Groundswell Society

Surfing competitions are often won by the lone surfer on the wave who does the gnarliest tricks while riding a board festooned with stickers from the dozens of companies that sponsored him.

So call the surf event this weekend the “anti-competition.”

At the Rincon Invitational on Saturday and Sunday, riders aren’t competing for the biggest wave. Instead of a lone rider on one wave, the idea is to get as many surfers on one wave as possible. And sponsorship is taboo, said the event’s founder, Glenn Hening, because it feeds into the corporate mentality that is taking away from the purity of the sport.

Event participants are invited because they have helped the surfing community through philanthropy.

“The whole idea is to eliminate the ‘me, mine, I,’ ” said Hening, executive director of the Groundswell Society, which is focused on sharing the “stoke” of surfing. “Excitement and generosity and sharing are more important than getting air or getting ‘shacked’ or getting your picture in a magazine.”

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