Princess Kaiulani loved surfing and is credited with introducing the sport to Europe, said Krisin Zambucka, author of three books on the princess. According to a Surfersvillage Global Surf News press release, Princess Kaiulani, who was born on Oct. 16,
Princess Kaiulani loved surfing and is credited with introducing the sport to Europe, said Krisin Zambucka, author of three books on the princess.
According to a Surfersvillage Global Surf News press release, Princess Kaiulani, who was born on Oct. 16, 1875, introduced the sport to Europe when shen was studying in England during the early 1890s.
Malika Dudley Kaiulani, Zambucka said, surfed in English Channel waters at Brighton resort.
According to documents at the British Surfing Museum in Brighton, “The tall foreign dignitary stood erect on a thin board with her hair blowing in the wind and rode the chilly waters.”
After learning of the princess surfing, some of the nobility of Europe were soon trying it, Zambucka said.
Following her return to Hawai‘i in 1897, Princess Kaiulani was a regular surfer at Waikiki.
Her 7 1/2-foot board is in the Bishop Museum.
