I went to surf industry town square this week: Ai Pono Cafe in Costa Mesa.

Watching Ai Pono at noon on a Thursday is like watching a local river mouth burst open — surfers, industry heads, UFC fighters, Jiu Jitsu experts, hustlers and grinders, skaters, schemers, musicians and entrepreneurs all rip through the front door and order heaping plates of meat and fish before ripping apart the state of the “industry.”

I sat at a table by the front door and over the course of my 30-minute meal I had run a complete diagnostic test on the state of surfing: I ran into the heads of several brands, people starting brands and enough fighters to fill out a pretty stacked UFC fight card. But the topic that dominated the day regardless of background (and deservedly so) was the girls at Teahupoo.

After Caity Simmers and Molly Picklum asserted that “Pipeline’s for the fucking girls” in February, Vahine Fiero, Tatiana Weston-Webb and Brisa Hennessy made sure everyone knew that surfing Chopes is for the girls too — and maybe it’s time to consider that surfing is just “for the girls” in general. They definitely dominated the conversations I had all week and today — even after the men had finished — which had some great moments as well, including Kelly’s throwback magic act against Ethan Ewing, but I can't stop talking about Vahine and Tatiana’s surfing.

My favorite (repeatedly) overheard quote from both my local lineup and throughout Ai Pono’s coconut wireless was: “Vahine would have made the final in the Men's draw.”

It’s true, her prowess and approach out there would have dominated anyone and she did it all smiling ear-to-ear — whether she was taking sets on the head or streaking through another bomb. Pink rails and a big smile.

There were a lot of directions I was going to take this week’s newsletter but none of them felt relevant enough to take any attention away from the surfing these girls did this week and this year.

I hope you’ll settle in and watch their heats and appreciate the moment in time we’re living in: Women’s surfing is as legit as it is exciting and the last time that happened it was due to a good marketing campaign and cute bikinis. This time it’s all about the surfing.—Travis Ferré