Surf report ratings

Horse's picture
Horse started the topic in Saturday, 19 Sep 2015 at 7:22am

I would like to know how the surf quality is scored out of 10. Is there components for size, banks and conditions or is it just the reporters gestalt. Is the score pitched at the advanced surfer who wants bigger waves? Does swellnet give their reporters guidance on how they should score to provide consistency across sites?
I would also be interested in how the scores average month by month. My impression is that July would be 6/10 and September would be 3/10. Autumn/winter better than spring/summer. Does anyone keep the scores for the preceding months so this could be looked at?

notoutthere's picture
notoutthere's picture
notoutthere Tuesday, 23 Feb 2016 at 12:23pm

Tue 23 February 6:35am: Clean 4-5ft SW, Fresh NE, Partly Cloudy 8/10
Dawn report: Good swell, tick, fresh offshore, tick, summer and warm water, tick. Great waves with good sets to 5ft and clean conditions. Find a decent bank and you'll be on. ....

Yet another example of inaccuracy with the surf report.... bring back Dan

Craig's picture
Craig's picture
Craig Tuesday, 23 Feb 2016 at 12:31pm

I don't see the issue...

caml's picture
caml's picture
caml Tuesday, 23 Feb 2016 at 12:53pm

Score it ? Thats what u do after surf

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Tuesday, 23 Feb 2016 at 12:53pm

Bloody hell, looks amazing on the surfcam. Freight trains!

wellymon's picture
wellymon's picture
wellymon Tuesday, 23 Feb 2016 at 12:58pm

9/10, not a soul in sight;)

thermalben's picture
thermalben's picture
thermalben Tuesday, 23 Feb 2016 at 12:59pm
Horse wrote:

I would like to know how the surf quality is scored out of 10. Is there components for size, banks and conditions or is it just the reporters gestalt. Is the score pitched at the advanced surfer who wants bigger waves? Does swellnet give their reporters guidance on how they should score to provide consistency across sites? I would also be interested in how the scores average month by month. My impression is that July would be 6/10 and September would be 3/10. Autumn/winter better than spring/summer. Does anyone keep the scores for the preceding months so this could be looked at?

Sorry I missed this when you originally posted, Horse.

Anyway, great questions. The rating out of ten is dependent o a wide range of factors, but human interpretation underpins the entire process so it's always going to be subjective. We do give our reporters some guidance, but as you can imagine, everyone's interpretation of 'good surf' will differ enormously depending on a wide range of factors such as age, surfing experience, fitness level, choice of surf craft, location plus other environmental variables such as prevailing conditions in recent weeks, state of sand banks, tides, etc.

Personally, I am not a fan of surf ratings but it's something we've had to include on the site (due to client requests many years ago) and it has ended up being a focal part of our surf reports - as your post points out - ever since. I'm a little baffled why people hone in on the rating, but that's just the way it goes I suppose.

Rating trends could be looked at but I don't know if this is something we could get happening any time soon.