Surf fighting is seems to be occurring at an increasing rate. On Monday, a Byron Bay man was charged for thrusting his board at a fellow surfer, which could carry a penalty of five years in prison. Photo: The Inertia
Localism, surf rage, call it what you will. The increasing number of surfers globally and, as a result, more densely populated lineups are a likely cause of higher instances of verbal and physical abuse in the water. Some of which result in police intervention.
Byron Bay, the home of Rasta and the surf equivalent of Haight-Ashbury during the summer of love, may be the last place you’d expect to be a bastion of surf rage. On Monday afternoon, though, one man let his anger get the best of him and may now face jail time.
According to police, the incident occurred as a result of two surfers taking off on the same wave. The 29-year-old accused then thrust the nose of his board (or as the Northern Star reports, “the pointy end of his board”) at the other surfer’s face, resulting in bleeding injuries. The irony that this occurred at Broken Head Beach is not lost on the author.
The victim then paddled in and contacted police, who promptly arrived at the scene. Police waited for the man to exit the water, and charged him with assault occassioning actual bodily harm, which carries a maximum sentence in New South Wales of five years in prison.
Tweed-Byron chief inspector Luke Arthurs told the Northern Star, that such events are uncommon in Byron Bay, but that, “[this] type of behavior is not acceptable.” He went on:
“Be aware that if you’re not happy in the surf and you assault somebody we will take action and you will have to face the courts.”
An ominous message, sure. Also, how can the police really enforce happiness? That aside, though, the principal question remains: if surfing doesn’t make you happy, why do it?
