The physics of surfing

Whether or not you realize it, as a surfer you’re a master of complicated physics.
The science of surfing begins as soon as you and your board first hit the water. The board’s size
and light construction help it displace a lot of water. In turn, a buoyant force equal to the weight
of the displaced water pushes up, counteracting you and your board’s weight. This lets you stay
afloat while you wait to paddle for a wave.
And what exactly are you waiting for? The perfect wave, of course. Like other waves in physics,
ocean waves represent a transfer of energy. Wind blowing across the ocean accelerates water
particles near the surface, leading to the growth of ripples that become waves. These deviations
from the flat surface are acted upon by gravity, which tries to restore the surface to its original flat
state. As the waves then move through the water, particles push and pull on their neighbors
through the wave induced pressure, and this motion propagates energy through the water in
unison with the wave motion. The motion of these particles is much more limited than the overall
motion of the waves. Near the shore, the shallower seafloor constrains the motion of the waves to
occur in a more limited region than out at sea, concentrating the wave energy near the surface. If
the topography of the shoreline is even and smooth, this will refract the waves to become
more parallel to the shore as they approach.
This is the crucial moment. As the wave gets near, you quickly pivot your board in the same
direction as the wave and paddle to match its speed. Your board forms an angle with the
water, and this creates a dynamic pressure on the bottom of it, forcing you and your board out of
the water, to skim along the surface. At the same time, your increased forward momentum makes
you more stable, allowing you to stand up and surf along the wave.
Now you’ve caught the wave, and are riding along its front face parallel to the shoreline. Fins on
the surfboard allow you to alter your speed and direction by repositioning your weight. Above
you is the wave’s crest, where the water particles are undergoing their greatest acceleration. That
forces them to move faster than the underlying wave, so they shoot ahead before falling under
gravity’s influence. This forms the waves’ characteristic curls, or jets, as they break along the
shore. Sometimes, the curl might completely enclose part of the wave, forming a moving tube of
water known as the barrel. Because of irregularities in the seafloor and the swell itself, few barrels
last as long as the legendary 27-second ride off the coast of Namibia. But many who manage to
get barreled have said they feel time passing differently inside, making it one of the most magical
experiences a surfer can have.
Of course, not all beaches are created equal. Offshore underwater canyons or rock formations in
certain locations like Nazare, Portugal or Mavericks, California refract the incoming wave energy
into a single spot, creating massive waves sought by surfers worldwide. And some of these
waves travel for more than a week, with swells originating more than 10,000 kilometers away
from shore. Waves surfed in sunny California may have originated in the stormy seas near New
Zealand.
So while you may not be thinking about weather patterns in the South Pacific, tectonic geology,
or fluid mechanics, the art of catching the perfect wave relies on all these things and more. And
the waves we surf, created by wind, are just one visible part of the continuous oscillation of
energy that has shaped our universe since its very beginning.