SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Women surfers want the right to compete in Titans of Mavericks' monstrous waves event held south of San Francisco.
The California Coastal Commission recently gave a boost to their campaign to break the gender barrier when it told organizers they better have a plan for including women if they want a permit to hold the invitational event next year.
Organizers have not yet ironed out plans for how to recruit women, how to handle them in the heats or whether to make a separate women's heat.
The daylong contest fields two dozen surfers riding the same peak in heats through shifts in tides and winds. The waves can rise to 60 feet.
Some say women aren't ready to compete in the contest held when the surf is just right between Nov. 1 and March 31.