LONG BEACH, N.Y. — In the lulls between waves here on a recent weekday morning, dozens of nine-foot longboards floated like driftwood as the slate gray glass of the late-summer Atlantic dithered into cords.

Yet as the waves pitched, a ballet began: With one foot flicked skyward, toes briefly arched in a pointe, Kelia Moniz was on her feet, her arms draped like a matador calmly welcoming a charging bull as she danced to the front of her board. On the wave behind her, Justin Quintal dipped his heels over the nose of his board , his six-foot figure frozen in place as his board effortlessly glided west.

Moniz and Quintal, two professional longboard surfers, were getting a feel for the waves of New York. For the first time, the sport’s governing body, the World Surf League, is conducting a global longboard tour to crown a world champion. The third stop of the contest was the shores of New York.

On Tuesday evening, with the sun setting over one- to three-foot waves, two competitors from Hawaii claimed victory in the finals: Honolua Blomfield edged Chloe Calmon in the women’s contest, and Kaniela Stewart topped Jefson Silva in the men’s.