Well before 1972‘s Title IX, which is best known for ensuring that women’s athletics were equally as funded as men’s athletics from elementary school through college in the United States, Hobie Alter made sure his teams had solid representation from the great female athletes of each generation across his spectrum of sports. Surfing, skateboarding, sailing, all had female chargers who stood shoulder to shoulder with their male counterparts. Simply put, it’s just how it’s always been at Hobie. And, in this blogger’s opinion, more than a few of Hobie’s lady stars have far outpaced the boys when it comes to achieving legendary status. One of the biggest legends and shiniest stars is the fiery surfer, Joyce Hoffman. She was and is a center jewel in the Hobie crown.
Born and raised almost exclusively at the beach, Joyce started surfing around the age of 12 when her family moved to Beach Road in Capo Beach into the now iconic Hoffman house. Her father, king of the aloha print fabric, Walter Hoffman, was a waterman’s waterman, as adept at anything water related as he was business related. He was the man who lent Hobie Alter his personal surfboard way back in 1950 to build his own board off. The refined copy became the first surfboard Hobie ever built. After that, Walter and Hobie’s lifelong friendship was set in stone… or, balsa, as the case would be.
Her father’s love of the ocean ensured that Joyce grew up surrounded by the surf and beach lifestyle. So did a lot of kids up and down the coastal communities, and they didn’t grow up to be a champion like Joyce Hoffman. There was a unique special something that set her far apart from the rest of the beach girls, who, to be fair for the time, were more likely to be found waiting for their boyfriends to get out of the water from a surf rather than be out there with them. Joyce had drive. She never minded that most of the time in her early days of surfing she was met with a sideways look from some of the boys in the lineup. She knew all she had to do was grab a wave or two, show that she knew what she was doing and the respect of the crowd was given to her.
When Joyce started the staggering competition phase of her life, she quickly earned a reputation for being the most mentally and physically fit competitor of her time. She trained as much as 6 hours a day surfing, so she could win. She swam, ran, and paddled too, all to make her more ready to compete. She wanted to win. It was why she was out there. Some may have come for the friendship and the fun, and Joyce enjoyed that too if from afar. Plain and simple, if she was at a contest, she was there to be first. To be the best. She worked hard, trained hard, and earned every single championship she ever won. Nothing was handed to her because she also happened to be a bright eyed conventionally beautiful girl. Joyce was all drive and all win.
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For the entirety of the 60’s, Hoffman dominated women’s surfing. She won three United States Surfing Championships in a row, and took a fourth title in 1971. She won the Women’s Surfing title in ‘66 & ‘67. It wasn’t just the championships that she won that cemented her as a legendary surfer. She also raised the bar of women’s surfing to show that it could be on par with the men. In fact, she was so good, she out-surfed most of the men’s field as well. Her drive and strength took her to the shores of Hawaii and the breaks reserved only for the very best of the best became her next challenge.
With her discipline and beyond unbreakable mental game, Joyce took to the waters of the notorious Banzai Pipeline on Oahu’s North Shore. In the decades since the 60‘s, even with all the advancement in surfboard design, Pipeline is still and will always be the ultimate proving ground. Hoffman took to Pipe like a fish to water. Again, she raised the bar of women’s surfing and showed female surfers across the globe that there was no barrier that they couldn’t overcome with enough training and determination. She also earned her place at Sunset Beach too. The shifty, massive peaks were right in her wheelhouse, and she never backed down, even on the biggest days.
Through her illustrious career, she earned more than a few endorsements and achievements. Her envy-inducing sponsorship with the sports car brand Triumph for their “Spitfire” model is a standout. The company went so far as to make sure whatever country Joyce’s feet were in, she was driving a Spitfire convertible with her Hobie Surfboard sticking out the back! They had them shipped all over the globe for her. No other surfer of the era, male or female, traveled in that kind of style! She was named the LA Times Woman of the year in 1965. Sports Illustrated profiled her, she landed the cover of Life Magazine, but, it was Hobie Alter who gave her one of the biggest honors any surfer can achieve. He designed her own signature surfboard model. The first ever for a female surfer. And, in true Hobie style, he made sure to remind the boys of the era that just because it was named and designed for a woman, they could ride it too, IF they were good enough!
Joyce is and will always be a legend’s legend. The kind that endures. She made an impact on the sport of female surfing competition that remained unmatched until Lisa Anderson in the ‘90’s. Photos of her surfing still appear in magazines, museums, surf shops, and adorn Hobie offices across the world. Her drive, determination, work ethic, and mental game will continue to inspire every generation of female surfers till time closes.
