Mary Anne Hayes
Mary Anne Hayes started surfing in 1968 in Cocoa Beach, Florida, and quickly became one of the best female surfers in the area. She was recruited by the Oceanside Surf Team, joining the likes of star surfers Jeff Crawford, Marc Rhodes, Greg Loehr and Cynthia Foose.
Hayes was also a talented seamstress and was able to apply the skill at the Oceanside Surf Shop. Owners Marjane and Bill Feinberg (ECSHOF 2012) noticed her excellent work and suggested she introduce some of her shirts in their store. Soon, she had her own small business set up in the shop, earning enough gas money to surf points south, including Shark Pit, Spanish House and Sebastian Inlet. In the 1970s she ventured further afield, making surf pilgrimages to California, Hawaii, Mexico and Cape Hatteras — all funded by her expanding line of surf trunks, shirts and bikinis.
Hayes surfed competitively from a young age. She moved up through the ranks during her stint with Oceanside, twice taking the ESA Championship in Cape Hatteras. Later, she won the U.S. Championship, becoming the first East Coast woman to take a National Championship and cementing her place in history as one of the era’s greatest surfers.
Because of her excellence in the water and her friendly nature, she also became one of the most influential figures for up-and-coming East Coast surfers. In her early days of surfing, Hayes brought the neighborhood kids along to surfing competitions both local and out of town. She was seen as a role model, not only to women surfers but to many young boys and girls.
Today, Hayes is a member of the Women of the Waves, along with many of her long-time surf buddies. The all-female group meets every year in Cocoa Beach for a week of surfing and a trip down memory lane. Hayes was inducted into the East Coast Surfing Hall of Fame in 2006.
