! He had tremendous control and always sat in the right spot. If you were sitting out there somewhere other than where he was, you were in the wrong spot. Also, he used to make me go out at places I didn’t want to surf. His mother would drop us off and he’d say, "Out we go."

Did he accept you as just another surfer?

Yes, I think so. I’ve been pretty lucky that way. I’ve never had anyone really put me down, because we were all one little group at Lorne. There was the Lorne Boardriders Club, and it was a very clique group.

What about when you surf somewhere other than Lorne? Do you find that because you’re a woman you don’t get as many waves, or you’re hassled or put down in any way?

No, I think I’ve had a pretty easy go. Nobody has ever really sworn at me or given me a bad time.

Is that because most of the guys know who you are?

I don’t know; I don’t really ask them why. But I suppose it is, yes, especially at Lorne Point. Sometimes I won’t get enough waves because I won’t drop in. I figure that if I drop in they’ve got every right to do it back to me. Therefore I don’t get a lot of waves at times. But when I do get a wave, usually they won’t drop in on me. From that point of view, I don’t get out-hassled.

Yes, well, I don’t like going interstate! I think they have a totally different attitude towards women surfers. In fact, they have a worse attitude to learners, in general. I’d say. Especially girls! So mostly I only surf in areas where people know me.

Has interest in women’s surfing waned over the years?

Not in America, but I think it’s dropped off over here, yes. [In contests], the women have been thrown out into real slop and bad conditions which has put them off. Perhaps there are more reasons than that. Some people say, "How can you stand around looking wet and bedraggled?" Surfing is not a very glamorous sort of sport. It could be a combination of things that have reduced participation in Australia. I don’t really know.

There’s been an upsurge in mat-riding though.

Possibly because they think it’s less dangerous. If you get hit on the head it bounces off. They don’t cost as much, either.

I don’t know about the balance bit. I tried one and couldn’t ride it for nuts. I just kept sliding off one side. But yeah, it's good that girls are riding mats because they’re getting out and doing something. I think there are too many spectators in the world—with all sports, not just surfing.

Is professionalism on the increase with women surfers?

Really, I think the boom in that sort of thing was 1966. Not so much here in Australia, but in California. Joey Hamasaki and Joyce Hoffman had models with their signature on them, and their boards were in SURFER magazine ads and everything. That was a big thing over there. That was the money era, I’d say. There were cosmetic firms and sporting goods people who’d put you on their payroll. Over a thousand dollars a year just to use your name in their ads.

Did you ever get into that sort of thing?

No, it never really came to Australia. Free boards was as far as it went for me. You know, take the old one back and get a new one free. It was a great savings at that time because I was still at school.

I guess it’s helped your surfing a lot by living at Lorne?

Yes, it has. What I enjoy is working [as a school teacher], and really looking forward to going for a surf at the end of the day. I think I enjoy that more than the weekend surfs. It’s more relaxing.

I don’t have a favorite break, really. I do enjoy Lorne Point, but also The Spot, North Narrabeen, and Spout Creek. I surf best at a place where I’m not nervous. I’m confident when I know a spot, which only comes from going there more. Naturally, I’m more confident at the places around Lorne because I surf them more.

Yes, I enjoy Bells, that’s a great spot.

Because I mostly ride beachbreak waves under five-foot, I decided to get a board to suit those conditions; something short, wide, and maneuverable. For three years, I've been riding boards about 6' 6" by 20". They make me turn more, and I enjoy turning, I don’t like going in straight lines. I’m not all that good at finding the curl. I sort of run around and over it more than in it.

I have four or five at the moment, mainly because I don’t like getting rid of the one I’ve got until I find out what the new one is like, and then I haven’t got rid of the others so there’s been a backlog. I’m sentimentally attached to this board I got last time I was in California. It's a Bahne. I doubt I’ll ever sell it. I got it from Joyce Hoffman; she’d been riding it about six months before she gave it to me after I rode it a couple of times and said I really liked it. She said she’d order a new board and she just gave it to me!

As a rule, would you prefer to only have two boards?

Yes, because I find it very hard to make a decision about which one I should ride, and I get in a heck of a muddle mentally—especially at contests. Actually, what I'd like to do is to find one board that suited suit all conditions—but you can’t. Most boards that turn really well can only be used successfully in seven- or eight-foot waves—after that you’re struggling. The back slips out because it’s too wide, or you don’t have enough speed. So really you need two boards, but I'm having trouble finding two that ride similar to one another, which would make it easier to go from one to the other. Anyway, I've got my 6' 6" hotdog board for Lorne, and a new 6' 8" for bigger waves, and an older 7' 2", which I'm not confident on it because I’ve only ridden it twice in two years.

I play squash and badminton. I read a lot and paint and make things like mobiles. I’m making a great mural curtain at the moment. That’s the sort of thing you do when you don’t feel like doing the others, though. I enjoy doing almost anything in the art line when you can sit down and do it for days and days without having to get up and do something else.

What about your teaching? Do you enjoy that?

Oh yes, thoroughly. You feel like you’re getting somewhere, you can see the progress. You feel like you’re achieving something worthwhile. You’re not doing it for yourself, which means you possibly enjoy it more because you don’t get fed up with yourself. Each day is different because you’re dealing with people. Besides, children are really funny.

No, I don’t ever mention it actually. The kids sort of know I surf. I discuss it with them down at the beach, but never at school. Generally, I try to keep surfing and school separate. When I’m at school, I try to concentrate totally on school and then at 3.30 off I go to surf and relax.

And are you just going to keep on surfing?

I don’t know. I don’t think you can make a decision beforehand on that sort of thing. One day you might feel that you’ve had enough of surfing. Competitive surfing—that decision is probably another thing, but I don’t even know about that yet. A couple of years ago I was going to give it away. After 1970, when I came back after my dislocated shoulder, I was rather put off by the way that I was surfing. Then I started winning again and that changed my mind. To answer your question, sort of, I think I’ll surf until I don’t enjoy it anymore. That’s about as concrete as I can get.

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