CHENNAI: With the third longest coastline in the country, it’s no wonder surfing is the new wave in Tamil Nadu. At the ongoing India Surf Festival , which is on till February 9 in Odisha and is host to surfers from India and abroad, Tamil Nadu has the largest contingent.The festival, organised by the Orissa State Surfing Association and supported by the Odisha tourism department and the Surfing Federation of India, began on February 7 at Puri. At the festival, one of the largest in the country, there are more than 60 participants. Sixteen of them are from Tamil Nadu.And surfers from TN seem to be raking in the prizes too at the competitions. “Of the eight finalists in the stand-up paddling contest, where participants have to paddle to a marker and to the finish, six were from Tamil Nadu,” says Balaji Thangavel, president of the Surfing and Water Sports Association of Tamilnadu.There are two schools here that teach surfing –– Kallialay Surf School in Auroville near Puducherry and the recently opened Bay of Life in Kovalam, near Chennai. Mamallapuram, a coastal town in Kancheepuram, has several fishermen-turned-surfing instructors. More schools will come up soon, says Thangavel.The state association, which is recognised by the Surfing Federation of India, a national governing body, plans to train more fisherfolk in surfing. “We are planning to train five young fishermen from each coastal district,” says Thangavel, who is at the Odisha festival.Including fisherfolk and the local community is important in promoting the sport, says surfer Showkath Jamal, one of the founders of Bay Of Life. “No one knows the sea better than the people who live by the coast. Some of them who learnt the sport from tourists are excellent surfers,” says Jamal.Also, surfing supplements their income and provides a source of earning when there is no fishing. Appu, a 20-year-old hotel management student, is a fisherman-surfer, and one of the winners at the Odisha festival. “I learned to surf three years ago on a plank of wood. Some foreign tourists gave me a surfboard and I have been surfing since then,” says Appu, who alternates fishing with the surfing classes in the mornings. “I have a regular source of income now,” he says.Along with surfing lessons, the schools and the association are trying to educate people on the importance of conserving the environment. At Bay of Life, vehicles or equipment that pollutes the environment is not used and students are told about the importance of not littering, says Jamal.The association is, meanwhile, formulating a set of guidelines and standards to be followed by schools across the state, says Thangavel. But before that, it plans to conduct a ‘discovery of waves’ along the coastline in May. “We may not have the largest coastline in the country, but we have some of the best waves –– at Manapad in Tuticorin, Kanyakumari, and Mamallapuram. But there are more beaches waiting to be discovered,” he says.